All articles by Aaron Nicodemus – Page 29
-
Article
Florida business settles landmark FCA whistleblower case involving PPP loan
A Florida-based investment fund will pay approximately $22,000 as part of a settlement resolving the first False Claims Act whistleblower case involving a Paycheck Protection Program loan in which the United States intervened.
-
Article
Deutsche Bank agrees to settle Jeffrey Epstein-related class action for $26.3M
Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $26.25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by a group of the bank’s investors over anti-money laundering compliance failures and deficiencies related to certain clients, including Jeffrey Epstein and Danske Bank’s Estonia branch.
-
Article
Compass Minerals fined $12M for disclosure control lapses
Compass Minerals International, a Kansas-based mining company, agreed to pay a $12 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve allegations deficiencies in its disclosure controls led to failures at facilities it operates in Canada and Brazil.
-
Premium
ESG experts see shades of conflict minerals for SEC climate disclosure rule
The climate-related disclosure rule proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission will eventually pass but not before undergoing some changes, practitioners speaking at CW’s virtual ESG Summit predicted.
-
Article
Boeing fined $200M for material misstatements on fatal plane crashes
Boeing agreed to pay $200 million to settle charges laid by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it misled investors regarding what caused two crashes of 737 MAX airplanes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
-
Article
Collateral damage aplenty in NYAG lawsuit against Trump Organization
The New York Attorney General’s lawsuit against former President Donald Trump is solely focused on penalizing his business and cohorts, but firms like Mazars and Deutsche Bank don’t come off well from a due diligence perspective.
-
Article
Arcadia fined $90K for custody rule violations; CCO to undergo training
New York-based investment adviser Arcadia Wealth Management will pay $90,000 for violating a Securities and Exchange Commission rule by failing to obtain “surprise” examinations of advisory client assets.
-
Article
Treasury seeking comment on illicit finance risks posed by digital assets
The Treasury Department is seeking public input on how to address illicit finance and national security risks posed by digital assets, part of a multipronged push by the Biden administration to hold bad actors accountable and identify potential enforcement and regulatory gaps.
-
Article
CFTC commissioner calls for agency to require more admissions of guilt
Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero would like the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to stop offering no-fault settlements as a matter of routine but instead force more individuals and corporations to accept responsibility for their wrongdoing.
-
Article
South Korea data regulator fines Google, Meta combined $72M
South Korea’s data regulator fined Google and Meta a total of ₩100 billion (U.S. $72 million) for violating the country’s personal data collection law, which forbids the collection and use of personal information without user consent.
-
Article
SEC fines four in pay-to-play enforcement sweep
Four investment advisers were fined between $45,000 and $95,000 by the Securities and Exchange Commission for violating the agency’s pay-to-play rule.
-
Article
DOJ to emphasize individual accountability, prior misconduct in corporate crime probes
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced sweeping changes to the Department of Justice’s efforts to fight corporate crime, including new guidance regarding individual accountability, voluntary self-disclosure, compliance monitors, and ways to strengthen compliance culture.
-
Article
How effective beneficial ownership searches leverage technology
Determining the ultimate beneficial owner of individuals and companies your firm does business with can be a tricky thing. The most efficient investigations require an understanding of your firm’s risk appetite and appropriate technology to automate searches.
-
Article
Loop Capital fined $100K over municipal adviser registration violations
The Securities and Exchange Commission for the first time punished a broker-dealer—Chicago-based Loop Capital Markets—for providing advice to a municipal entity without registering with the agency as a municipal adviser.
-
Article
Prosperity Bank to pay $19K in first PPP lender false claims settlement
Houston-based Prosperity Bank will pay approximately $18,700 to resolve allegations it processed a Paycheck Protection Program loan for an ineligible recipient in what is believed to be a landmark False Claims Act settlement.
-
Article
Hay & Watson loses PCAOB registration over altered audit docs
Canadian public accounting firm Hay & Watson had its registration permanently revoked and must jointly pay a fine of $50,000 along with its owner for violating Public Company Accounting Oversight Board rules and standards and failing to cooperate with an inspection.
-
Article
DOJ gets guilty plea in first crypto insider trading case
Nikhil Wahi, brother of former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy as part of the Department of Justice’s first case regarding the insider trading of cryptocurrency assets.
-
Article
BNY Mellon, 2 others settle with SEC in landmark municipal bonds cases
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged four underwriters with failing to satisfy exemption requirements related to limited offerings of municipal bonds—the first time the agency has taken such an action.
-
Article
In person or remote? Best practices for navigating tension of hybrid work model
Remote workers enjoy the flexibility. In-person employees love they’ve got the office to themselves. But there is a risk these two types of employees will begin to resent each other, creating a corporate culture clash, labor and compliance professionals say.
-
Article
Former Contech exec imprisoned 18 months for bid-rigging scheme
Brent Brewbaker, a former executive for civil engineering firm Contech Engineered Solutions, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for his role in a long-running bid-rigging scheme in North Carolina.