All articles by Aaron Nicodemus – Page 30
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Aventura Capital to pay nearly $1M over conflict disclosure lapses
Florida-based investment firm Aventura Capital Management agreed to return more than $700,000 to harmed investors and pay a $225,000 fine for failing to disclose conflicts of interest regarding its mutual fund share class selection process.
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SEC warns auditors of risks in taking on Chinese clients
U.S.-based audit firms seeking new public company clients in China should ensure they have full access to previous audits and work papers before taking the job or risk potential enforcement, the acting chief accountant at the Securities and Exchange Commission warned.
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Natixis agrees to $2.8M CFTC fine for oversight failures
Natixis, a Paris-based global bank and swap dealer, will pay a $2.8 million fine to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to settle charges it failed to prevent rogue traders from submitting false and misleading entries on trades over five years.
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Details murky in Samsung’s second data breach this year
Samsung revealed a hacker accessed the personal data of an unspecified number of its U.S.-based customers, even after improving its cybersecurity systems following a previous breach earlier this year.
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CHS avoids fine in SEC accounting fraud case
Minnesota-based agricultural cooperative CHS settled charges levied by the Securities and Exchange Commission that the company violated federal securities laws when it filed materially false financial statements with the agency over five years.
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Wells Fargo ordered to pay ex-manager $22M in SOX whistleblower case
Wells Fargo must pay more than $22 million to a former senior banking executive who alleged to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration they were retaliated against for blowing the whistle on financial misconduct.
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KPMG South Africa, two partners fined $275K for using unregistered firm
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board fined KPMG South Africa and two of its partners a total of $275,000 for supervisory failures and violation of accounting rules related to the use of an unregistered accounting firm.
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FTC sues Kochava for collecting, selling mobile phone user data
Data broker Kochava has been sued by the Federal Trade Commission for selling geolocation data on hundreds of millions of mobile phone customers that could unveil sensitive personal information without their knowledge or consent.
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SEC reverses Clayton-era whistleblower rule changes
The Securities and Exchange Commission amended its rules to provide further incentives to whistleblowers, particularly in cases involving large payouts or multiple federal agencies.
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Lawsuit: HSBC Bank exec alleges discrimination, unauthorized WhatsApp use
Monique Thacker, a current HSBC Bank USA executive, claimed in a federal lawsuit she was discriminated and retaliated against for raising regulatory violations involving unauthorized communications by bank employees that were downplayed or ignored by management.
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Essilor agrees to $22M settlement over kickback charges
Essilor, a manufacturer and distributor of optical lenses and equipment, will pay $22 million to settle allegations it paid kickbacks to spur sales in violation of the False Claims Act.
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Twitter whistleblower says poor cybersecurity invites breaches, manipulation
Peiter Zatko, a former cybersecurity executive at Twitter, has blown the whistle on his observations of systemic data security lapses at the company, undercounting of fake accounts, and how the social media platform could be manipulated by foreign intelligence services.
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Calif. health system, healthcare providers to pay $70.7M over false claims
Gold Coast Health Plan and three California county healthcare service providers will pay a total of $70.7 million to settle allegations they violated the False Claims Act regarding California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal.
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Citigroup broker-dealer fined $15M for inadequate U.K. trade monitoring
Citigroup Global Markets was fined £12.6 million (U.S. $14.9 million) by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority for failing to implement an adequate trade surveillance program required by British law.
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John Hancock to repay $23.8M over N.Y. insurance law violations
John Hancock Life & Health Insurance Company will return a total of $23.8 million to customers and the state of New York and pay a $2.5 million fine for violations of the state’s law regarding the handling of long-term care insurance policies.
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EagleBank fined $23M over improper lending, disclosure practices
EagleBank agreed to pay nearly $23 million in penalties for improperly loaning approximately $90 million to family trusts controlled by its former CEO over three years, then misleading investors about the loans.
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Cybersecurity, beneficial ownership lessons found in SEC fraud case
Charges levied by the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding an international scheme in which hackers accessed online brokerage accounts to manipulate stock prices impart cybersecurity and beneficial ownership lessons for compliance professionals.
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Google fined $42M for misleading Australian customers on data collection
Google was ordered to pay 60 million Australian dollars (U.S. $42 million) to resolve charges levied by Australia’s competition regulator it misled its Australian customers about how to opt out from the collection of their personal location data.
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FTC seeks to expand authority on data breaches, commercial surveillance
The Federal Trade Commission is seeking comment on potential rules that would penalize companies that suffer data breaches due to lax cybersecurity protocols and punish firms that engage in abusive commercial surveillance practices.
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SEC, CFTC propose large hedge funds provide more financial disclosure
The SEC and CFTC proposed expanding Form PF disclosure requirements for large hedge funds to include more information on their investment strategies, investment exposure, open positions, and borrowing arrangements with counterparties, among other areas.