All articles by Adrianne Appel
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News Brief
Senate Democrats urge DOJ to revive crypto crime unit amid growing enforcement concerns
A small band of Senate Democrats is calling on the Trump administration to reinstate the cryptocurrency investigations unit at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
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Trump family buys into crypto as regulators consider soft touch on the industry
Any doubts that the new administration will take a light touch to upcoming cryptocurrency regulation vanished with President Donald Trump’s launch of his own stablecoin and his family’s growing investments in crypto businesses.
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News Brief
Banks reported more than $1 B in suspicious activity–much of it fentanyl linked
Banks alerted authorities to $1.4 billion in suspicious transactions in 2024, a big assist in the nation’s fight against crime and fentanyl trafficking, according to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
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News Brief
Cash App parent to pay $40 million for alleged BSA/AML violations in New York
Block Inc., maker of the popular Cash App, has been hit with a $40 million fine by New York for its alleged failure to report suspicious activity. The move marks the latest in a string of recent state and federal enforcement actions against the company.
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News Brief
New cybersecurity requirements fast approaching for New York financial firms
Many financial firms have mere days to notify New York about whether they have complied with the state’s strict cybersecurity regulations, and to gear up for new requirements rolling out May 1 and beyond.
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News Brief
California Attorney General Bonta warns businesses that FCPA still in full force
The federal government may have paused enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), but that’s not the case in California, where bribes to foreign officials will be prosecuted, Attorney General Rob Bonta warned.
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News Brief
FTC case against insulin price gouging halted after commissioners fired by Trump
A Federal Trade Commission case against insulin price gouging has come to a screeching halt after two Democratic commissioners were fired by President Donald Trump.
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News Brief
CCO who was ‘sole person controlling’ investment firm charged with recidivist concentration violations
An investment company and its founder, president, and chief compliance officer flagrantly kept violating mutual fund rules for multiple years after settling with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC said in a complaint against the company.
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SEC postpones compliance date for amendments to investment company names rule
Investment companies will have six additional months to comply with an update to the Securities and Exchange Commission rule aimed at making investment fund names more accurate.
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News Brief
Firm, two execs fined, including ex-CCO, for misappropriating $220K, SEC alleges
Two executives at New York-based Momentum Advisors, including the firm’s chief compliance officer, allegedly misappropriated more than $220,000, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.
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News Brief
Investment scammers, other fraudsters scored billions from consumers in 2024, FTC reports
The public reported a 25 percent increase in losses–totaling more than $12.5 billion in 2024–to investment scams, tech rip-offs, and general fraud, according to an analysis by the Federal Trade Commission.
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Judge to hear arguments for and against CFPB cuts before agency potentially ‘choked out of existence’
The future of the CFPB–and the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle it–hang in the balance as a federal judge pushed consideration of a request by a federal employees’ union to preserve the agency.
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New era dawns on crypto industry with SEC dismissal of Coinbase case
The Securities and Exchange Commission dismissed its lead case against the cryptocurrency industry, a lawsuit against crypto exchange Coinbase, signaling an about-face in the agency’s enforcement approach toward digital assets under President Donald Trump.
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News Brief
DOD health contractors rack up more than $100M in excess payments, DOJ alleges
Six health centers that contracted with the Department of Defense, intentionally overbilled the government for more than $100 million, the Department of Justice alleged in announcing a settlement with one of the plans.
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News Brief
Senate votes along party lines to confirm RFK Jr. as secretary of HHS
The U.S. Senate has approved Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, placing President Donald Trump’s controversial pick at the helm of a $1.7 trillion department in transition.
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News Brief
Lawsuits filed to save CFPB amid Trump push to shutter financial watchdog
Enforcement and all other operations at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have come to a screeching halt under Trump administration directives but a pair of lawsuits aimed at keeping the agency open mean the stoppage could be short-lived.
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News Brief
Apex Clearing Corp. to pay $3.2M over improper disclosures, distorting investor payouts
A clearing firm agreed to pay $3.2 million and certify that it put in place compliance measures under an agreement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
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News Brief
Arizona couple pleads guilty in vast $1.2B skin graft false claims case
Two owner-operators of three Arizona medical companies have pleaded guilty to billing more than $1.2 billion in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and other government health programs in less than two years, the Department of Justice said.
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News Brief
FBI, Europol shut down hacking sites selling personal info, tools for cybercriminals
Two massive hacking websites–where criminals sold everything from stolen social security numbers to tools for cybercriminals to gain access to computers–have finally been shut down by an international law enforcement team, the Department of Justice announced.
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News Brief
DOJ indicts five in remote IT work scheme to circumvent North Korean sanctions
Five people, including two Americans, allegedly duped U.S. companies into hiring North Koreans for contract IT work, and funneled millions in U.S. dollars to the sanctioned regime, the Department of Justice said.