All articles by Jaclyn Jaeger – Page 103
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Blog
Third Citigroup Compliance Update Posted
More than one year after Citigroup’s $7 billion landmark settlement with the government to resolve a federal investigation into the sale of sub-prime mortgages comes the third report on the bank’s progress. Details of the report include an assessment of Citi’s consumer relief efforts through March 31 and a review ...
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Article
ISO 20022: Tepid U.S. Embrace for New Financial Standard
Image: The push to adopt a new ISO standard for financial transactions is gaining momentum on a global scale—even as the United States continues to weigh the business case for it. “It’s important because it is seen as the standard that all new financial transactions will move to over time,” ...
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Article
Global Transparency Failures Endure, Adding Risk
Image: One of the great challenges for U.S. compliance officers as they build global programs is the basic lack of transparency into enforcement information in other countries. Two new reports give a better scope of the problem, even if the picture revealed is not terribly encouraging. “Getting access to information ...
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Blog
UBS to Pay $1.7 Million for Sanctions Violations
Swiss bank UBS yesterday reached a $1.7 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to resolve allegations that it violated global terrorism sanctions regulations. Lessons learned from the bank’s compliance failures, as well as the mitigating factors that reduced the penalty amount, are inside.
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Article
Don’t Let Bad Culture Short-Circuit Your Training
A compliance training program is only as effective as the corporate culture it stands upon—which means employee cynicism and fear of retaliation need to be addressed first if you ever hope your training program will matter. Inside we look at how CCOs can combat cynicism, even when it takes a ...
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Article
More Cyber-Security Guidelines for Govt Contractors
Image: The Obama Administration is considering new cyber-security guidance that would effectively impose stringent new reporting obligations on government contractors. That means more due diligence on third parties, and a review of contract language to see who is responsible for what. “[E]verybody is going to need to get their cyber-house ...
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Blog
Few OECD Member Countries Make Good on Anti-Bribery Pledge
Many of the member countries to the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention are not doing enough to prevent bribery and corruption, according to a new report from Transparency International. Twenty-two of the 41 signatory countries have “failed to investigate or prosecute any foreign bribery case during the last four years,” TI said. ...
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Blog
Citigroup to Pay $15M for Compliance Failures
Citigroup Global Markets today reached a $15 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges that it failed to enforce policies and procedures to prevent and detect securities transactions that could involve the misuse of material, nonpublic information. The SEC also said the firm failed to adopt ...
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Blog
Walmart FCPA Costs Reach $675 Million
Walmart disclosed in an earnings call that its costs for potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act have well surpassed the half-billion dollar mark, reaching a whopping $675 million. To date, the retail giant has spent $63 million in total FCPA-related expenses in fiscal year 2016. Details inside.
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Blog
BNY Mellon Settles FCPA Charges for $14.8 Million
The Bank of New York Mellon has agreed to pay $14.8 million to the SEC to settle charges that the bank awarded plum internships to the relatives of Mideast government officials in exchange for business managing those countries’ sovereign wealth funds. “These officials sought, and BNY Mellon agreed to provide, ...
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Blog
Lumber Liquidators Names Chief Compliance Officer
Lumber Liquidators has named Jill Witter as chief compliance and legal officer. Her appointment comes at a time when the embattled hardwood flooring company faces allegations that it sold Chinese-manufactured laminated wood products containing high levels of formaldehyde, posing serious health risks. More inside.
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Article
The Global State of the Right To Be Forgotten
More than a year after the EU established is right-to-be-forgotten principle, U.S. compliance professionals in the tech sector probably wish the decision itself could be forgotten, too. France is insisting that the principle be applied worldwide; even before that ever happens, compliance within Europe is laborious and complicated. Our latest ...
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Article
The Current State of SEC Whistleblower Guidance
The SEC’s latest guidance on whistleblower protection, confirming that employees need not report misconduct first to the SEC to win anti-retaliation protections, seems at first glance to be good news for internal compliance programs. For corporations as a whole, less so. Inside, we take a deeper look at the limits ...
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Blog
Citigroup Affiliates to Pay $180 Million for Hedge Fund Fraud
Two Citigroup affiliates—Citigroup Global Markets and Citigroup Alternative Investments—today agreed to pay nearly $180 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges that they defrauded investors in two hedge funds by claiming they were safe, low-risk, and suitable for traditional bond investors. The funds later crumbled and eventually ...
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Blog
Soma Oil & Gas Faces Corruption Probe by SFO
The U.K. Serious Fraud Office recently announced that it has opened a criminal investigation into London-based Soma Oil & Gas Holdings relating to allegations of corruption in Somalia. Soma Oil & Gas confirmed that it has been informed by the agency of the investigation. More inside.
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Blog
SciClone Could Pay SEC $12.8 Million in FCPA Case
SciClone Pharmaceuticals has disclosed in a quarterly report that it’s discussing a tentative $12.8 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve an investigation of potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act with respect to its China operations. Details inside.
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Blog
FTC Issues First-Ever Guidance on Unfair Competition
After more than 100 years, it has finally happend: the Federal Trade Commission has published guidance on what it considers “unfair” competition. The pronouncement is a welcome development for companies, as they now have at least some idea as to what activity could potentially result in a FTC investigation. More ...
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Blog
Edward Jones to Pay $20M for Overcharging Customers in Municipal Bond Sales
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged brokerage firm Edward Jones and the former head of its municipal underwriting desk have agreed to settle charges that they overcharged customers in new municipal bonds sales. It’s the SEC’s first case against an underwriter for pricing-related fraud in the primary market for ...
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Blog
Benchmark Report Shows Latest Trends in Training Programs
A new report conducted by NAVEX Global offers fresh benchmarking data for ethics and compliance officers looking to see how their training program, objectives, and challenges compare to their peers. Among the findings: employee cynicism and fear of retaliation for speaking up about misconduct are the top two challenges to ...
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Blog
New U.K. Crime Unit to Investigate Corruption Affecting Developing Countries
Image: The U.K.’s Department for International Development is stepping up its efforts to investigate cases of international corruption affecting developing countries through a new specialist unit launched by International Development Secretary Justine Greening. “Through the international corruption unit, the best of British law enforcement will step up our aid work ...