All articles by Jaclyn Jaeger – Page 115
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Blog
Justice Department Nets Record $5.7 Billion From False Claims Cases
Image: Title: DeleryThe Department of Justice obtained a record $5.7 billion in recoveries from civil cases involving fraud and false claims against the government in fiscal year 2014, thanks mainly to massive settlements reached in the financial services and healthcare industries. “In the past three years, we have achieved the ...
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Blog
Justice Department Collected $24.7 Billion in Civil and Criminal Cases in 2014
The Department of Justice collected $24.7 billion in civil and criminal actions in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2014, Attorney General Eric Holder announced in a video released today by the agency. That amount is “more than three times the $8 billion total the Department collected in 2013,” Holder ...
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Blog
2014 Marked Record Year for SEC Whistleblower Program
Fiscal year 2014 marked a historic year for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s whistleblower program both in the number of tips it received and the number and dollar amount of whistleblower rewards the agency doled out, according to the SEC’s annual report to Congress. The SEC received 3,620 whistleblower tips ...
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Blog
Whitewashed Sanctions Report Costs Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi $565 Million
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ today reached a $315 million settlement with the New York State Department of Financial Services—adding to the $250 million settlement it reached with DFS last year—for misleading regulators regarding the bank’s transactions with Iran, Sudan, Myanmar, and other sanctioned entities, bringing the bank’s total monetary penalty ...
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Article
Wanted: Compliance Officers With Leadership, Communication Skills
Image: Chief compliance officers are still in high demand, but the skills that companies are looking for in top candidates are changing. Companies are seeking compliance leaders who have the ability to influence others, communicate effectively, and build relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, including regulators. ...
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Blog
G20 to Focus on Beneficial Ownership Transparency in 2015
Improving beneficial ownership transparency will be a top priority for leaders of the G20 countries in 2015. Following a two-day summit in Australia this week, the G20 leaders released a new set of principles that sets out concrete measures that G20 countries will take to prevent the misuse of legal ...
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Article
HHS’s Plan to Target Data Security in 2015 Means More Audits
The Department of Health and Human Services plans to raise the bar on data security in the healthcare industry in the year ahead. The renewed focus likely means more audits and enforcement actions for providers and insurers. On HHS’s checklist are required contingency plans that establish procedures for responding to ...
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Blog
Justice Department: OK to Buy Foreign Company That Paid Bribes
The Department of Justice has issued a new advisory opinion addressing the unusual situation of how to handle a U.S.-based company that wants to acquire a foreign company found to have paid bribes to government officials prior to the acquisition taking place. In this case, the Justice Department concluded that ...
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Blog
Petrobras Restates Financials Amid Bribery Probe
A corruption probe unfolding against Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras took an interesting turn today, when Brazilian federal police carried out a series of raids that resulted in the arrests of eighteen individuals believed to be involved in a widespread money-laundering scheme. In light of the accusations and investigations, Petrobas ...
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Blog
ESCO Pays $2 Million for Cuba Sanctions Violations
ESCO, a maker of metal parts for the mining, oil and gas, construction and other industries, today reached a $2 million settlement with the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for violations of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations. According to OFAC, ESCO appeared to have violated these reegulations when ...
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Blog
North Dakota University System to Terminate Audit, Compliance Executive
North Dakota University System has placed its chief compliance officer and chief auditor on administrative leave, pending termination. According to the university, Chief Auditor Timothy Carlson allegedly lied about his work history when applying for the job, and Chief Compliance Officer Kirsten Franzen allegedly failed to establish a compliance program ...
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Blog
SBM Offshore Enhances Compliance, Pays $240 Million for Bribery
SBM Offshore has reached a $240 million settlement with the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s Office over improper payments to sales agents and foreign government officials. The company initiated an internal investigation, reported the facts to authorities, and fully cooperated in the investigation. Dutch officials also credited SBM Offshore for taking significant ...
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Blog
Banks Fined $4.3 Billion in Foreign-Exchange Probe
In a highly-anticipated series of settlements, regulators from the United Kingdom, United States, and Switzerland today slapped six banks with a total of $4.3 billion in fines to resolve charges that they manipulated the foreign exchange currency-trading market. JPMorgan and Citibank will pay the largest total in fines of $1 ...
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Article
The Real Data Breach Risks Are Right Under Your Nose
While companies fret about shadowy hackers based in Russia and China hell bent on stealing customer information, employees—not cyber-criminals—pose the biggest threat to create data breaches and data loss, according to a recent study. Ungoverned and negligent file-sharing by employees is hitting epidemic proportions: More than half of respondents to ...
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Blog
Getting to Know Attorney General Nominee Lynch
Following President Barack Obama’s nomination this week of Loretta Lynch as the next top chief of the Department of Justice, many in Corporate America may be wondering what the transition will mean for the agency’s enforcement priorities. “She has spent years in the trenches as a prosecutor, aggressively fighting terrorism, ...
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Blog
TRACE Launches Business Bribery Risk Index
Image: Title: WrageNov. 11—TRACE International has announced the launch of the TRACE Matrix, a business bribery risk index aimed at the compliance community. Developed in collaboration with research firm RAND, the TRACE Matrix focuses specifically on business activity, rather than broad corruption measures, providing companies with the ability to assess ...
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ArticleAuto Industry Under Siege Over Defects, Mileage Ratings
Title: GrigorianA record number of product-safety recalls and massive civil and criminal penalties for compliance failures such as mis-stated mileage ratings have put all manufacturers and suppliers in the automotive industry on notice—and things are only just starting, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration bears down. “This level of ...
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Blog
Federal Regulators Probing Subprime Auto Loans
Ally Financial recently became the latest auto-lending company to face a government investigation into its subprime auto lending practices. In the last few months, GM Financial and Santander Consumer USA Holdings have received subpoenas from the Department of Justice for similar practices, raising questions among some as to whether the ...
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Article
ISS Moving to Score Cards for Equity Plan Evaluations
Institutional Shareholder Services has proposed substantial changes to its voting policies on equity plans for the 2015 proxy season. Rather than assigning a pass or fail grade, ISS plans to implement a scorecard approach that weights various factors. The move addresses complaints that ISS takes a cookie-cutter approach to evaluating ...
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Article
Regulators Are Once Again in Hot Pursuit of Worker Misclassification
Image: Title: HanrahanState and federal agencies are issuing a renewed warning to companies that regularly use independent contractors: classify them correctly, or face big penalties. They are also putting more funds into detection and enforcement, meaning companies are likely to see an increase in audits. “I would expect to see ...