News | Compliance Week – Page 29
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News Brief
SEC commissioners criticize order against transfer agent DST
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s two Republican commissioners dissented from an agency order against transfer agent DST Asset Manager Solutions they deemed to be an example of regulation by enforcement.
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News Brief
Construction Specialties to pay $660K in Iran sanctions case
Construction Specialties agreed to pay more than $660,000 in a settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control regarding three apparent sanctions violations in Iran carried out by “rogue employees” of its Middle Eastern affiliate.
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News Brief
Lovesac facing shareholder pressure over accounting errors
The Lovesac Company disclosed it expects to restate certain of its 2023 financial statements after an internal investigation uncovered accounting errors related to its recording of last mile freight expenses.
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News Brief
Goldman Sachs fined $425K by FINRA for large option reporting lapses
Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $425,000 as part of a settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority addressing allegations of reporting and supervision violations regarding more than 1 million over-the-counter options positions.
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News Brief
Instinet fined $3.8M by FINRA over deficient CAT reports
Instinet, a brokerage firm subsidiary of Nomura Group, agreed to pay $3.8 million as part of a settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority regarding “tens of billions” of inaccurate or late reports filed to the consolidated audit trail central repository.
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News Brief
SEC fines Malvern Bank, ex-CFO for material misstatements
Malvern Bancorp and its former chief financial officer agreed to pay a combined $390,000 to settle allegations levied by the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding antifraud, reporting, books and records, and internal accounting control violations.
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News Brief
Ault Alliance fined $700K over disclosure lapses
Diversified holding company Ault Alliance agreed to pay $700,000 as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission addressing allegations of misleading disclosures and reporting violations.
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News Brief
Neogen discloses avoided OFAC fine in Iran sanctions probe
Neogen Corp. disclosed the Office of Foreign Assets Control concluded a probe into potential sanctions violations regarding transactions by the food and animal safety company with parties in Iran without issuing a fine.
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News Brief
Inotiv discloses FCPA probe into primate importation practices
Inotiv disclosed the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by the pharmaceutical testing company regarding its importation of nonhuman primates from Asia.
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News Brief
Short seller accuses Freedom Holding Corp. of ‘brazen’ sanctions evasion
Freedom Holding Corp. was accused of “brazen sanctions evasion,” along with openly flouting anti-money laundering and know your customer regulations, as part of an investigative report published by short seller Hindenburg Research.
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News Brief
FinCEN alerts banks to payroll tax, workers’ compensation schemes
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a notice to financial institutions regarding its observations of increasing payroll tax evasion and workers’ compensation fraud taking place in the U.S. residential and commercial real estate construction industries.
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News Brief
Disney, still without CCO, brings back former exec as deputy CCO
Rafael Ribeiro, Disney’s former assistant general counsel of global ethics and compliance, returned to the media giant in July as associate general counsel and deputy chief compliance officer.
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News Brief
UBS to pay $1.4B over financial crisis-era fraud
UBS and several of its U.S. affiliates agreed to pay $1.44 billion as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice regarding the underwriting and issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities in the lead up to the 2008 financial crisis.
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News Brief
SkyCity Entertainment reserves $29M for pending AML/CFT fine
Australian gaming company SkyCity Entertainment Group disclosed it reserved AUS$45 million (U.S. $29 million) for a potential settlement resolving alleged violations of the country’s anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism law.
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News Brief
SEC fines Crowe U.K. $750K over deficient Akazoo audit
The U.K. arm of audit firm Crowe agreed to pay $750,000 as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged professional care and skepticism failures regarding its 2018 audit of music streaming subscription company Akazoo.
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News Brief
PCAOB fines three in latest reporting requirement sweep
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board continued its crackdown on reporting requirement violations with penalties against three audit firms, including a BDO affiliate.
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News Brief
Bittrex, foreign affiliate to pay $24M over unregistered sale of securities
The Securities and Exchange Commission ordered cryptocurrency trading platform Bittrex and its foreign affiliate Bittrex Global to pay $24 million for running an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.
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News Brief
Grupo Aval to pay $81M in landmark FCPA case
Colombian conglomerate Grupo Aval agreed to pay nearly $81 million as part of settlements addressing alleged bribes paid by its bank subsidiary Corficolombiana to win a highway construction contract.
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News Brief
OFAC doubles down on sanctions against Belarusian regime
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced expanded sanctions against the Belarusian regime three years after the country’s disputed 2020 presidential election.
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News Brief
CCPA first state privacy law deemed adequate by Dubai financial hub
The Dubai International Financial Centre announced the California Consumer Privacy Act passes muster, allowing compliant California businesses to be the first permitted to transfer data with the DIFC without additional contractual measures.