All Regulatory Enforcement articles – Page 141
-
Blog
2016 SEC trial scorecard update: New Mexico verdict hands agency first loss
On Wednesday, the SEC suffered its first setback in its FY 2016 federal court trials following a trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.
-
Blog
False Claims Act penalties to double
Federal contractors, beware: False Claims Act penalties will nearly double, effective Aug. 1. The increase in penalties is especially relevant to healthcare providers, government contractors and others that conduct business with the government. Jaclyn Jaeger has more.
-
Blog
SEC's Dabney O'Riordan Named Co-Chief of Asset Mgmt Unit
Yesterday, C. Dabney O’Riordan of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office was named co-chief of the Division of Enforcement’s Asset Management Unit. She fills the co-chief role left vacant when Marshall Sprung left the agency in April 2016 to join Blackstone Group LP as a managing director and the firm's ...
-
Blog
Volkswagen could spend $14.7 billion for cheating emissions tests
In two related settlements—one with the United States and the State of California, and one with the Federal Trade Commission—German automaker Volkswagen and related entities have agreed to spend up to $14.7 billion to settle allegations of cheating emissions tests and deceiving customers, the Department of Justice said. Jaclyn Jaeger ...
-
Blog
SEC charges four companies for oil and gas fraud
The SEC has charged four companies and eight individuals in an $80 million oil and gas fraud orchestrated by a man who calls himself the “Frack Master” for his purported expertise in hydraulic fracturing. Jaclyn Jaeger reports.
-
Blog
SEC: Merrill Lynch to pay $415M for misusing customer cash
Merrill Lynch has agreed to pay $415 million to settle charges that it misused customer cash to generate profits for the firm and failed to safeguard customer securities from the claims of its creditors. Jaclyn Jaeger reports.
-
Blog
'Hold' everything: SEC may be stuck at three commissioners for a while
Instead of trying to come up with new ways to repeatedly express public “disappointment” in the SEC, says enforcement blogger Bruce Carton, perhaps the U.S. Senate could simply do its own job and vote on the two nominees that President Obama nominated back in October 2015. Carton explores reasons behind ...
-
Blog
Compliance fail: Chinese bank employees publicly spanked for poor performance
A disturbing video of a Chinese bank's effort to improve employee performance -- through public, violent spankings of employees -- was posted yesterday. The video, which will make even the most hardened U.S. compliance officer cringe, shows a line of employees from Changzhi Rural Commercial Bank being subjected to an ...
-
Blog
Compliance front and center
The SEC and Justice Department have made it clear that it will no longer be adequate for companies merely to have a compliance program in place; it must actually be taken seriously from within and given the power and resources to do its job. Tom Fox explores.
-
Blog
Shots fired
In the aftermath of the Orlando massacre comes the all-too-familiar debate about guns and gun control in the United States. In that, a familiar refrain arises: Why bother regulating something when the evil and disturbed clearly will not obey the laws anyway? Why, indeed. The answer that matters most might ...
-
Blog
SEC prevails again in latest circuit court challenge to APs
Constitutional challenges to the SEC’s use of administrative proceedings to carry out enforcement actions continue to find no success in federal circuit court. Last week, the Eleventh Circuit joined the three other circuits that have considered and rejected such challenges. More from Bruce Carton.
-
Blog
LockPath joins American National Standards Institute to provide ISO content
LockPath, a GRC solutions provider, announced that it is now a member of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization. LockPath will be working with ANSI to provide content for the dozens of ISO standards through its GRC solution, the Keylight ...
-
Blog
Sen. Warren, Chair White and the circle of disappointment
At a hearing this week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren tried to hang her "disappointment" on SEC Chair Mary Jo White for the third time in 12 months. This time, to Sen. Warren's surprise, Chair White was ready to fight disappointment with disappointment.
-
Blog
Court rules SEC need not reimburse deponents for 'bacchanalian adventure'
Bacchus is the Roman god of wine and intoxication (equated with the Greek Dionysus). "Bacchanalia," or orgies in honor of Dionysus, were introduced in Rome around 200 BCE but eventualy got so out of hand that they were forbidden by the Roman Senate in 186 BCE. Roughly 2,000 years later, ...
-
Blog
Proofpoint releases Proofpoint Intelligent Supervision
Proofpoint, a next-generation cyber-security and compliance company, announced the release of Proofpoint Intelligent Supervision, designed to significantly accelerate FINRA, SEC, and IIROC compliance review and reduce audit time.
-
Blog
SEC Enforcement Hits Morgan Stanley for Cybersecurity Failure
The SEC brought its latest case under Regulation S-P today, announcing a settled administrative proceeding against Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Morgan Stanley agreed to pay a $1 million penalty to settle the agency's charges that it failed to protect customer data, some of which was hacked and offered for ...
-
Blog
SEC: two FCPA cases result in non-prosecution agreements
The SEC has entered into non-prosecution agreements with Akamai Technologies and Nortek that will forfeit ill-gotten gains connected to bribes paid to Chinese officials by foreign subsidiaries. Simultaneously, the Justice Department closed its investigations into Akamai and Nortek. Jaclyn Jaeger reports.
-
Blog
Senior SEC enforcement official Stephen Cohen to depart agency this month
Stephen Cohen, associate director for the SEC’s Enforcement Division, plans to leave the agency later this month after 12 years of service. A senior member of the Commission’s enforcement staff, Cohen joined the SEC in 2004 and has served as associate director since 2011. Bruce Carton has more.
-
Blog
French tax authorities seek €356 million from Booking.com
French tax authorities are seeking €356 million (approximately US$404 million) from Booking.com, a unit of online hotel reservation company Priceline Group, to recover what they claim are unpaid income taxes and value-added taxes, the company disclosed in a quarterly report.
-
Blog
Two former Deutsche Bank employees indicted on fraud charges
The Department of Justice announced today the indictment of two former Deutsche Bank traders—the bank’s supervisor of the pool trading desk in New York and a derivatives trader in London—for their alleged roles in a scheme to manipulate the USD London InterBank Offered Rate, a benchmark interest rate to which ...