All Regulatory Enforcement articles – Page 152
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Blog
Justice Official: Criminal Law Enforcement a Collaborative Effort
Image: Criminal, civil, and regulatory authorities increasingly are collaborating with one another to enforce certain federal criminal laws. “Working closely with regulatory partners at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission … and other domestic and foreign agencies, the unit has tackled some of the largest frauds ...
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U.K. Regulator Slaps Major Banks With Hefty Fines
The Financial Conduct Authority has fined Bank of New York Mellon £126 million for the lack of compliance monitoring during the financial crisis. In a separate case this week, the regulator also imposed a record fine on Clydesdale Bank for “serious failings in payment protection insurance complaint handling,” the FCA ...
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Google Faces Antitrust Charges in Europe
Image: The European Commission is expected to file a formal case against Google for abusing its dominance in the digital marketplace. Google now faces the possibility of being hit with $6 billion in fines, according to reports. Earlier this month, Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager made a pledge to “remove remaining ...
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Still Reading Tea Leaves on FCPA Enforcement? Try Listening and Reading
Sometimes all the angst and analysis about FCPA enforcement need not happen; sometimes, voices in the enforcement community just tell us what’s coming. That has been the case lately, Compliance Week columnist Tom Fox writes this week, as the SEC’s recent settlement with KBR over confidentiality agreements proves. Inside, he ...
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Article
A Bit More Transparency on Risks of Confidentiality Clauses
Image: The SEC is not the only government agency cracking down on “pre-taliation risk” in confidentiality agreements with employees; many others are turning their attention to the issue, too. “This is really a new focus for these agencies,” says Christopher Calsyn of the law firm Crowell Moring. Compliance officers may ...
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French Magistrates Probing HSBC for Tax Evasion Scheme
London-based banking giant HSBC last week said that French magistrates have launched a formal criminal investigation and imposed a bail of US$1 billion concerning allegations that HSBC's Swiss-based private banking arm helped clients evade taxes. In a statement, parent company HSBC Holdings said it “believes the French magistrates’ decision is ...
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Porzio Life Sciences Establishes Netherlands Office
Porzio Life Sciences (PorzioLS), a provider of regulatory compliance and legal services to the life sciences industry, has formed a new affiliate based in the Netherlands. PorzioLS also announced the introduction of Porzio GST, a configurable interface that enables drug and medical device companies to capture and manage data elements ...
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Batista Insider Trading Case: From ‘Landmark’ to ‘Turmoil’ to ‘Farce’
The already-bizarre Brazilian insider-trading case against former billionaire Eike Batista “desended into farce” this week when the presiding judge was charged with embezzling more than $360,000 in seized money to buy himself a bulletproof Land Rover and an apartment. Prosecutors also claim that Judge Souza destroyed documents pertaining to the ...
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FLIR Systems Settles FCPA Charges for $9.5 Million
Thermal imaging manufacturer FLIR Systems has reached a $9.5 million settlement with the SEC to resolve charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by financing what an employee termed a “world tour” of personal travel for government officials in the Middle East who played key roles in decisions ...
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India Sentences ex-Satyam CEO to 7 Years in Prison
Ramalinga Raju, former chairman and CEO of Satyam Computer Services, was found guilty in an Indian court this week and sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in “India’s Enron”—a $1 billion accounting fraud that was revealed in 2009. Raju also admitted in a letter to Satyam’s board ...
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Article
Monitoring Your Anti-Retaliation Program
Complaints of whistleblower retaliation are a persistent problem in Corporate America, and all the more irritating for companies that may believe they have solid anti-retaliation programs in place. Inside, we walk through the harder part of anti-retaliation efforts: not just creating the policy, but working with HR and line managers ...
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SEC Issues Wells Notice to Magnum Hunter
Magnum Hunter Resources has received a Wells Notice for potential material weaknesses in the company’s internal control over financial reporting. The oil and gas producer said it intends to respond in the form of a Wells submission, setting forth why it believes an enforcement action against it is not warranted. ...
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Second Circuit Denies DOJ Petition for Rehearing in Newman Case
Today, in a ruling that may have significant consequences, the Second Circuit rejected the DOJ's petition for a rehearing in the landmark U.S. v. Newman insider trading case. The DOJ filed a "Petition for Panel Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc" in the Newman case on January 23, which was supported ...
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HSBC Disciplines U.S. Executive Over Compliance Attitude
HSBC has decided to reassign the Americas head of its global banking division because of the manager’s poor attitude about the bank’s compliance and audit program, according to an update from its compliance monitor. The report cited that move as one example of HSBC’s improvement on compliance, while still warning ...
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SEC Brings First Action on Whistleblower ‘Pre-taliation’
The SEC has filed its first enforcement action against a company for what the agency has previously labeled “pre-taliation”—using confidentiality agreements or other agreements to potentially stifle the whistleblowing process. The company in question was KBR, which will pay $130,000 in penalties. See inside for more details.
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Bank of England and ECB Reach Deal on Financial Stability
The Bank of England and the European Central Bank have ended a four-year saga over the City of London’s clearinghouses, which required that these offices be near the Eurozone so they can be easily monitored in the event of an emergency. Under the agreement the BoE will provide the ECB ...
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SEC in the Movies: The Other Guys, Wall Street, Fletch ... What Else?
Recently, as my kids were watching Will Ferrell's movie, The Other Guys (2010), I learned that the film includes a scene in which Ferrell and his police partner, Mark Wahlberg, make a visit to the SEC to turn evidence over to a investigator. In the clip below, Ferrell tells the ...
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Blog
BSI SA to Pay $211 Million Penalty Under Swiss Bank Program
BSI SA, one of the 10 largest private banks in Switzerland, this week became the first bank to reach a resolution under the Department of Justice’s Swiss Bank Program, which provides a means for Swiss banks to resolve potential criminal liabilities in the United States. BSI will pay a $211 ...
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Article
The Latest State of Affairs on Whistleblower Claims
Image: A final rule from OSHA has smoothed the path for employees to file whistleblower retaliation claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank acts and put companies in a more difficult spot to defend themselves. “The final rule reinforces that these types of anti-retaliation provisions are here to stay,” says Daniel ...
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Sandoz to Pay $12.6 Million for Misrepresenting Drug Pricing Data
Drug maker Sandoz last week reached a $12.64 million settlement with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General to resolve allegations that it misrepresented drug pricing data to the Medicare program. The Sandoz settlement is the largest ever entered into under OIG’s drug price reporting civil ...