All Regulatory Enforcement articles – Page 154
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Blog
Credit Suisse CEO Ousted After Tax Plea
Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan is stepping down after the bank pleaded guilty to criminal charges and violation of U.S tax laws, which resulted in $2.8 billion in fines by U.S regulators. The Swiss bank named Tidjane Thiam, Prudential’s current CEO, as Dougan’s successor. More inside.
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Blog
The Ups and Downs of FCPA Politics in Washington
Several events in Washington lately show just how well FCPA enforcement is—or more precisely, is not—understood there. This week, columnist Tom Fox turns his eye first to critics of the Justice Department’s new top FCPA prosecutor, and then to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and his ham-handed efforts to politicize the ...
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Blog
Second District Court Upholds SEC Use of Administrative Hearings
A hot topic on this blog of late has been the SEC's recent focus on bringing cases as administrative proceedings, an in-house type of action in which the agency has enjoyed extraordinary success. A related, and just as hot, topic has been the efforts of numerous respondents in these APs ...
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Blog
Congressman Lynch Offers First 'Post-Newman' Bill Banning Insider Trading
As I wrote here last month, the Second Circuit's decision in U.S. v. Newman has resulted in a flurry of recent pleas from people such as Mark Cuban, James Stewart and others for Congress to, finally, define the law of insider trading. On Monday, Congressman Stephen F. Lynch (D-Mass.) ...
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Google Realigns Amid Regulatory Heat
Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt met with the EU’s new antitrust chief on Monday. The search engine giant is being scrutinized by regulators for engaging in anticompetitive practices, potential antitrust violations, and oversight of privacy issues. In response to the mounting regulatory pressure, the company has realigned its European operations. ...
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Article
Internal Controls, Audit Committees Primed for SEC Scrutiny
Every February SEC officials convene at the Practising Law Institute’s “SEC Speaks” conference, where commissioners can break news and staff can detail priorities for the New Year. The focus this year, from rulemaking to enforcement, was on financial reporting internal controls, and ways to improve audit committees. And, of course, ...
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Blog
$500,000 SEC Whistleblower Award to Corporate Officer
The SEC announced today that it issued a sizable whistleblower award to a former corporate officer. The SEC stated that while corporate officers and directors are typically not eligible under the Dodd-Frank whistleblower statute to receive awards, the statute carves out an exception if an officer reports information concerning misconduct ...
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Blog
Citigroup Probe Over AML Violations Widens
Citigroup is under investigation by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the California Department of Business Oversight for potential Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering violations at its Banamex USA unit. The disclosure comes one year after Citigroup received a subpoena from the U.S. attorney of Massachusetts for similar issues. ...
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Blog
Level Global Co-Founder Files Lawsuit Against Prosecutors, FBI Agents
Remember back in November 2010 when the FBI launched a series of raids on hedge funds including Level Global Investors LP and Diamondback Capital Management LLC? These raids ultimately led to the convictions of Level Global co-founder Anthony Chiasson and Diamondback Capital’s Todd Newman on criminal insider trading charges. Shortly ...
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New York AG Proposes Whistleblower Reward Program
Image: New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will soon propose legislation to protect and reward employees who report fraud in the banking, insurance, and financial services industries. The bill will also provide whistleblowers protection from retaliation. “This law will be the strongest, most comprehensive in the nation and is long ...
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Blog
Batista Insider Trading Case in 'Turmoil' After Judge Seen Driving Seized Porsche
I've been following the interesting insider trading prosecution trial of former Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista that has been unfolding in Rio de Janeiro. Three years ago, Batista was worth $30 billion and was declared "the pride of Brazil" by Brazil's President. After the October 2013 collapse of his oil company, ...
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Blog
South Africa Fines Deutsche Bank $857,000 for Lax AML Controls
South Africa’s banking regulator last week fined Deutsche Bank $857,000 for failing to implement appropriate anti-money laundering controls. Deutsche Bank said in a statement that it acknowledged the inconsistencies and had “cooperated fully in remediating the identified shortcomings within agreed timeframes.” Details inside.
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Blog
SEC Commish Wants Clarity on SEC Enforcement Policy
Image: SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar is calling on the agency to create guidelines for when it will bring enforcement actions as administrative proceedings and when it will pursue cases in federal court. Given the SEC’s 100 percent success rate in administrative proceedings, he said in a speech, clarity on enforcement ...
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Blog
Decades Later, the Law of Insider Trading Remains Elusive and Undefined
Over a decade ago, in August 2004, I watched the high-profile Martha Stewart insider trading matter play out as federal prosecutors decided not to charge Stewart with the crime of insider trading, the SEC did pursue a civil lawsuit against her, and the rest of the U.S. seemed to scratch ...
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Article
‘Broken Windows’ Strategy Raises Risk-Management Fears
The SEC has been pushing its “broken windows” enforcement strategy for more than a year now, chasing down minor infractions alongside larger securities violations. What have we learned? For starters, don’t expect isolated citations; larger sweeps get more bang for the SEC’s buck. As for compliance officers, their jobs will ...
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Blog
Transparency Watchdog Calls for End to Money Laundering ‘Impunity’
Image: Title: UgazTransparency International is calling on governments around the world to join together to end money laundering. The group says authorities should make it their highest priority to prosecute individuals and banks for conducting illicit financial transactions. TI board chairman Jose Ugaz said the lack of senior ...
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Blog
Feds: Employee Impersonated Firm’s President in SEC Inquiry
As I have noted here before, SEC enforcement actions are civil matters, meaning no matter how badly a defendant may lose the case he or she isn't going to prison. However, there is a one easy way to parlay this situation into jail time, and that is by perjuring yourself ...
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Blog
Video: What it Looks Like When Your GC is Wearing a Wire
In April, the criminal trial of former PetroTiger CEO Joseph Sigelman for alleged violations of the FCPA will begin in federal court in Camden, New Jersey. Prosecutors allege that Sigelman bribed a Colombian official at Ecopetrol SA, a state-run energy company, to win a contract for PetroToiger. The WSJ reports ...
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Blog
AstraZeneca to Pay $7.9 Million for False Claims Act Violations
Drug maker AstraZeneca this week agreed to pay $7.9 million to the government to resolve allegations that it engaged in a kickback scheme in violation of the False Claims Act. “We will continue to pursue pharmaceutical companies that pay kickbacks to pharmacy benefit managers,” said acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce ...
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Blog
OMG it is #TBT at the SEC!
It is Thursday, so that means it is "Throwback Thursday" on Twitter and other social media sites such as Instagram. Throwback Thursday (referred to on Twitter and elsewhere by the hashtag #TBT) is the day of the week when many Twitter users reminisce by posting an old photo.This morning, for ...