All Regulatory Enforcement articles – Page 156
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How M&A Due Diligence Goes Wrong
According to data compiled by Bloomberg, $390 billion in merger deals fell apart last year. M&A plans can collapse for many reasons, from regulatory disapproval to clashing CEO egos. Most painful, however, is a deal is consummated quickly that later proves to be a mistake—thanks to poor due diligence. Inside, ...
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Blog
Antitrust Division: $1.86B in Fines Last Year
The Antitrust Division of the Justice Department had one of its biggest years ever in fiscal 2014: $1.86 billion in fines and penalties from various enforcement actions. The lion’s share of that sum stems from a widespread price-fixing and bid-rigging scheme in the auto parts industry, as well as the ...
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A Closer Look at the SEC's Financial Reporting Cases in FY 2014
As I have previously discussed here in detail, the SEC announced in 2013 that it would be greatly sharpening its focus on accounting fraud cases. Among other things, the agency established a Financial Reporting and Audit Task Force in July 2013 staffed with lawyers and accountants specifically focused on generating ...
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Why Wait for SEC? The DIY Disclosure Review
While companies await results of the SEC’s ongoing review of its disclosure regime (hint: do not hold breath), they can just as well try the same at home. Creating a disclosure committee, cutting redundancy in 10-K risk factors and MD&A sections, spotlighting material information, and using charts and graphs are ...
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FCA’s Reach, Power Only Get Bigger
Image: 2014 was a banner year for enforcement of the False Claims Act, with more civil fines and damages than ever before—but the penalty amounts aren’t what should alarm companies; the growing list of industries in the government’s crosshairs is. “Virtually any industry that does business with the federal government ...
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Citigroup Compliance Update Posted
Six months following Citigroup’s $7 billion settlement with the government to resolve a federal investigation into the sale of subprime mortgages, the bank’s compliance monitor has published his first report on progress made. The report details Citi’s efforts on outreach requirements, tax reporting requirements, and consumer relief credit to date. ...
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U.K. Regulator Places Corporate Culture at Heart of Compliance
Image: Title: BischoffWith the recent release of an annual report detailing compliance gains, the head of Britain’s Financial Reporting Council called on boards to tackle the complex issue of corporate culture to ensure ethical corporate behavior. FRC Chairman Sir Winfried Bischoff said his agency this year will delve into how ...
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FTC, FDA Take Closer Look at Disclosures
The Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on companies with questionable advertising disclosures. The Food and Drug Administration, meanwhile, may allow shorter lists of side effects in drug and medical device ads, even as it prepares tougher standards for how these companies use online advertising and social media. The focus ...
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S&P to Pay $77 Million for Ratings Misconduct
Standards & Poor’s Ratings Services has agreed to pay $58 million to the SEC, $12 million to the New York Attorney General’s Office, and $7 million to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office to settle a series of federal securities law violations involving fraudulent misconduct in its ratings of certain commercial ...
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SEC Riding Lengthy Unbeaten Streak in Administrative Proceedings
As I observed here last week, there has been a recent flurry of cases filed by respondents in SEC administrative proceedings claiming that the SEC's use of these "APs" is unconstitutional for various reasons. Indeed, on Friday of last week, one such constitutional challenge was brought by a person who ...
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Daiichi Sankyo to Pay $39 Million for FCA Violations
Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo this month agreed to pay $39 million to the government to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to induce physicians to prescribe Daiichi drugs. “Settlements like this one show that the government will continue to pursue health care companies ...
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Former S&P Official Seeks to Pull Plug on 'Imminent' AP Against Her
In recent months, defendants in multiple SEC cases that the agency has brought as administrative proceedings have shot back as plaintiffs in federal court claiming that the SEC's use of these "APs" is unconstitutional. On December 11, 2014, the SEC prevailed in the first of these challenges to be decided ...
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UBS Dark Pool Operation Leads to SEC Charges
The Securities and Exchange Commission this week charged a UBS subsidiary with disclosure failures and other securities law violations related to the operation and marketing of its dark pool. UBS Securities agreed to pay more than $14.4 million, including a $12 million penalty—the SEC’s largest against an alternative trading system. ...
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'Digital Currency Working Group' Helped SEC Bring Bitcoin Case
On December 8, 2014, the SEC announced that it had filed an administrative proceeding against a computer programmer for "operating two online venues that traded securities using virtual currencies Bitcoin or Litecoin without registering the venues as broker-dealers or stock exchanges." The programmer, Ethan Burnside, agreed to settle the case ...
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SEC Enforcement – An Analysis of Key Developments in 2014
2014 was another eventful year in the world of SEC enforcement, with a number of "first-ever" cases and other key developments in areas including insider trading, whistleblowers, admissions, trials, administrative proceedings and the SEC's use of new technologies.In a webcast I moderated yesterday, a panel consisting of four former senior ...
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NLRB Push Forces Rethinking of Social Media Policies
Through numerous rulings last year, the National Labor Relations Board reshaped the boundaries of acceptable social media policies companies can impose on employees. The result: an unsettling world where, yes, employees might be allowed to curse a manager or to use corporate e-mail to raise pro-union sentiments. Compliance officers might ...
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Latest PCI Standard Pushes Toward Risk Management
Image: Version 3.0 of the PCI Data Security Standard goes into effect this month—and maybe, just possibly, it will strengthen companies’ discipline against credit card data theft. The new standard prods companies to approach security as a continuous risk monitoring duty. “You can’t have smooth implementation until you start to ...
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Painful Lessons Learned From Alstom, Avon Settlements
Two long-standing FCPA investigations—one into Avon, the other into Alstom—wrapped up in December, with results sure to alarm any audit committee. The fines were huge, the investigation costs just as large and, above all, the costs of non-cooperation were demonstrated to be painfully high. Inside, Compliance Week columnist Tom Fox ...
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Andrew Weissmann Rejoins DoJ as Chief of Criminal Fraud Section
Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell of the Justice Department announced that Andrew Weissmann has been named chief of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. Weissmann is rejoining the Justice Department, where he previously served as director of the Enron task force.
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U.S. Sentencing Commission Rethinks Securities Fraud Punishments
The U.S. Sentencing Commission is considering changes to how securities-related crimes are punished, potentially imposing less jail time upon defendants in securities fraud cases. A proposal unveiled on Friday detailed a plan to rely on gains obtained by a defendant, rather than the traditional assessment of the losses suffered by ...