All Regulatory Enforcement articles – Page 157
-
Blog
Reminder: New FAR Thresholds for 2015
Reminder: revised acquisition-related dollar thresholds amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation for government contractors take effect Oct. 1. Government contractors should be aware of these adjustments since they affect a number of areas, including when contractors must report the executive compensation of their first-tier subcontracts, when they must report certified cost ...
-
Blog
Two More Banks Reach Agreements Under Swiss Bank Program
The Department of Justice last week announced that two more banks—Migros Bank and Graubündner Kantonalbank—have reached resolutions under the Department’s Swiss Bank Program, which provides a means for Swiss banks to resolve potential criminal liabilities in the United States. Migros will pay a $15 million penalty, and Graubündner will pay ...
-
Blog
SEC Trial Scorecard Update: Jury Finds for SEC in Insider Trading Case
With just five days remaining in FY 2015, the SEC notched another victory at trial yesterday when a federal jury in Illinois found two men liable for insider trading in the securities of three acquisition targets. The case represented the SEC's sixth trial verdict in federal court in FY 2015.
-
Blog
Hudson City Bancorp to Pay $33M on Lending Practices
Hudson City Savings Bank today reached a $33 million settlement with the Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to resolve allegations that it engaged in discriminatory mortgage lending practices against predominantly African American and Hispanic neighborhoods. “This resolution represents the Justice Department’s largest residential mortgage 'redlining' settlement ...
-
Blog
Former RidgeWorth Capital Management CCO Joins Deloitte
Deloitte & Touche has named Robert Zakem as a director in its regulatory and compliance practice for investment management firms. Most recently, he served as general counsel and chief compliance officer of RidgeWorth Capital Management. Details inside.
-
Blog
Lessons From SEC’s First Cybersecurity Enforcement Action
This week, the SEC fined investment advisory firm R.T. Jones Capital Equities Management for failing to establish required cyber-security policies and procedures, which later led to a breach that compromised the personal data of roughly 100,000 customers. It is the first enforcement action the SEC has brought against a regulated ...
-
Blog
Caldwell Clarifies Application of the Yates Memo
During remarks at a recent conference in New York, Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell offered some additional insight to companies on the Yates Memo regarding individual accountability for corporate wrongdoing. “We will make efforts to credit, not penalize, diligent investigations,” she said. More of her comments are inside.
-
Blog
Financial Instruments Rule May Challenge Banks
Image: Danièle Nouy, supervisory chief of the European Central Bank, spoke recently about a new accounting standard for financial instruments that may prove challenging to the banking sector. “The completion of this accounting standard as one of the responses to the financial crisis will bring major changes and challenges to ...
-
Blog
French Data Regulator Rejects Google’s ‘Right To Be Forgotten’ Appeal
Big news this week from France as the Commission Nationale de I’Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL) rejected Google’s appeal against the enforcement of “right to be forgotten.” If Google fails to comply with CNIL’s order, the company may be hit with sanctions, including a €300,000 fine, which could increase to ...
-
Blog
Adventist Health to Pay $115 Million for False Claims Act Violations
Adventist Health System, a non-profit healthcare organization that operates hospitals and other health care facilities in 10 states, this week agreed to pay $115 million to the government to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by maintaining improper compensation arrangements with referring physicians and by miscoding claims. ...
-
Article
Navigating Global Internal Investigations Under Main Justice’s New Policy
Image: The Justice Department’s new Yates Memo, demanding much more cooperation from companies to find individual wrongdoers, will pressure companies to pressure employees during internal investigations. In Europe and elsewhere, however, the law favors employees much more than in the United States, making global investigations a tall order. “Most developed ...
-
Blog
Report Highlights Cybersecurity Risks to Accountants
A lot has been written here and elsewhere about the cybersecurity risks to law firms, but a recent report by ACCA USA highlights another, similarly situated profession that has not received as much attention: accountants.
-
Blog
Mindtree Partners With MetricStream to Simplify Regulatory Compliance for Financial Firms
Mindtree, a digital transformation and technology services company, announced this month that it has partnered with GRC provider MetricStream to help simplify regulatory compliance for financial firms. Mindtree will leverage MetricStream's Zaplet, a cloud-based open platform to build, deploy, and manage a variety of GRC applications for financial firms globally. ...
-
Blog
GM to Pay $900 Million to Resolve Criminal Charges in Product Safety Case
General Motors today agreed to a $900 million forfeiture to resolve criminal charges for wire fraud and for concealing information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concerning safety defects in its vehicles. The automaker also entered into a deferred prosecution agreement under which it admitted that it failed to ...
-
Blog
Swiss Authorities to Unveil New ‘Lex-FIFA’ Anti-Corruption Reform
A new draft anti-corruption law in Switzerland, named after scandal-ridden football organization FIFA, will treat bribery as a criminal offence and allow Swiss authorities to launch corruption probes against the country’s international sporting federations without tip-offs from inside the organization in question. Some members of Swiss Parliament argue that the ...
-
Article
Getting a Better Read on ‘Conduct Risk’
Image: “Conduct risk” is a phrase uttered by many regulators these days and a menace compliance officers in banking circles worry about more and more. Still, putting a precise definition on it isn’t easy. “Conduct risk frequently demands that a firm address the widest range of policies, processes … and ...
-
Blog
Advocacy Group Rolls Out 'Dump (Mary Jo) Truck' on D.C. Streets
What stunts are even left for the next disgruntled advocacy group to pursue? Skywriters? Taking over the television airwaves to deliver a message like the Joker in Batman? Falconers? Stay tuned!
-
Blog
Newman Decision Leads to Rare Loss for SEC in an AP
SEC Administrative Law Judge Jason Patil dismissed an insider-trading case against a former Wells Fargo trader, noting that the SEC failed to prove that the person who allegedly tipped the trader did so for a personal benefit, as required by the Second Circuit’s disruptive opinion in U.S. v. Newman. Patil ...
-
Blog
Cohen and Sansone Named Co-Chiefs for SEC's Market Abuse Unit
The SEC has named Robert Cohen and Joseph Sansone as the new Co-Chiefs of the Division of Enforcement’s Market Abuse Unit, filling the position recently vacated by Dan Hawke.
-
Blog
Court: Whistleblowers Protected, SEC Reporting or Not
A federal appeals court has ruled that employees are covered by anti-retaliation protections for whistleblowers provided by the Dodd-Frank Act, even if they don’t file a report with the SEC. The ruling is a warning to businesses to tread carefully when handing out discipline to a suspected whistleblower, whether or ...