All Regulatory Enforcement articles – Page 158
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Blog
Haywood Gilliam, Jr. Confirmed as Federal Judge in California
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Gilliam is currently a partner and and vice-chair of Covinton & Burling's White Collar Defense and Investigations practice group. President Obama nominated Gilliam in August 2014 to fill ...
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Blog
Avon Pays $135 Million To Resolve FCPA Charges
Image: The SEC has charged Avon with Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations by failing to prevent payments and gifts to Chinese government officials from employees at a subsidiary, resulting in a $135 million penalty. “Avon missed an opportunity to correct potential FCPA problems at its subsidiary, resulting in years of ...
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Blog
CFPB Sues Sprint Over Third-Party Charges
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has filed a lawsuit against Sprint, alleging that the wireless communications provider illegally billed its customers tens of millions of dollars in unauthorized third-party charges. The Bureau’s complaint alleges that Sprint allowed third parties to “cram” unauthorized charges on customers’ mobile-phone accounts and ignored ...
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Blog
Sanctions Rewrite Will Open Cuba to U.S. Companies
Seeking to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba, President Barack Obama has announced an easing of decades-old sanctions. Authorizing the export of goods for private sector Cuban companies "essentially throws the market open to U.S. companies,” Judith Lee, chair of the law firm Gibson Dunn's International Trade Regulation ...
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Article
Regulators Publish Latest Thinking on AML Compliance
Image: Financial regulators have just updated their examination manual for anti-money laundering compliance, giving financial firms plenty of holiday reading on how they should structure their AML programs. “The big changes are in areas where things have moved forward: virtual currency, prepaid cards, changes in the SAR rules, aggregation for ...
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Blog
2015 SEC Trial Scorecard Update: Jury Finds Bank, CEO Liable for Fraud
As I did in FY 2014, I am again tracking the SEC's trials and outcomes for FY 2015 in this running SEC Trial Scorecard. To date in FY 2015, which began on October 1, 2014, the SEC has had three trials in federal court reach a verdict (see the ...
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Blog
New York Becomes First State to Launch Cyber-Security Exams for Banks
Add the New York Department of Financial Services to the growing list list of regulators (such as the SEC and FINRA) who will be scrutinizing the cybersecurity practices of Wall Street banks and financial institutions. On Wednesday, Benjamin Lawsky, New York's Superintendant of Financial Services, stated in a letter to ...
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Blog
Citigroup’s Legal Expenses Reach $2.7 Billion
Citigroup announced this week that it has set aside $2.7 billion to cover legal costs for the fourth quarter in connection with several ongoing regulatory investigations. “We believe these legal charges should cover a significant portion of our outstanding legal matters based on current information,” Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat said. ...
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Blog
Justice Department Extends Standard Chartered DPA
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice have decided to extend for three more years a deferred prosecution agreement reached with British bank Standard Charted Bank in 2012, finding that it has not satisfied the requirements of the original agreement—and may have ...
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Blog
Banking Union Moves Ahead With Bail-Out Fund Rules and Chairman Pick
Image: Dec. 10—The European Union has taken important steps in recent days regarding a bloc-wide banking union. The Council of the European Union has agreed to an eight-year phase-in plan to switch banks from national resolution funds contributions to the bloc-wide Single Resolution Fund. Meanwhile, the European Commission selected Germany’s ...
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Blog
U.K. Financial Regulator Sharpening Focus With New Structure
Image: Dec. 10—The Financial Conduct Authority, which took over financial regulation for the United Kingdom in 2013, is undertaking a complete restructuring to better deliver on its objectives, protect consumers and market integrity, and promote competition. The agency announced that certain divisions will be consolidated with new ones created for ...
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Blog
Study: Many Businesses Struggle With Anti-Corruption Controls
Image: Dec. 10—Three years after the U.K. Bribery Act came into force, many businesses are still struggling to implement the procedures necessary to prevent corruption as expected by the Ministry of Justice. More than one-third of almost 3,000 anti-corruption controls assessed by GoodCorporation were graded as inadequate in a recent ...
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Blog
Madoff's Secretary Gets Lighter Sentence Due to Her 'Unusually Small Stature'
"Madoff secretary gets 6 years after judge cites ‘small stature’" When I came across the headline above in yesterday's New York Post, I thought that while "small stature" was an odd way to characterize the role of Madoff's secretary in his massive fraud, it did make sense that someone who ...
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Blog
'Laws of the Land' Finally Catching Up to Former Satyam CEO, Part II
In July 2014, I noted here that although it had taken over five years, the wheels of justice were finally in motion against B. Ramalinga Raju, former chairman and CEO of Satyam Computer Services, as India's securities regulator had ordered Raju, his brother, and two others to disgorge $307 million. ...
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Blog
Brazil’s Anti-Corruption Head Resigns
Brazil’s anti-corruption obstacles continue to escalate, following the resignation this week of the federal government’s head of anti-corruption, amid a corruption probe unfolding against Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras. Hage’s resignation comes as eight engineering and construction companies that held contracts with Petrobras face allegations that they took part in ...
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Blog
Google Will Pay $19M to Settle FTC Complaints
The Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order resolving allegations that Google unfairly billed consumers for in-app charges that were made by children without their parents’ consent. Google will set aside $19 million in restitution and contact all all affected consumers within 15 days.
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Blog
After Three Years, SFO Obtains First Convictions Under U.K. Bribery Act
It took more than three years, but Britain’s Serious Fraud Office has finally obtained its first convictions under the U.K. Bribery Act. According to the SFO, two men have been found guilty of conspiring to use false e-mail addresses to produce bogus sales invoices, an offense uncovered by an investigation ...
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Blog
DoJ Creating Dedicated Cybersecurity Unit Within Criminal Division
Image: Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell has announced that the Justice Department is creating a cyber-security unit within the Criminal Division. Prosecutors will serve as a “central hub for expert advice and legal guidance regarding the criminal electronic surveillance statutes for both U.S. and international law enforcement conducting complex cyber-investigations,” ...
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Article
Why Anti-Money Laundering Programs Aren’t Just for Banks Anymore
Image: After years of hunting money launderers by scrutinizing transaction at big banks, regulators are widening their nets to include luxury goods retailers, casinos, technology companies, and others. The Feds are holding more businesses accountable for questionable transactions and pushing those at risk to beef up AML compliance. “All companies, ...
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Blog
Toyota Motor Credit Probed for Lending Discrimination
The Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last month launched an investigation against Toyota Motor Credit over allegations of auto-lending discrimination practices, Toyota announced in a recent Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to the agencies, “such practices resulted in discriminatory pricing of loans ...