All Regulatory Enforcement articles – Page 179
-
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. ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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. ...
-
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 ...
-
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.
-
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 ...
-
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,” ...
-
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, ...
-
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 ...
-
Article
SEC Whistleblower Program’s Latest Threat: Its Success
Corporate compliance officers may have a new reason to be uncomfortable with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s whistleblower program: how well it appears to be working. Tips are flooding into the SEC, including 3,620 in fiscal year 2014 alone. “The SEC has institutionally embraced the whistleblower statute,” says Brian Kenney, ...
-
Blog
'FIN4' Hackers Target Over 100 Companies Seeking Market-Moving Information
Cyber-security firm FireEye released a report this week on a group of hackers that has targeted e-mail accounts of individuals with access to confidential information at more than 100 companies. The hackers are looking for non-public information about merger and acquisition deals and other major market-moving revelations, particularly in the ...
-
Blog
2015 SEC Trial Scorecard Update: Agency is Undefeated After Two Trials
Last year's SEC Trial Scorecard for FY 2014 is in the books, so it is time to get started on our FY 2015 SEC Trial Scorecard. The SEC Trial Scorecard tracks the SEC's trials in federal court, along with the outcome. To date in FY 2014 (which began on ...
-
Blog
Final SEC Trial Scorecard for FY 2014: SEC Posts 5-7-5 Record in 17 Trials
In March 2014, I began tracking the SEC's federal court trials in FY 2014 (which began on October 1, 2013), and the results in each case. The SEC's final trial scorecard in FY 2014 included a total of 17 trials. Of those 17 trials, SEC had five outright victories in ...
-
Blog
U.K. Regulators Fine RBS, Two Others £56M for IT Lapses
Image: Title: McDermottNov. 25—Financial regulators in Britain fined Royal Bank of Scotland, National Westminster Bank, and Ulster Bank a combined £56 million last week for IT failings in the summer of 2012 that left customers without full access to ATMs, online payments, and other banking services. The joint enforcement action ...
-
Blog
HSBC Private Bank Pays $12.5 Million for Providing Unregistered Services to U.S. Clients
HSBC’s Swiss-based private banking arm agreed today to pay $12.5 million to Securities and Exchange Commission for violating federal securities laws by failing to register with the SEC before providing cross-border brokerage and investment advisory services to U.S. clients. “HSBC Private Bank’s efforts to prevent registration violations ultimately failed, because ...
-
Blog
FINRA Fines Citigroup $15 Million for Supervisory Failures
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Citigroup Global Markets $15 million last week for failing to adequately supervise communications between its equity research analysts and its clients and Citigroup sales and trading staff. In settling this matter, Citigroup neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to the entry of ...