Crypto exchange OKX latest target of DOJ, hit with $505M penalty over AML, KYC failures
One of world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges agreed to pay more than $500 million in penalties and plead guilty to AML and KYC violations, along with failing to register as a money transmitting business with the U.S. Treasury Department, the DOJ said.
FinCEN issues new BOI compliance date, but experts say unlikely to hold
Uncertainty continues to swirl around a requirement that small businesses and foreign entities file beneficial ownership information with the U.S. Treasury Department.
FCA fines Mako $2.1M for ineffective financial crime monitoring program
Mako Financial Markets Partnership will pay $2.1 million (1.7 million pounds) in penalties to the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority to settle allegations that its financial crime prevention program was ineffective.
Trump has called for a six-month ban on FCPA enforcement. How should compliance respond?
With a six-month ban on enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, compliance should retreat from fear-based messaging and instead focus on why ethical practices make good business sense, experts say.
Experts question effectiveness of new enforcement tool SFO is finally wielding
The U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office has made its first use of an enforcement tool that was meant to bring oligarchs and kleptocrats to book. But lawyers are unsure whether the move signifies either a change in direction or fortune for the agency.
Financial crime in the shadows of the dark web
The dark web has been depicted as a long-standing hub for crimes, where illegal activities such as drug dealing, financial fraud, weapon sales, murder for hire, stolen credit cards, and ransomware gags are easily accessible to the public.
BSA failures lead to $42M fine for Brink's over unregistered cash shipments to Mexico
Armored car company Brink’s Global Services will pay $42 million in penalties to settle charges laid by federal regulators for violating anti-money laundering provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act.
Bondi-led DOJ sharply pivots away from prosecution of corporate FCPA violations
The U.S. Department of Justice under new Attorney General Pam Bondi will de-emphasize white collar misconduct linked to bribes and foreign corruption, instead prioritizing corruption cases linked to human smuggling and the trafficking of narcotics and firearms.
FCA dings Infinox in first fine under U.K. capital market reforms of 2018
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority issued a landmark fine against trading platform Infinox Capital for failing to report “high-risk” transactions, the first-ever enforcement under a 2018 law.
KuCoin latest crypto firm to pay hefty price for violating BSA with $297M penalty
The Seychelles-based owner of cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin has agreed to pay nearly $300 million in penalties–and cease doing business in the U.S. for two years–to settle charges that it failed to properly monitor potential criminal activity on its network.
Experts: Prepare now with U.K. failure to prevent fraud offense on horizon
Fraud prevention is about to get more complicated with penalties rising sharply for U.K. organizations. Starting Sept. 1, larger businesses will be liable to criminal prosecution if any of their employees–or an agent, subsidiary, or other “associated person”–commits fraud that is intended to benefit the company.
Q&A: Hellenic Bank CCO on progress made to fight corruption in Cyprus
Maria Aristidou Demetriou, chief compliance officer at Cyprus-based Hellenic Bank, spoke to Compliance Week about derisking in the Cypriot banking sector since Russian’s invasion of Ukraine and efforts to combat corruption, money laundering, and sanctions evasion.
Inside Cyprus’ efforts to stem money laundering and sanctions evasion
Are there success stories in the international fight against money laundering and sanctions evasion? The island nation of Cyprus is making its case.
SEC fines LPL Financial $18M for failed due diligence on new, high-risk accounts
Broker-dealer LPL Financial will pay $18 million to settle charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission that its anti-money laundering program did not properly vet customers and failed to close or restrict thousands of high-risk accounts.
SEC fines cannabis hedge fund $150K for bogus AML policies, ties to Russian oligarch Abramovich
Cannabis hedge fund Navy Capital Green Management agreed to pay $150,000 to settle charges levied by the Securirties and Exchange Commission that the firm misled investors about its AML/CFT policies and allowed a sanctioned Russian oligarch to invest.
CJEU ruling adds to GDPR liability over unfair competition, AML/CFT
Legal cases and fines for noncompliance with EU’s GDPR could rise sharply after a court found that a breach was a source of unfair competition. The judgment also opens doors to civil cases over companies that ignoring expensive or challenging rules, such as those regarding AML/CFT.
Five more compliance triumphs of 2024
Whether you’re a multinational telecommunications company looking to certify your anti-corruption program post-settlement, or a biochemical company victimized by a “rogue” employee, seeing the light at the end of the enforcement tunnel isn’t always easy.
OCC orders Bank of America to shore up BSA/AML, sanctions compliance programs
Bank of America avoided a monetary penalty in agreeing to settle charges with the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency but was ordered to shore up previously disclosed deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) and sanctions compliance programs.
AAR Corp. to pay $56M to settle FCPA violations in Nepal, South Africa
Aviation maintenance services provider AAR Corp. will pay nearly $56 million to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act when it paid bribes to government officials in Nepal and South Africa.
OCC hits USAA with third order in five years; places limits on new services, products, membership
USAA Federal Savings Bank has been hit with its third cease and desist order from the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in the past five years for failing to correct unsafe and unsound banking practices.
U.K. can’t shake reputation of being a conduit to individual, institutional money laundering
London has long had the dubious reputation of being the world’s money laundering capital and it looks like it’s a title it is likely to retain for some time yet.
Overabundance of U.K. AML regulators stretching enforcement resources thin, experts say
The U.K. will struggle to shed its reputation as one of the world’s biggest conduits for dirty money due to a combination of patchy intelligence-sharing and poorly resourced enforcement agencies, experts told Compliance Week.
Texas court halts FinCEN beneficial ownership reporting requirements
Business owners can stop preparing their 2025 anti-money laundering reports for the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, according to a Texas court, which ruled the Corporate Transparency Act requirement unconstitutional.
DOJ hits McKinsey & Co. subsidiary with $123M criminal penalty over bribes in South Africa
A subsidiary of McKinsey & Co. will pay nearly $123 million to the Department of Justice to settle allegations that it bribed officials in South Africa to win consulting contracts.
Whistleblower’s defamation case reveals scope of USAA ‘coverup’
A defamation lawsuit filed by a whistleblower against USAA, which a Florida judge recently dismissed on a technicality, revealed in public court records an estimated 400,000 violations of the Military Lending Act by USAA Federal Savings Bank (USAA Bank), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of USAA.
Evolving sanctions rules make continuous screening, due diligence essential in 2025
The EU and U.K. have rushed to commit themselves to intensifying action on sanctions evasion after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, but any compliance managers who believe Trump will make global sanctions compliance easier in 2025 are likely to be disappointed.
U.S. Appeals Court ruling in Tornado Cash case opens door for AML regulatory unwind
In striking down penalties against cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash for violating U.S. sanctions, a federal appeals court may have started to chip away at anti-money laundering regulations established by Democrats even before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Top ethics and compliance failures of 2024
The biggest Compliance Fails of 2024 show the real-world consequences of noncompliance for the companies that faltered, but also for their customers and their employees.
French defense contractor Thales Group under investigation for bribery in Asia
French defense and aviation contractor Thales Group is under investigation by authorities in the U.K. and France for allegedly participating in bribery and corruption.
Trump names Scott Bessent to be Treasury secretary, with a clear deregulation agenda
Hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, named by Donald Trump on Friday as his nominee for Treasury Secretary, has a clear mandate to deregulate the financial markets should he take the helm.
Adani Group CEO, seven business executives charged in huge $250M bribery scheme
Eight business executives, including the billionaire owner of Indian energy company Adani Group, were charged with fraud for their alleged roles in a multi-million bribery scheme to win a solar energy contract in India.
BIT Mining changes business model, pays $10M fine to resolve FCPA violations
A publicly traded cryptocurrency mining company will pay $10 million and completely change its business model to one with “lower corruption risk” as part of a settlement over violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), two regulators announced.
Experts explain why red flags can often be ignored due to ‘underlying systematic issues’
Companies spend huge sums on audit, risk management, and compliance to alert them about potential legal issues before they escalate into serious corporate governance failings. There’s only one problem, however–they often misread their own early warning signs or ignore them altogether.
FCA slaps Metro Bank with $21M fine for inadequate AML monitoring
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has fined Metro Bank 16.6 million pounds (U.S. $21 million) for an alleged failure by its automated system to adequately monitor money laundering risks.
Spanish telecomm Telefónica S.A. fined $85M over bribes to government officials in Venezuela
A subsidiary of Spanish telecommunications provider Telefónica S.A. will pay $85.2 million to settle a charge that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act when it paid bribes to Venezuelan officials to gain preferential access to a currency auction.
Underfunding of BSA/AML compliance made TD Bank an unwitting partner to cross-border crime
Law enforcement officials stumbled on TD Bank’s role in money laundering while investigating a Mexican drug cartel. They found that the bank’s corporate culture considered compliance, particularly BSA/AML compliance, a low priority. As they dug deeper, authorities discovered that multiple money laundering schemes had infiltrated the bank’s network.
Real estate firm JLL fined by Canada’s FINTRAC for AML, KYC failures
Canada’s anti-money laundering regulator fined Toronto-based real estate firm Jones Lang Lasalle $107,827 Canadian dollars (U.S. $77,632) for six violations of its anti-money laundering rules, after discovering gaps in recordkeeping and reporting requirements for know your customer rules.
Raytheon parent RTX settles false claims, defective pricing, Qatar FCPA violations for $950M
The other shoe finally dropped for Raytheon and parent company RTX, as two U.S. regulators announced nearly $1 billion in penalties to settle defective pricing in defense contracts, false claims related to inflated prices on government contracts, and bribes paid to government officials in Qatar that violated the FCPA.
Poor internal controls led to FCPA violations in Moog’s $1.7M settlement with SEC
A company culture geared to “win business at any cost” encouraged employees of New York-based aerospace manufacturer Moog to pay bribes in India to win contracts, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged.
TD Bank fined nearly $3.1B by U.S. regulators for AML compliance failures
TD Bank will pay nearly $3.1 billion in penalties to four U.S. regulators to settle charges that it “chose profits over compliance” when it allowed three money laundering networks to filter more than $670 million in dirty money through the company.
FinCEN, OFAC sanction crypto platforms linked to Russia, cybercrime
U.S. and European law enforcement agencies have announced sanctions against two Russia-linked cryptocurrency platforms in their ongoing chase to snuff out Russian-linked financial platforms that assist cybercriminals.
AAR Corp. discloses former exec implicated in Nepal, South Africa FCPA violations
Aviation maintenance services provider AAR Corp. disclosed that several former employees may have bribed officials in Nepal and South Africa to win contracts, and chose to self-report violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to authorities in the U.S. and U.K.
Wells Fargo agrees with OCC to shore up BSA/AML, sanctions program deficiencies
The Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ordered Wells Fargo to make “comprehensive corrective actions” to its Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering and U.S. sanctions programs, along with receive permission from the OCC to offer new products and services or enter new geographic markets with “medium or high” ...
An Amsterdam discussion on increased role of CCOs
Compliance Week and its sister organization the International Compliance Association will bring together more than 200 GRC professionals for Compliance Week Europe Oct. 15-16 in Amsterdam to discuss how they’re making sense of the constantly changing regulatory landscape.
CPE Webcast: The acronyms that changed the finance industry: from AML and BSA to KYC and BaaS
In the ever-evolving landscape of finance, governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) have emerged as critical pillars that underpin the stability and growth of financial institutions.
John Deere to pay $10M to settle FCPA violations by subsidiary in Thailand
Illinois-based manufacturer John Deere will pay approximately $10 million in penalties and disgorgement to the Securities and Exchange Commission for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act with bribes paid by a Thai subsidiary.
DOJ orders Wynn Las Vegas to forfeit $130M over BSA/AML violations
Wynn Las Vegas agreed to forfeit $130 million to settle a range of criminal allegations, including allegedly helping foreign customers hide money transfers and shielding patrons from Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering rules, the Department of Justice said.
Experts warn U.K. money laundering cases to ‘significantly increase’
The U.K. has an ongoing problem with money laundering, but recent changes to economic crime law and corporate registration requirements could bring more cases to court, according to consultancy KPMG.
Strengthening BSA/AML defenses: Critical role of ERTs in modern day compliance
Enforcement actions in the first half of of 2024 by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network highlight the importance of proactive measures in Bank Secrecy Act compliance rather than just being compliant.
Ian Sherr joins Compliance Week as its new editor-in-chief
New Compliance Week Editor-In-Chief Ian Sherr shares his thoughts on where compliance is headed as businesses meet the realities of not just following the rules, but staying ahead of the pace of regulatory change at a global scale.