British Bank National Westminster announced yesterday that it has pleaded guilty to breaching the United Kingdom’s anti-money laundering (AML) laws and will face criminal prosecution and large fines. The bank entered a not guilty plea in a London court on Thursday to three counts of failing to adequately monitor customer Read More
The U.S. Department of Justice announced a new initiative last week to hold federal contractors responsible if they fail to report data breaches. The plan is to charge such contractors with violating the False Claims Act if they neglect to follow federal standards that require the reporting of cyber-attacks. The Read More
Three pharmaceutical companies, Taro Pharmaceuticals USA, Sandoz, and Apotex, have agreed to pay a total of $447 million to resolve charges of price fixing and violating the False Claims Act, according to a statement by the U.S. Justice Department. The DoJ alleges that between 2013 and 2015, all three pharma Read More
Dallas-based luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group says it is notifying 4.6 million of its online customers that they have been the victims of a data breach that occurred in May 2020, but is just now coming to light. In a statement, the company said the data breach involved customers’ names, Read More
London-based WPP plc, the world’s largest advertising group, has agreed to settle bribery charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company will pay more than $19 million to resolve allegations that it violated the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal accounting controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Read More
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a “cease and desist” order against MUFG Union Bank based in San Francisco for engaging in “unsafe or unsound practices regarding technology and operational risk management.” The regulator also took issue with what it called, “the bank’s noncompliance with the Interagency Read More
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced awards of approximately $110 million and $4 million to two whistleblowers whose information and assistance led to successful SEC and related actions. With these awards, the SEC’s whistleblower program has now paid more than $1 billion in awards to 207 whistleblowers, including over $500 Read More
The Financial Accounting Standards Board proposed a new standards update yesterday that hopes to clarify guidance on rules on how entities should measure the fair value of equity securities, particularly when they are subject to contractual restrictions preventing their sale. In August 2018, FASB issued final guidance on Fair Value Read More
In a rare move, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued whistleblower awards to three individuals who held compliance roles at an unnamed company. In a statement, the SEC said that it had awarded more than $1 million to three individuals whose information and assistance led to a successful enforcement action. Read More
MRetail giant Walmart has tapped a former Department of Justice official and prosecutor to lead its compliance department. It appointed Matt Miner to the role of global chief ethics and compliance officer. Miner will lead Walmart’s global compliance program and will report to Rachel Brand, the company’s executive vice president Read More
