Norway’s Data Protection Authority (DPA) announced measures to temporarily ban Meta from engaging in surveillance-based behavioral advertising on Facebook and Instagram users based in Norway. By way of background, Meta tracks user activity on Facebook and Instagram platforms and profiles users “based on where they are, what type of content Read More
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fined Merrill Lynch a combined $12 million in civil penalties for allegedly failing to file nearly 1,500 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) over a period of a decade. To settle the SEC charges, Merrill Lynch agreed to pay a Read More
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has hit audit firm CohnReznick with a censure and a $20,000 civil penalty for alleged failures to timely disclose disciplinary proceedings brought against the firm by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the PCAOB announced. According to the PCAOB’s disciplinary order, CohnReznick failed to Read More
GUEST BLOG POST Leaders in any industry must anticipate the challenges–and opportunities–their companies face. As compliance practitioners responsible for trade surveillance, are we keeping pace with current and future challenges? Some evidence to consider: A top-tier bank was found to have no surveillance on its voice-brokered swaps desk, resulting in Read More
Bank of America will pay total penalties of $150 million for systematically and illegally double dipping on fees imposed on customers, withholding reward bonuses promised to credit card customers, and opening fake accounts without customer knowledge or authorization. Under the terms of two separate administrative proceedings, issued July 11 by Read More
View, a California-based maker of “smart” windows for office buildings, has settled charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to disclose $28 million in projected warranty-related liabilities to address a particular defect in its windows, the SEC announced. The regulatory agency said it decided not to impose any Read More
Companies subject to the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) now have more time to come into compliance with the regulations, following a California state court’s ruling that enforcement of the CPRA cannot begin until March 2024. By way of background, in November 2020, California voters approved the CPRA (Proposition 24), Read More
The European Commission has proposed a new regulation intended to streamline cooperation efforts between member countries when enforcing the EU’s data privacy laws, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If adopted, the new law would require European privacy regulators, known as data protection authorities (DPAs), to share more Read More
Just as in any other industry, the financial industry has its fair share of questionable behavior, and then some. For this reason, an alphabet soup of regulatory oversight — and accompanying fines for non-compliance, violations, and even fraud — exist to keep financial institutions in line. Regulatory bodies like the Read More
In a first-of-its-kind enforcement action, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has ordered ACI Worldwide and one of its subsidiaries, ACI Payments, to pay a $25 million civil penalty for improperly initiating approximately $2.3 billion in unlawful mortgage payment transactions. According to the CFPB, this is the first enforcement action Read More
