Category: Research Digest

SEC Sets Record Year in Enforcement with $8.2 Billion in Fines

T he Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it filed 583 total enforcement actions in fiscal year 2024, while obtaining orders for $8.2 billion in financial remedies, the highest amount in SEC history. That record amount consisted of $6.1 billion in disgorgement and prejudgment interest, also the highest amount on Read More

Compliance Spending on AI to increase

Report: Compliance Functions Could Double Tech Spend by 2027

A new report predicts that compliance and assurance functions could double the amount they spend on new technology by 2027. According to the research, issued by Gartner Inc., generative AI, machine learning, and large language models will fuel a surge in spending by compliance, risk management, and assurance functions. The Read More

Fastest Growing Risks

New Report Identifies Fastest Growing Risks for Companies

D igital disruption and climate change have emerged as the two fasting-growing risk areas for organizations across industries, according to a new report. Based on feedback from more than 3,500 internal audit leaders around the world, global risk levels for digital disruption and climate change are projected to increase 20 Read More

Compliance Lessons from Wells Fargo: Four Questions to Ask Your Payment Solution Provider

W ells Fargo’s recent disclosure of regulatory investigations related to its anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions programs and agreement to “work with U.S. bank regulators to shore up its financial crimes risk management” serves as a timely reminder of the ongoing importance of robust compliance measures in the financial sector. Read More

patient data breaches on the rise

Health Care Patient Data Breaches Doubled in 2023, Reaching 87M

Health care companies are increasingly falling victim to sophisticated hacking efforts—including ransomware attacks—insider threats, and basic security flaws despite the highly confidential nature of patient data. According to new research by Atlas VPN, a virtual private network provider, 87 million patients in the United States had their personal information improperly Read More

Report: Compliance Departments Facing Belt Tightening, Smaller Staffs

Compliance leaders are facing increased pressure to make the most of existing resources due to economic challenges and increased workload and complexity, according to a new report. The study, conducted by research and consulting firm Gartner, identifies three crucial compliance function trends playing out this year: tighter budgets, changing labor Read More

Biggest Compliance failures

The Most Expensive Financial Compliance Failures of the Last Decade

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

Most Corrupt Countries

Study Finds Significant Rise in Corruption in Several Countries

A global measure of corruption is sounding the alarm that not only is the level of bribery and corruption not improving around the world it is worsening in several countries, including in such developed nations as Canada, Austria, and the United Kingdom. The 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), released this Read More

magnifying glass

Group Finds Foreign Bribery Enforcement at ‘Historic Low’

Enforcement against foreign bribery on a global scale has hit an historic low, according to a report by Transparency International. In Transparency International’s report, “Exporting Corruption 2022,” 43 signatories to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention were assessed, along with China, India, Hong Kong SAR, and Singapore. Together, the countries analyzed account Read More

Most Corrupt Countries

Where Bribery Still Reigns: The World’s Most Corrupt Countries

The 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International shows that corruption levels remain at a standstill worldwide, with 86 percent of countries making little to no progress in the last 10 years. Nearly two-thirds of nations scored below 50 on the 100-point scale this year. The largest declines Read More