Wells Fargo Fined $3B Over Fake-Accounts Scandal

Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $3 billion to resolve criminal and civil liabilities arising from its fake-accounts but its legal troubles may be far from over.The deal announced on Friday applies to a Department of Justice criminal investigation of Wells Fargo for falsifying bank records and ident...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 24, 2020

Cboe ‘Speed Bump’ Runs Into SEC Road Block

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected a controversial rule change that would have allowed Cboe Global Markets to put a split-second “speed bump” in the way of an ultrafast trading strategy known as “latency arbitrage.”Cboe in June proposed delaying incoming executable orders on...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 24, 2020

Barr Questions Lawsuit Immunity for Tech Firms

U.S. Attorney General William Barr has questioned whether operators of online platforms should continue to be protected from being sued over content posted by their users.According to Barr, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides immunity from liability for providers of an i...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 20, 2020

Attacked by Ransomware, Many Companies Opt to Pay Up

It’s like the plot of a James Bond movie: Hackers take control of a global organization’s computer systems and threaten to destroy its records, steal its intellectual property, and drain its bank accounts unless a hefty ransom is deposited into an untraceable offshore bank account by the end of t...

By David McCann • Feb. 14, 2020

Coronavirus Crimps Supply Chains, May Harm World Economy

Coronavirus may not ultimately infect 60% of the world’s population, as a leading public health expert controversially suggested on Tuesday. But it’s growing increasingly likely to trigger serious economic consequences worldwide.Dun & Bradstreet estimates in a new report that if a vaccine for...

By David McCann • Feb. 13, 2020

Facebook Settlement May Trigger More Privacy Laws

Facebook’s recent $550 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit in Illinois over alleged privacy violations may lead to a wave of privacy legislation across the country.The largest-ever cash settlement resolving a privacy-related issue will establish a fund to be shared by Illinois Facebook u...

By David McCann • Feb. 11, 2020

Don’t Try to Improve Weak Areas; Outsource Them

When I was a young Navy officer I was taught two guiding principles about leadership: (1) leave things better than you found them; and (2) incorporate best practices of managers you encounter during your career, adapting them to your own style to become a stronger leader.Both were about not only ...

By David McCann • Feb. 10, 2020

Don’t Discount Secondhand Whistleblower Reports

Which employee whistleblower hotline report would you trust more — one with firsthand knowledge of alleged conduct, from someone who was involved in it or observed it? Or one based on secondhand information, from someone who was told about conduct, overheard it, or accidentally found a document o...

By David McCann • Feb. 7, 2020

Solar Firm Owners Charged With ‘Massive’ Fraud

A California couple have been charged with orchestrating a “massive” Ponzi scheme that collected nearly $1 billion from investors in their solar company.Jeff Carpoff, President and CEO of DC Solar The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Jeff Carpoff and his wife Paulette promised investo...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 27, 2020

The Soft Benefits of Truck Fleet Upgrades

The many companies that transport goods, such as food distributors, grocery companies, retailers, and oil-and-gas transporters, can realize significant savings by replacing older, less-efficient trucks that cost more to operate and produce harmful emissions.According to the most recent truck life...

By David McCann • Jan. 22, 2020

Final Arguments Made Over T-Mobile, Sprint Deal

An antitrust lawsuit over the proposed mega-merger between T-Mobile and Sprint is now in the hands of a federal judge after an attorney for more than a dozen states called the deal “presumptively anticompetitive.”U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero of New York heard final arguments Wednesday in th...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 16, 2020

Cyber Incidents Ranked as No. 1 Business Risk

Cyber incidents are now the No. 1 business risk facing corporations, moving to the top of insurer Allianz’s annual list, which also showed climate change reaching its highest ranking.According to the Allianz Risk Barometer for 2020, 39% of respondents to its ninth annual survey of risk experts id...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 14, 2020

U.S. Pushes Voluntary Guidelines for AV Industry

The Trump administration has unveiled updated guidelines for self-driving vehicles, saying it wanted to encourage innovation without compromising safety.In the so-called AV 4.0 guidance released on Wednesday, the Department of Transportation said it will adopt and promote “flexible, technology-ne...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 9, 2020

8 Ways to Shore Up Cybersecurity Agreements

Most businesses have realized the risks posed by and to their data. Some experience significant operational interruptions after data breaches. The litigation they face as a result directly impacts their bottom line.Below are eight tips for protecting a company’s finances through better negotiatio...

By Charles Russman • Dec. 30, 2019

The Most Notorious Rogue Employee Speaks

Edward Snowden, who has the distinction of having stolen data from the most secure database in the world, has written a book. Called “Permanent Record,” it describes his exploits while employed by the U.S. National Security Agency.Snowden’s prodigious technical skills allowed him access to the NS...

By David McCann • Dec. 23, 2019

Five IT Workers Charged in Insider Trading Ring

A former IT administrator at Palo Alto Networks has been charged with tipping off friends in advance of the cloud-computing company’s quarterly earnings announcements as part of an insider trading ring that made more than $7 million in illegal profits.Federal authorities said Janardhan Nellore wa...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 18, 2019

Ericsson to Pay $1B in 2nd-Largest FCPA Case

In one of the costliest corruption cases ever brought against a U.S.-listed company, telecom equipment maker Ericsson has been fined more than $1 billion for engaging in bribery and other illegal practices to win business in five countries.As part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justi...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 9, 2019

Spinoff Sues Honeywell Over Asbestos Liabilities

The turbocharger maker that was spun off from Honeywell last year has sued the conglomerate over asbestos liabilities it says could drive it into “severe financial distress.”Garrett Motion had agreed to reimburse Honeywell for 90% of liabilities arising from exposure to asbestos in Bendix automot...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 3, 2019

SEC Charges Former MiMedx Execs With Fraud

Three former top executives of MiMedx Group have been charged with orchestrating an accounting fraud that enabled the biotech firm to inflate sales to distributors with which it had entered into secret side arrangements.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the “pervasive” fraud that l...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 27, 2019

Ex-Outcome Health Execs Charged With Fraud

Three former top executives of Outcome Health, including the CFO, have been charged with engaging in a “massive” revenue recognition fraud to raise nearly $500 million for the healthcare advertising company from investors.The charges announced on Monday against CEO Rishi Shah, President Shradha A...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 26, 2019

Whistleblower Tips to SEC Top 5,200 in FY 2019

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s whistleblower program received the second-highest number of tips in its history in fiscal 2019 as it passed the $2 billion mark for sanctions in enforcement matters resulting from tips.In its annual report to Congress on the program, the SEC said it f...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 19, 2019

DOJ Plans Heightened Scrutiny of Government Contractors

The Justice Department announced on Tuesday the formation of a new unit aimed at deterring, detecting, investigating, and prosecuting procurement-related antitrust crimes such as bid-rigging and price-fixing conspiracies.Such fraud undermines competition in government procurement, grant, and prog...

By David McCann • Nov. 8, 2019

AT&T Fined $60 Million in Data ‘Throttling’ Case

After five years of litigation, AT&T has agreed to pay $60 million to settle allegations that it “throttled” the data speeds of millions of smartphone customers who had signed up for unlimited data plans.The company and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission had reached a settlement in August but ...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 6, 2019

Proxy Adviser Sues SEC Over New Guidance

Institutional Shareholder Services has sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over guidance that would heighten regulatory oversight of proxy advisers, claiming it would have a chilling effect on their ability to advise shareholders.In August, the SEC recommended that the definition of ...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 1, 2019

Operations Leaders Are Pessimistic on Recession

“It’s a universally acknowledged truth: The world will eventually experience another economic downturn. Equally as obvious: Companies that are well prepared for economic turbulence will fare the best when storm clouds gather on the horizon. But knowing these truisms and doing something about them...

By David McCann • Oct. 24, 2019