Citigroup Fined $25M for ‘Spoofing’ Futures

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has charged Citigroup with placing large futures market orders with the intent of immediately cancelling them, calling the practice of “spoofing” a “significant threat to market integrity.”Citigroup agreed to pay $25 million to settle the first-ever spoofi...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 19, 2017

VW Close to $4B Deal With U.S. Over Emissions

Volkswagen has indicated it will plead guilty to criminal misconduct and pay $4.3 billion in fines as part of a settlement of a U.S. investigation of its cheating of exhaust emission tests.The automaker said Tuesday it was in “advanced discussions” with the Department of Justice and U.S. Customs ...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 11, 2017

Executives Investigated Under FCPA Can Fear Less

On top of the fines or imprisonment that await violators of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, there has been an additional, less-visible penalty: Companies facing FCPA investigations have been expected to terminate the employment of executives tied to any alleged misconduct, or otherwise separat...

By Alice Hsieh and Daniel Patrick Wendt • Jan. 9, 2017

Corzine Fined $5M Over MF Global Collapse

Ending a five-year legal saga, former New Jersey Gov. John Corzine has agreed to pay $5 million to settle a lawsuit over the collapse of his commodity brokerage, MF Global Holdings.The settlement with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission was approved by a federal judge on Thursday. It al...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 6, 2017

General Cable Fined $75M for Foreign Bribery

Cable and wire manufacturer General Cable has agreed to pay more than $75 million to settle charges that it paid bribes of about $19 million to foreign government officials to secure sales in Africa and Asia.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the bribes generated illicit profits for...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 3, 2017

Qualcomm Hit With Record $865M Fine in Korea

South Korea’s top trade regulator has fined Qualcomm a record 1.03 trillion won ($865 million) after finding the company’s patent licensing practices violated competition laws.The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said Qualcomm’s patent licensing was unfair both to mobile phone makers and rival ...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 29, 2016

Chinese Hackers Accused of Insider Trading

U.S. authorities have charged three Chinese traders with stealing nonpublic information about corporate mergers from the computer networks of two prominent New York law firms involved in the deals, racking up almost $3 million in illicit profits.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said th...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 28, 2016

SEC Settles Two Huge FCPA Cases

Continuing its ramped-up targeting of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Wednesday and Thursday that it has reached large large settlement agreements with multiple companies.A Brazilian-based petrochemical company agreed to pay almost a b...

By Sean Allocca • Dec. 22, 2016

NeuStar Agrees to Pay $180,000 Whistleblower Penalty

A prominent U.S. technology company has been charged with violating whistleblower protection rules by entering into strict severance agreements with its employees, the Securities & Exchange Commission said on Monday.Virginia-based NeuStar has agreed to pay $180,000 to settle allegations that ...

By Sean Allocca • Dec. 20, 2016

The Potentially Risky Job of CFO

The margin for error for finance chiefs continues to narrow as regulators strive to hold individuals responsible for companies’ misdeeds. Here are five articles looking at the potential penalties CFOs face for corporate misconduct and how to mitigate the risk.The Rising Risk of Being CFOThe drive...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Dec. 17, 2016

Traders Accused of $25M Market Manipulation

Two New Jersey traders have been charged with making more than $25 million in illegal profits by coordinating trading in dozens of brokerage accounts to manipulate the prices of more than 2,000 stocks.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Joseph Taub, 37, and Elazar Shmalo, 21, engaged...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 12, 2016

Expedia IT Specialist Accused of Insider Trading

A former information technology specialist at Expedia has been charged with trading on nonpublic information he obtained by hacking the online travel agency’s head of investor relations and other senior executives.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Jonathan Ly, 28, used his position...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 6, 2016

Cruise Operator Fined $40M in Pollution Case

Princess Cruise Lines has agreed to plead guilty to felonies and pay a record $40 million fine for illegally discharging waste off the coast of England and trying to cover up its “deliberate pollution of the seas.”According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the company’s Caribbean Princess ship ...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 1, 2016

Zenefits Fined $7 Million Over Insurance Sales

HR software startup Zenefits has agreed to pay $7 million to settle charges that it allowed unlicensed employees to sell insurance and circumvented training requirements for insurance agents.The fine is one of the largest penalties the California Department of Insurance has assessed for licensing...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 29, 2016

Court Blocks Obama’s Expansion of Overtime

A Texas judge has halted enforcement of a new rule that would  qualify millions more workers for overtime pay, finding the Labor Department exceeded its authority in increasing the minimum salary level for eligibility.The rule — a signature Obama administration initiative to expand the middle cla...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 25, 2016

Your Supply Chain Is Riddled with Risk

Speed, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness are big supply-chain priorities these days, especially for just-in-time products. But the leaner you make a supply chain, the riskier it gets — especially when it comes to the moving parts, like cargo.As your goods wend their way across continents and oce...

By Kevin Ingram • Nov. 22, 2016

Ally Financial Fined $52M Over MBS Marketing

Ally Financial has agreed to pay $52 million to resolve a federal investigation that found a subsidiary marketed residential mortgage-backed securities despite knowing the underlying loans were toxic.The misconduct involved 10 subprime RMBS offerings in the RASC-EMX series between 2006 and 2007 f...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 22, 2016

Sensing Change

Late afternoon one Friday in July, Lee Spach, global supply chain security director for biotech firm Biogen, received an alert on his phone. Earlier in the day, a multimillion-dollar shipment of a frozen, highly concentrated biologic substance used for making a new drug had been loaded into a ref...

By Yasmin Ghahremani • Nov. 22, 2016

How to Comply With New Human Rights Rules

Many companies are lagging in their efforts to achieve compliance with a spate of new laws and regulations worldwide for reporting on the use of forced labor within their supply chains, according to a report by Deloitte.Driving the sluggishness in some measure is a lack of guidance from regulator...

By David McCann • Nov. 22, 2016

Ex-Valeant, Philidor Execs Accused of Kickback Scheme

The former CEO of Philidor Rx Services has been charged with paying a former Valeant Pharmaceuticals executive $10 million in kickbacks in return for promoting Philidor’s mail-order pharmacy services to the drugmaker’s management.Both Andrew Davenport, the ex-Philidor CEO, and former Valeant exec...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 18, 2016

808 Renewable Energy CEO Charged With Fraud

The founder and CEO of 808 Renewable Energy Corp. has been charged with orchestrating a scheme to steal millions of dollars from investors to support his lifestyle and pay commissions to sales agents who allegedly helped him perpetrate the fraud.Between 2009 through 2014, 808 Renewable raised mor...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 18, 2016

SEC Approves New Markets Oversight System

After multiple delays, an effort to improve oversight of U.S. equity and options markets took a major step forward as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved the $2.4 billion consolidated audit trail (CAT) system.With Tuesday’s vote, a committee of stock and options exchanges can pro...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 16, 2016

Feds Sue DirecTV over Dodger Channel Blackout

The U.S. government has gone to bat for consumers in a three-year-old dispute between Time Warner Cable and pay-TV companies over a channel dedicated to Los Angeles Dodger baseball games.TWC and the Dodgers agreed in 2013 to an $8.35-billion, 25-year deal to broadcast games but fans have been shu...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 3, 2016

Boards Push Insurers to Quantify Cyber Risks

Galvanized by recent cyber attacks against corporations, boards of directors are pushing their companies’ risk managers as well as the insurance industry to quantify cyber risks. The push for better predictive data on computer breaches stems from directors’ desire for clarity on how to either sel...

By David Katz • Oct. 31, 2016

SEC Eases Restrictions on Intrastate Offerings

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has updated its rules on intrastate offerings of securities to allow issuers to solicit financing outside of their states while still avoiding the burdens of federal registration.The commission acted in response to concerns that its Rule 147 was out of ...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 28, 2016