Traders’ Assets Frozen in Insider Trading Probe

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has frozen the assets of traders it believes were involved in an insider trading scheme that made $3.6 million in illegal profits related to the recent takeover of Fortress Investment Group by Japan’s SoftBank Group.A New Jersey judge granted the SEC’s ...

By Matthew Heller • March 2, 2017

Should U.S. CFOs Worry About EU Cyber Risk Rules?

CFOs around the world have one more risk to fold into their financial planning strategies. The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR), set to come into effect on May 25, 2018, will apply to every organization of every size, industry, and geography that processes data from EU ...

By Kevin P. Kalinich • Feb. 10, 2017

Court Blocks Another Healthcare Megamerger

A federal judge has ruled that Anthem’s proposed $54 billion takeover of Cigna would be anticompetitive — the second time in three weeks that a court has blocked a healthcare industry megamerger.Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the Justice Depa...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 9, 2017

Special Report: Preventing Cybersecurity Losses

When finance chiefs ask their teams what they’re doing to protect their employers from cyberattacks, they inevitably get answers involving “IT-specific concerns like malware, firewalls, and virus scans,” writes FM Global CFO Kevin Ingram in our special report on preventing cybersecurity.But preve...

By David Katz • Feb. 9, 2017

Cyber Risks Threaten Physical Security, Industrial Controls

“What are we doing to protect ourselves from cyberattacks?”It’s a question every CFO eventually asks their team.Although the question suggests IT-specific concerns like malware, firewalls, and virus scans, CFOs need to pause and broaden their perspective, examine cyber-related business risk in th...

By Kevin Ingram • Feb. 9, 2017

Lessons Learned from the Dyn Attack

This past October, Halloween wasn’t the only event that spooked people. A well-executed cyberattack left users of Twitter, Spotify, Paypal, Airbnb, Etsy, and Netflix vulnerable to identity theft. The crime was done to Dyn, a cloud-based company that manages website domains and routes internet tra...

By Christopher Roach • Feb. 9, 2017

The Corporatization of Cyber Crime

“It’s beautiful, it’s elegant, it’s convincing,” Markus Jakobsson gushes, describing the fake email used to hack into the personal Gmail account of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign chairman.Sent on March 19, 2016, to the chairman, John Podesta, the email landed in the spam folder of his ac...

By David Katz • Feb. 9, 2017

Vizio Fined $2M Over Data Collection From TVs

Vizio has agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle charges it installed software on its “smart” televisions to collect data on the viewing habits of millions of consumers without their consent.The Federal Trade Commission and the New Jersey attorney general said the software enables Vizio televisions...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 6, 2017

Class-Action Filings Hit Record in U.S. Courts

The number of federal securities class-action filings surged to a record high in 2016 as plaintiffs’ lawyers turned to the federal courts to file suits over merger and acquisition deals.Class-action filings totaled 270, an increase of 43% on the 188 filings in 2015 and 44% above the 1997–2015 his...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 31, 2017

The Financial Case for a Data Privacy Program

The urgency for corporations to establish a mature data privacy and security program is driven by three key factors: avoiding expensive fines for non-compliance, reducing the overall cost of data storage, and maximizing productivity.Heidi Maher Data privacyThe total volume of information around t...

By Heidi Maher • Jan. 24, 2017

Partner With Outside Counsel to Drive Value

When it comes to managing outside counsel, the CFO is usually concerned with the cost of outside counsel and the general counsel (GC) is responsible for finding a way to manage legal strategy within an often shrinking budget. The increased use of alternative fee arrangements (AFAs), however, pres...

By Adam Chud and Meagan Costello • Jan. 23, 2017

Western Union Fined $585M for Aiding Scams

Money services giant Western Union has agreed to forfeit a record $586 million to settle charges that it facilitated fraud by failing to properly enforce its anti-money laundering systems, resulting in the processing of “hundreds of millions of dollars” in illegal transactions.U.S. authorities sa...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 20, 2017

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