Wal-Mart Sues Visa Over Chip Card Verification

Wal-Mart Stores has sued Visa over its policy for verifying chip-enabled debit card transactions, saying the payments giant is favoring shoppers’ convenience at the expense of their security.In court papers filed Tuesday, Wal-Mart said Visa’s requirement that shoppers be allowed to verify with a ...

By Matthew Heller • May 11, 2016

Financial Adviser Accused of Stealing $2.3M

The founder of a financial management firm targeting professional athletes and other wealthy individuals has been charged with stealing $2.35 million from clients to invest in movie projects.The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday said Louis Martin Blazer III convinced some of his client...

By Matthew Heller • May 6, 2016

On the Front Lines of Sports Intelligence

Does your company have, or might it consider, any kind of sponsorship or other financial involvement with a major league sports team or athletes? If so, you likely want to investigate ways to protect that investment.One option is provided through a specialized service of PricewaterhouseCoopers. T...

By David McCann • May 6, 2016

Nine Charged in $131M Stock Fraud Scheme

An investment newsletter publisher and eight other people have been charged with taking part in a $131 million scheme to manipulate the stock of ForceField Energy in exchange for kickbacks from the LED lighting provider’s majority shareholder.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a ...

By Matthew Heller • May 4, 2016

Cyberattack Bullseye Is Squarely on Medical Industry

In today’s digital word, the persistent threat of cyberattacks has become a business issue facing all industries, especially health care companies. Globally, two-thirds of 1,100 senior IT security executives at large enterprises worldwide have experienced a security breach, and 20% of them report...

By Tony Consoli • May 2, 2016

Accounting Firm Fined Over Surprise Exams

In more legal fallout from an investment adviser’s theft of $670,000 from clients, accounting firm Santos, Postal & Co. and one of its partners have been charged with improperly performing surprise custody exams of SFX Financial Advisory Management Enterprises.The Securities and Exchange Comm...

By Matthew Heller • April 29, 2016

Managing Risks at the National Rifle Association

“It’s such a significant part of what we’re doing for the future,” Emily Cummins, the risk manager of the National Rifle Association, says, enthusiastically describing the NRA’s charitable gift annuity program. The focus of the NRA “is always on training, education, and safety of the next generat...

By David Katz • April 22, 2016

Compliance Officers Fear Greater DOJ Scrutiny of Individuals

Two events last fall left corporate compliance officers, and those that they report to, squirming in their seats.Sally Yates, DOJ First, in what’s now commonly referred to as the Yates Memo, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates stressed that the Justice Department will step up efforts to prosecute...

By David McCann • April 19, 2016

Microsoft Sues Over Feds’ Secret Data Searches

Microsoft has sued the U.S. government to overturn a 1986 law that bars the company from telling its customers when federal agents have demanded their digital data, joining other tech companies defending privacy rights against intrusions by law enforcement.According to Microsoft, the Electronic C...

By Matthew Heller • April 18, 2016

When Enterprise Risk Management Gets Strategic

Imagine this scenario. Your company was led by its external auditors several years ago to put in place an enterprise risk management (ERM) program. Its implementation has progressed at a slower pace than you’d expected, mostly because your operational managers perceive ERM to be just another comp...

By John Bugalla and Emanuel Lauria • April 15, 2016

N.Y. Town Officials Accused of Bond Fraud

The deputy finance director of Ramapo, N.Y., and three other town officials “cooked the books” of the New York suburb to hide the true state of its finances from municipal bond investors, federal authorities have alleged.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the officials resorted to a...

By Matthew Heller • April 15, 2016

Supply Chain Anti-Fraud Measures Lacking

A large percentage of companies continue to experience supply chain fraud and many of those may not be doing enough to address the problem, according to a new survey by Deloitte.The consulting firm polled more than 2,600 professionals, finding that for a third consecutive year about 30% of them s...

By Matthew Heller • April 5, 2016

IRS Still Has ‘Significant’ Flaws in Data Security

The IRS has made progress in improving information security, but significant deficiencies remain in its systems for protecting sensitive taxpayer and financial data, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.Among the continuing information security weaknesses cited by the...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 4, 2016

Regulator Bars Valeant Officers From Trading

Canadian regulators have ordered top executives and directors of Valeant Pharmaceuticals not to trade in its stock until the troubled drug maker files its annual financial statements for 2015.The order by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers is in place for 15 days. It technically applies only to...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 1, 2016

Biotech CFO Accused of Misleading Investors

The former CFO and two other former top executives of biotech company Aveo Pharmaceuticals have been charged with failing to disclose the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had serious concerns about its experimental kidney cancer drug.The Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday that Aveo ...

By Matthew Heller • March 30, 2016

U.S. Charges Iranians with Cyberattacks Against Banks, Dam

The U.S. government has charged seven Iranians with conducting a coordinated campaign of cyberattacks against U.S. banks and a New York dam on behalf of the Iran governmentThe U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan announced an indictment charging seven Iranians employed by two Iran-based computer c...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 24, 2016

Property-Casualty Megatrends: An Insurance Primer

Most CFOs have experienced the “insurance cycle.” It’s the movement of property-casualty insurance conditions from “hard” (relatively higher prices) to “soft” (lower prices), and back again.Cycles are typically observed over a period of years, as insurers ponder annual renewals of the past year’s...

By Rick Gorvett • March 23, 2016

Predictive Modeling Can Make Insurers Better Risk Managers

The explosion of big data has given every professional services organization reason to evaluate how digital information affects their business. The challenges faced by the insurance industry are no different than any other, as companies continue to evolve their approach to generating, storing, an...

By Loren Trimble and Michael Kim • March 23, 2016

Special Report: Insurance at Risk

The property-casualty insurance industry is sitting on a ton of surplus capital. From most perspectives, it’s hard to see that as a negative. For one thing, it is protection against the effects of a severe economic downturn on the industry; for another, a healthy industry can attract equity and b...

By David Katz • March 23, 2016

Compliance Function Losing Access to CEOs

While corporate demands for compliance support have been increasing, the stature of the compliance function within organizations is declining, according to a new survey from Accenture.Of the more than 150 compliance officers that the consulting firm polled for its 2016 Compliance Risk Study, 31% ...

By Matthew Heller • March 17, 2016

U.S. Man Accused of Jamaican Bridge Loan Scam

The former chairman of a Jamaican call center company has been charged with operating a $10 million Ponzi scheme in which he allegedly conned investors, including three of his own relatives, by telling them they would be funding “bridge loans” to Jamaican businesses.Mark A. Jones told investors t...

By Matthew Heller • March 16, 2016

Verizon Fined $1.3M Over Use of ‘Supercookies’

Verizon Wireless has agreed to pay $1.35 million to settle charges that it violated consumers’ privacy by inserting powerful tracking code into their web browsing to deliver targeted ads for marketers.The Federal Communications Commission said Monday that Verizon began using Unique Identifier Hea...

By Matthew Heller • March 7, 2016

Cell Phone Fraud: Who’s Watching IT?

According to the Federal Communications Commission, upwards of 40% of theft in major U.S. cities involves personal cell phones. But less talked about is the hidden threat of cell phone theft that takes place in the workplace.Jesse Daves Cell phone procurement fraud has been on the rise in recent ...

By Jesse Daves and Celyna Frost • March 4, 2016

Facebook Facing German Competition Law Probe

Germany’s competition watchdog is investigating whether Facebook is abusing its market dominance by failing to adequately inform consumers about the data it collects from them.The social network’s terms and conditions ask users for permission to use their data for advertising purposes but accordi...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 3, 2016

Olympus Fined $623M Over Bribery Scheme

Olympus Corp. of the Americas has agreed to pay $623 million to settle charges it bribed doctors and hospitals to buy its medical devices as part of a scheme that generated more than $600 million in sales.The settlement announced Tuesday resolves both criminal and civil claims and is the largest ...

By Matthew Heller • March 2, 2016