Archive

Some Greater Clarity on the FCPA's Reach Over Foreign Nationals

Posted 04/3/13

By Gordon Schnell and Jean Kim (Published by Thomson Reuters) Despite the government's ever-expanding crusade against foreign bribery, there has been little in the way of judicial guidance as to how far the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act allows the government to go. Most cases settle at the gate as only the most brazen (or reckless) defendants want to take on the government in its drive to root out foreign...

Tagged in: FCPA,

Banks Put Up Over $20 Billion in One Day to Settle Charges of Mortgage and Foreclosure Abuses, But is it Enough?

Posted 01/16/13

By Jason Enzler Last week, the Federal Reserve and the Comptroller of the Currency announced that ten banks have agreed to an $8.5 billion settlement to resolve allegations of foreclosure abuses. The banks, which include Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup, agreed to pay $3.3 billion directly to eligible borrowers and an additional $5.2 billion in other relief, such as loan...

Tagged in: Financial Institution Fraud, Housing and Mortgage Fraud,

Government Ups the Ante for Financial Fraud With Criminal Charges Against UBS for LIBOR Misdeeds

Posted 12/27/12

By Gordon Schnell It was just two weeks ago that the government slapped HSBC with a record $1.9 billion fine to settle charges of money laundering and dealing with terrorist states. As steep as the payment was, however, there seemed to be an overriding consensus that the government let the banking giant off easy by foregoing any criminal charges. To many, it was just the latest iteration of the...

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud, Financial Institution Fraud, Money Laundering,

Too Big to Prosecute? -- HSBC Pays Record Fine for "Aiding and Abetting Drug Lords and Terrorists" But Dodges Criminal Sanctions

Posted 12/17/12

By Gordon Schnell The London-based mega-bank HSBC agreed last week to pay $1.9 billion to settle government charges that it violated the Bank Secrecy Act for facilitating money laundering by some of the world's nastiest drug cartels. The charges also included alleged violations of the Trading with the Enemy Act for the bank's improper dealings with a number of countries subject to international sanctions. Click...

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud, Financial Institution Fraud, Money Laundering,

SEC Whistleblower Program Continues to Gain Steam With No Signs of Slowing Down

Posted 11/30/12

By Jason Enzler The SEC just released its second annual report on its whistleblower program (available here). While there are no major surprises, there are some interesting facts to take away and even some trends that can be deduced. Consistent with our report in a previous post, the number of attorneys staffing the SEC’s Whistleblower Office has doubled. See Business Is Booming At The SEC Whistleblower...

Tagged in: Insider Trading, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program,

Everything You Want to Know About the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and More

Posted 11/16/12

By Jason Enzler In a move that should help both businesses and those seeking to combat fraud, the SEC and DOJ jointly released a 120-page guide on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) on Wednesday. The guide does not represent any changes to the law or new trends in its enforcement, but it does gather in one place an easy-to-read discussion of the law and its prohibitions, answers to hypothetical scenarios,...

Tagged in: FCPA, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program,

To Report or Not Report; Conflicting Guidance From the Courts -- What is a Whistleblower to Do?

Posted 09/10/12

By Gordon Schnell and Marlene Koury (published in the American Banker) Under the recently implemented whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, whistleblowers who report violations of the securities laws are supposed to be protected from being fired. These protections -- which can include reinstatement, double back pay and special damages -- are designed to serve as an incentive for whistleblowers to come...

Tagged in: FCPA,

SEC Continues its Crusade Against Foreign Bribery

Posted 08/10/12

By Gordon Schnell The reinvigorated efforts of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to fight foreign bribery continue to pay off. This week, the SEC announced that the drug giant, Pfizer, has agreed to pay $60 million to settle criminal and civil charges that its subsidiaries bribed foreign officials in Europe and Asia in order to win business there. Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), it...

Tagged in: FCPA, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program,

Wells Fargo Settles for Discriminatory Lending Practices

Posted 07/27/12

By Marlene Koury Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $175 million to settle government charges that it discriminated against qualified African-American and Latino borrowers in its mortgage lending from 2004 through 2009. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the settlement on July 12, 2012, making it the second largest fair lending settlement in the DOJ’s history after its December 2011 settlement with Bank of...

Tagged in: Housing and Mortgage Fraud,

Contact

Click here for a confidential contact or call:

Some Greater Clarity on the FCPA's Reach Over Foreign Nationals

Banks Put Up Over $20 Billion in One Day to Settle Charges of Mortgage and Foreclosure Abuses, But is it Enough?

Government Ups the Ante for Financial Fraud With Criminal Charges Against UBS for LIBOR Misdeeds

Too Big to Prosecute? -- HSBC Pays Record Fine for "Aiding and Abetting Drug Lords and Terrorists" But Dodges Criminal Sanctions

SEC Whistleblower Program Continues to Gain Steam With No Signs of Slowing Down

Everything You Want to Know About the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and More

To Report or Not Report; Conflicting Guidance From the Courts -- What is a Whistleblower to Do?

SEC Continues its Crusade Against Foreign Bribery

Wells Fargo Settles for Discriminatory Lending Practices

Newsletter

Subscribe to receive email updates from the Constantine Cannon blogs

Sign up for: