Compliance & Ethics

Securities America for years failed to properly supervise the sale and switching of Class A mutual funds, leading investors to pay more than $2 million in avoidable costs, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). In a settlement finalized through a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent, which the firm neither admitted nor denied, FINRA issued a censure, a $1 million fine, and $2,019,040 in restitution to impacted customers. Interest will also be added to each payment.

The European Commission issued its first enforcement actions under the Digital Services Act (DSA) on Wednesday, placing two of the world’s largest platforms on very different tracks toward compliance.

Australia’s corporate watchdog is urging companies to do more to protect employees who raise the alarm on misconduct, after uncovering major inconsistencies in the way whistleblower programs are being implemented across the country. A new benchmarking review assessed 134 entities across 18 industries. This review builds on several years of work focused on strengthening Australian whistleblower protections.

Poland’s competition regulator has issued a big enforcement decision against the country’s largest supermarket chain, Biedronka, after finding that the retailer misled customers with its widely advertised “100% moneyback as a voucher” promotions.

The U.S. Treasury is intensifying its effort to choke off any remaining financial lifelines available to sanctioned Russian elites, and American firms are increasingly in the crosshairs. This week, the Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) unveiled two separate enforcement actions totaling more than $18 million, signaling that even indirect or obscured connections to Kremlin-aligned wealth will draw scrutiny.

South Korea’s data protection watchdog says Starbucks and its third-party auditor mishandled workers’ personal data and now both companies are being ordered to fix it. The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) resolved to issue correction orders and compliance recommendations to Starbucks Corporation and Elevate Hong Kong Holdings Limited, following a probe into how the two handled personal information linked to Starbucks’ Ethical Sourcing Program in Korea.

South Korea’s competition regulator has fined Webzen for misleading players about the chances of winning rare items in its hit mobile game MU Archangel. The Commission, chaired by Biung-ghi Ju, announced that Webzen will face a corrective order and administrative surcharges totaling KRW 1.58 billion (about USD $1.2 million) for using what officials described as deceptive practices tied to in-game “loot boxes.”