Compliance & Ethics

In two decisions under the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), the Commission fined Google a combined €890 million, finding that the company unlawfully favored its own services in Google Search while also preventing app developers from freely steering customers toward alternative purchasing channels outside Google Play. The penalties amount to €460 million for Google's search practices and €430 million for its Play Store policies.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority found that Tabcorp Holdings' wagering business repeatedly breached Australia's telemarketing rules while marketing to VIP customers. The regulator identified 351 calls made to numbers listed on the Do Not Call Register without consent, 82 calls placed outside legally permitted hours, and nearly 4,000 calls in which TAB failed to properly identify itself, the purpose of the call, or both.

NeoGenomics, the Florida-based laboratory company, has agreed to pay $9.81 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by providing consulting services below fair market value to healthcare providers whose business it hoped to win and by paying independent consultants in ways that rewarded them for generating referrals. The settlement, announced Monday, resolves the government's civil claims and recognizes what happened after the conduct came to light as much as the conduct itself.

KPMG Australia has sanctioned seven employees after an internal investigation concluded that confidential client information was improperly shared inside the firm, a finding that stands in marked contrast to the firm's earlier position that previous inquiries had failed to substantiate wrongdoing.

What appeared on the books as re-inspection fees was, prosecutors say, something else entirely. Over six years, The Scoular Company allegedly reimbursed customs brokers for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes paid to Mexican border officials, a scheme that has now resulted in a resolution worth more than $10 million with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The PRA has fined HDI Global £4.165 million in connection with inaccurate information submitted on multiple occasions between August 2021 and August 2024 relating to Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) liabilities and FSCS fee tariff data. Some of those errors appeared in filings the insurer submitted as part of efforts to remediate previous mistakes, extending rather than resolving the problem.

A student decides not to continue their studies and is told they owe the university a month's tuition to leave. Another clicks what appears to be nothing more than an "Apply" button and, according to Poland's consumer watchdog, has already entered into a paid contract before realizing it.