Compliance & Ethics

SFO Deepens Global Anti-Corruption Alliances with US & International Partners

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has stepped up its efforts to combat cross-border corruption by officially joining the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre (IACCC), an elite global law enforcement alliance housed within the UK’s National Crime Agency.

Meta Faces Fresh EU Threat of Daily Fines Over Pay-or-Consent Model

Meta is back in the hot seat in Brussels, just months after it was slapped with a €200 million fine for breaching the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). This time, the European Commission is warning that Meta could face daily penalty payments if its updated “pay-or-consent” model still fails to meet the bloc’s legal standards.

Australia’s Competition Watchdog Calls for Urgent Digital Platform Reforms Amid Mounting Harms

In a parting shot that sounds more like a call to arms than a quiet policy recommendation, Australia’s competition watchdog has officially closed its five-year deep dive into digital platform services, and without regulatory reform, consumers and small businesses will keep getting steamrolled.

Audit Giants in the Netherlands Fined $8.5 Million for Widespread Training Exam Misconduct

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has imposed a combined $8.5 million in penalties on the Dutch affiliates of Deloitte, PwC, and EY after uncovering widespread cheating on mandatory internal training exams by hundreds of professionals across all three firms.

Federal Reserve Drops Reputational Risk from Bank Supervision Framework

In a notable shift to its supervisory approach, the Federal Reserve Board announced Monday that reputational risk will no longer be a formal component of its examination programs for banks. The move marks a departure from long-standing practices in regulatory supervision and signals a recalibration of how the Fed evaluates risk within financial institutions.

FINRA Hits Velox Clearing with Penalty after AML & Surveillance Breakdowns

Velox Clearing, a Miami-based clearing broker with just two-dozen registered representatives, has learned the hard way that a skeleton compliance crew and patchwork surveillance don’t cut it when you’re moving thinly traded penny stocks for foreign clients.

ABN AMRO Hit With €15 Million Fine for Bonus Breach After Ignoring Warnings

For nearly a decade, the rules were crystal clear that no bonuses for second-tier executives at state-backed banks in the Netherlands will be allowed. But ABN AMRO decided to test the limits, and now it’s paying the price.