GRC Report Staff

New York Attorney General Letitia James and Department of Financial Services (DFS) Superintendent Adrienne Harris have secured $11.3 million in penalties from GEICO and Travelers Insurance. The auto insurers were found to have inadequate data protections, leading to breaches that exposed the personal information of over 120,000 New Yorkers, with some of that data later used to commit unemployment fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Barclays is closing the book on one of the most contentious chapters in its history, agreeing to pay a £40 million fine to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for failing to disclose key arrangements with Qatari investors during a pivotal moment in 2008. The saga, which has spanned over a decade, is an important reminder that actions taken under pressure can reverberate for years.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced today that it had agreed on charges against United Parcel Service (UPS) in response to falsified earnings numbers resulting from its failure to comply with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) when valuing one of its poorest-performing subsidiaries.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unveiled its enforcement results for fiscal year 2024, showcasing significant efforts to hold wrongdoers accountable and strengthen the integrity of U.S. capital markets. The Commission filed 583 enforcement actions in total, securing a record $8.2 billion in financial remedies, the highest amount in SEC history.

Three broker-dealers are facing fines and regulatory scrutiny after the SEC charged them with filing incomplete suspicious activity reports (SARs)—a critical misstep in the fight against financial crime. Webull Financial LLC, Lightspeed Financial Services Group LLC, and Paulson Investment Company, LLC agreed to pay a combined $275,000 in civil penalties to resolve the allegations, the SEC announced today.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has recently approved sweeping new requirements to standardize how audit firms report key metrics. These updates, coupled with a modernization of the PCAOB’s reporting framework, aim to enhance transparency, bolster investor confidence, and improve audit quality.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a proposal calling for Google to divest its Chrome web browser. The DOJ argues that Chrome, a critical entry point for internet browsing, has been instrumental in cementing Google’s dominance in search. The filing also leaves open the possibility of requiring Google to spin off its Android operating system, should the divestiture of Chrome not sufficiently address competition concerns.