Compliance & Ethics

Exactech, a Gainesville, Florida–based medical device company, is paying the price for cutting corners on patient safety. The company has agreed to an $8 million settlement with the U.S. government after being accused of selling faulty knee replacement devices to Medicare, Medicaid, and the Department of Veterans Affairs — a deal signed off by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware as the company works through its Chapter 11 case.

For Varengold Bank AG, the reckoning has finally arrived. After years of audits, inspections, and missed opportunities to get its house in order, Germany’s financial regulator BaFin has handed the Hamburg-based bank a bill it can’t ignore, with €3.8 million ($4.1 million) in fines and an order to fix its broken anti-money laundering defenses.

When a firm holds customer money, regulators expect those funds to be walled off, safe, and untouchable. For thirteen years, Jefferies’ calculations said they were. In reality, they weren’t, and FINRA has now fined the firm $1 million for failing one of the industry’s most basic safeguards.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) has imposed an administrative monetary penalty on the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA), citing multiple violations of Canada’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws.

Chegg, the education technology company known for its online study tools, has agreed to pay $7.5 million after the Federal Trade Commission accused it of making it needlessly difficult for students and parents to cancel recurring subscriptions.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a sweeping lawsuit against Uber Technologies, alleging systemic discrimination against passengers with disabilities in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The case, brought in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, seeks $125 million in damages for individuals who reported being denied equal access to Uber rides because of service animals or mobility devices such as stowable wheelchairs.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) has admitted to years of widespread misconduct, including unconscionable conduct in dealings with the Australian Government, mishandling customer hardship cases, misleading interest rate promises, and charging fees to deceased customers. The bank now faces proposed penalties of $156 million (AUD 240 million), subject to approval by the Federal Court.