Compliance & Ethics

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has reached a $48.5 million settlement with Paxos Trust Company over systemic anti-money laundering (AML) deficiencies and failures to adequately vet its former business partner, Binance. The agreement, announced by Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris on August 7, requires Paxos to pay a $26.5 million penalty to the state and commit an additional $22 million to bolstering its compliance program under a DFS-approved remediation plan.

Two major lead generation companies, Assurance IQ and MediaAlpha, have recently agreed to pay a combined $145 million to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that they misled millions of consumers seeking comprehensive health insurance and exposed them to a barrage of telemarketing calls and robocalls. The settlements, announced August 7, come in the form of two separate stipulated court orders that will also impose long-term bans on misleading health insurance marketing tactics.

FINTRAC doesn’t want to play the villain in your compliance story. That’s the unmistakable message behind Canada’s financial intelligence agency’s newly updated policy on administrative monetary penalties (AMPs). While penalties are still on the table, some of them quite hefty, the focus is firmly on education, behavioral change, and long-term compliance rather than finger-wagging or financial punishment.

There’s little doubt that regulation in the UK is picking up pace, and compliance professionals aren’t just being asked to keep up. They’re being asked to lead. COMPLY’s 2025 UK Regulatory Rundown, released this July, does what many frazzled in-house teams wish they had time to do: it maps the FCA’s recent and upcoming rules across two whirlwind years of consultation papers, policy statements, and strategic pivots. And it doesn’t just summarize what’s changed. It breaks down why it matters—who’s affected, what’s required, and where firms need to focus now.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued decision notices proposing nearly £46 million in penalties against fund manager Neil Woodford and his former firm, Woodford Investment Management (WIM), over serious failings in their management of the now-defunct Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF).

UBS has reached a $300 million agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve one of Credit Suisse’s long-standing legal obligations tied to its pre-financial crisis mortgage practices, the bank announced on Monday.

Two of the fashion world’s biggest names (Giorgio Armani and Shein) have just been pulled off the sustainability pedestal by Italy’s competition watchdog. The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has fined both companies for painting an ethical and eco-friendly picture that didn’t quite match reality. The charges? Misleading consumers through glossy green claims and hollow promises on worker protections.