Compliance & Ethics

Brazil is being called upon to urgently undertake significant reforms to build on its recent progress in the fight against foreign bribery, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD's 45-country Working Group has just completed its Phase 4 evaluation of Brazil's implementation of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and related instruments.

Australia's energy regulator, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), has initiated legal action against Santos Ltd, the oil and gas producer, for alleged violations of auction record-keeping rules that occurred between March 2019 and June 2021. The AER has filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court, accusing a unit of Santos of failing to maintain essential records of material renominations across six different auction facilities on a staggering 4,701 occasions.

Regulators, led by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), are stepping up their scrutiny of financial service firms' communication methods in a sector-wide clampdown. While text messages and emails have come under tighter surveillance, the focus is now shifting towards video calls, with concerns that regulators will soon assess these calls for potential compliance breaches.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Division of Enforcement has taken a step toward achieving greater transparency and accountability in its enforcement resolutions. In a move aimed at enhancing compliance, preventing misconduct, and deterring future violations, the Division has issued an advisory to guide enforcement staff in making recommendations to the Commission. The advisory outlines key considerations related to civil monetary penalties, corporate compliance monitors, consultants, and admissions.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Examinations has unveiled its examination priorities for the year 2024. These priorities, which were released to inform investors and registrants, underline the key risks and issues that the Division will address in the upcoming year.

In a bid to boost transparency in the securities lending market, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced Rule 10c-1a. This new regulation mandates specific entities to report crucial information about securities loans to registered national securities associations (RNSAs) and compels RNSAs to provide certain transaction details to the public. The rule's ultimate aim is to enhance transparency and efficiency in the securities lending sector.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced a substantial whistleblower award of over $18 million to an individual who played a pivotal role in providing essential information and assistance during a CFTC enforcement action and a related investigation conducted by another agency. The whistleblower's contributions included significant, high-quality support to the CFTC's Division of Enforcement (DOE) and critical communications with the other agency, which ultimately led to the resolution of the related action.