Compliance & Ethics

On March 2, 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department made a noteworthy announcement that immediately caught the attention of businesses and legal experts alike. The department revealed that it would not enforce penalties or fines tied to the Corporate Transparency Act’s (CTA) beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements, including those set for the March 21, 2025 filing deadline. This move effectively gives businesses a breather, halting the looming threat of fines for failing to meet reporting obligations under the current rules.

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has launched its Coordinated Enforcement Framework (CEF) action for 2025. This year, the focus shifts to the right to erasure—also known as the “right to be forgotten”—a powerful tool under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that allows individuals to request the deletion of personal data.

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) has slapped Deutsche Bank with an administrative fine totaling €23.05 million for a series of compliance failures in connection with its operations. The German financial regulator found that the bank violated several provisions under the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG) and the German Payment Accounts Act (ZKG).

For businesses still working through the new requirements for beneficial ownership information reporting, FinCEN has some good news. The agency announced last week that it’s extending the deadline to file reports by 30 days, pushing the final date to March 21, 2025. This comes after a recent court ruling that revived the reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act.

Recently, Mr. Chee Hong Tat, Singapore’s Minister for Transport, Second Minister for Finance, Deputy Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and evident professional multitasker, spoke at the Equities Market Review Group Media Conference, laying out a vision for the country’s equities market. The plan relies on changes to both regulations and investments that will help foster an environment where businesses and investors can thrive together.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has released an advisory designed to clarify its approach toward self-reporting, cooperation, and remediation in its enforcement actions. This new framework aims to provide clear guidelines for companies and individuals seeking to mitigate potential penalties through voluntary disclosures, cooperation with the agency, and efforts to remediate violations.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has recently put its foot down on PwC Israel (Kesselman & Kesselman C.P.A.s) for a serious lapse in integrity that undermined professional standards. The firm, a member of the global PricewaterhouseCoopers network, has been slapped with a $2.75 million fine, a public censure, and a raft of corrective measures after it was found guilty of allowing improper answer sharing on internal training exams over a span of five years.