The Bank of England has recently fined Vocalink Limited £11.9 million for failing to comply with a formal direction aimed at strengthening its risk and control framework, marking the first time the central bank has levied a fine against a financial market infrastructure firm under the Banking Act 2009.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division recently announced a new Whistleblower Rewards Program in partnership with the United States Postal Service. The initiative marks the first time the Antitrust Division will offer financial incentives to individuals who report antitrust crimes and related offenses — with potential rewards reaching up to 30% of the criminal fines recovered in applicable cases.
Stantec Inc., a Canadian-based environmental and engineering firm, has agreed to pay $4 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by submitting, or causing others to submit, false certifications in applications for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields Assessment Grants.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Monzo Bank £21,091,300 for serious and repeated failures in its financial crime controls, citing deficiencies in the digital bank’s customer onboarding, risk assessment, and transaction monitoring systems between 2018 and 2022.
The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA, and ESMA) have signed a detailed multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU) with the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), formalizing how the institutions will cooperate and exchange information going forward.
The French government has fined online fashion retailer Shein €40 million after uncovering widespread deceptive practices in how the company advertised price reductions and promoted its environmental credentials.
Key Holding, a Delaware-based logistics firm with global operations, just learned the hard way that in the world of sanctions, ignorance isn’t bliss, it’s rather expensive. After acquiring a Colombian freight subsidiary in late 2021, the company failed to realize that the acquisition brought new obligations under U.S. sanctions laws. That oversight ultimately led to 36 unauthorized shipments to Cuba, triggering a $608,825 settlement with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).