Compliance & Ethics

Morgan Stanley recently took another compliance hit, adding to its ongoing tangle with regulators. In a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) submitted to FINRA, Morgan Stanley agreed to a settlement for alleged rule violations related to market access controls—an agreement that, if accepted, would shield the firm from future actions tied to the same issues. This latest chapter is part of an ongoing saga involving market access rule violations, with Morgan Stanley previously settling similar allegations just a few years ago.

JP Morgan is once again in the regulatory spotlight. The SEC today announced a significant enforcement action against two JP Morgan affiliates, resulting in a $151 million settlement over a range of practices the SEC says fell short of investor protection standards. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (JPMS) and J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (JPMIM) now face the consequences of alleged breaches that range from misleading disclosures to pushing costly financial products without adequate disclosures about their conflicts of interest.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has put Meta Platforms, Inc. on notice. The federal agency is considering legal action against the social media giant over allegations that it improperly obtained consumers’ financial data from third parties and funneled that information into its highly profitable targeted advertising operations.

The Justice Department’s $3 billion settlement with TD Bank may have closed one chapter in a decade-long money-laundering saga, but Sen. Elizabeth Warren is far from satisfied with how the story ends. In a fiery letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Warren pulled no punches, calling the DOJ’s handling of the case a form of “absurd legal gymnastics” that shields TD’s top executives from facing the music. Her frustration underscores a growing concern in Washington: are these settlements really justice, or just another line item in the cost of doing business?

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has joined forces with the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) through a newly announced Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This partnership signals a renewed commitment to protecting individuals' data as digital threats become increasingly sophisticated. With the CPPA’s exclusive focus on privacy and the FCC’s broad regulatory powers, both agencies are set to enhance their collaborative efforts to ensure consumers are informed and safeguarded in today’s complex digital landscape.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has agreed to pay $433.5 million to settle a securities fraud class action lawsuit in Manhattan federal court. This settlement, once approved by the court, will rank among the 50 largest securities class action settlements in U.S. history since the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s financial markets regulator, has released its European Common Enforcement Priorities (ECEP) for 2024 corporate reporting. This annual guidance aims to harmonize supervision across the EU and outlines areas that ESMA, alongside European national enforcers, will focus on as they review corporate reports in 2025.