Compliance & Ethics

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced settled accounting fraud charges against Cloopen Group Holding Limited, a China-based cloud communications provider. Formerly trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Cloopen faced allegations of accounting misconduct leading to overstated financial results for the second and third quarters of 2021, along with misleading revenue guidance for Q4 2021.

The OCC has announced a hefty $65 million civil money penalty against City National Bank, situated in Los Angeles, California. This penalty stems from the OCC's identification of systemic deficiencies in the bank's risk management and internal controls, categorizing the bank's practices as unsafe or unsound.

A 56-year-old New York man, Gyanendra Asre, pleaded guilty recently to charges of failing to uphold an anti-money laundering program, a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act. As part of a complex scheme, Asre aimed to channel lucrative yet high-risk international financial business to a small and relatively unsophisticated credit union.

HSBC Bank plc (HBEU) and HSBC UK Bank plc (HBUK) are confronting a substantial £57.4 million fine from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) for severe depositor protection failings spanning several years. This penalty, the second-highest ever imposed by the PRA, sheds light on HSBC's historical shortcomings in implementing the Depositor Protection Rules. These rules mandate that financial institutions establish robust systems and controls to ensure the accuracy of critical information, crucial for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) to make prompt payments in the event of a firm failure.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has initiated legal action against Citibank, N.A. (Citi), accusing the banking giant of neglecting to protect customers and refusing reimbursement to victims of fraud. The lawsuit alleges a range of misconduct, including the failure to implement robust online security measures, misleading account holders about their rights following unauthorized access, and illegal denial of reimbursement to victims of fraud.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has invited public comments on its recently proposed rulemaking and policy statement, which aims to modernize the rules governing business combinations involving national banks and federal savings associations. The proposal is designed to augment transparency in the OCC's review process under the Bank Merger Act (BMA) and offer additional clarity to stakeholders.

The former president of MGM Grand casino, Scott Sibella, has pleaded guilty to a federal criminal charge for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) by failing to report suspicious transactions. The Justice Department disclosed this information, highlighting related settlements with MGM Grand and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas casinos, requiring them to pay a combined $7.45 million, undergo external review, and enhance their anti-money laundering (AML) compliance programs.