Compliance & Ethics

EU lawmakers have achieved a significant milestone by reaching a political agreement on regulating artificial intelligence (AI), paving the way for the European Union's (EU) Artificial Intelligence Act. This marks a crucial step towards establishing a comprehensive AI law in Western countries and positions the EU as a global leader in AI regulation. The AI Act encompasses bans on specific AI applications, including untargeted scraping of images for facial recognition databases, and introduces rules for systems categorized as high-risk. The legislation also imposes transparency requirements on general-purpose AI systems and their underlying models. Penalties for non-compliance could potentially reach up to 7% of a company's global revenue, depending on the violation and the company's size.

In a recent development, Nasdaq, Inc. has entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to resolve potential civil liability arising from apparent violations of sanctions on Iran by one of its former wholly owned foreign subsidiaries. The settlement underscores the importance of robust compliance measures for multinational corporations and the potential consequences of non-compliance with international sanctions regimes.

Swiss authorities have formally charged Trafigura, a leading commodity trading firm, and a former high-ranking executive, Mike Wainwright, with bribery related to payments made approximately a decade ago. The charges come following investigations by regulatory bodies in the United States, Brazil, and Switzerland into payments facilitated by Trafigura employees through third parties.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken legal action against Raymond J. Pirrello, Jr., Marcello Follano, Robert Cassino, Anthony DiTucci, Joseph Rivera, and their associated companies – Prior 2 IPO Inc., Late Stage Asset Management, LLC, Pre IPO Marketing Inc., and JL Rivera Enterprises Ltd. The charges stem from an alleged widespread fraudulent scheme involving investments in pre-initial public offering (IPO) companies.

Canada's financial intelligence agency, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (Fintrac), has levied a substantial $7.4 million penalty against the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) for its non-compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and terrorist financing measures.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has levied a $24 million fine on BofA Securities, Inc. for over 700 instances of spoofing in U.S. Treasury secondary markets and associated supervisory lapses spanning over six years.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has ordered Bank of America to pay a hefty $12 million penalty for submitting false mortgage lending information to the federal government over a period of at least four years. The violation pertains to the bank's failure to adhere to federal law, which mandates mortgage lenders to gather and report demographic information from applicants under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA).