Compliance & Ethics

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently unveiled its Spring 2024 regulatory agenda, part of the government-wide Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. This agenda outlines the CFTC’s anticipated rulemakings for the upcoming year. While the agenda includes several noteworthy rulemaking matters, the exclusion of a key proposed rulemaking regarding the CFTC’s uncleared swap margin rules has sparked significant debate within the Commission.

On January 7, 2021, Boeing entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve a criminal charge related to a conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aircraft Evaluation Group (FAA AEG). This resolution stems from Boeing’s fraudulent conduct in the evaluation of its 737 MAX airplane.

In what Danish prosecutors are calling the largest money-laundering case in the country's history, Nordea Bank has been charged by Denmark's National Special Crime Unit (NSK) with significant anti-money laundering (AML) failings. The charges, announced on July 8, 2024, relate to approximately €3.5 billion in transactions from Russian clients between 2012 and 2015.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has reached a settlement with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated over supervisory failures that resulted in customers paying nearly $1.5 million in avoidable fees. The firm has agreed to pay full restitution to affected customers and accept a censure.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has announced significant changes to the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) list of jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, and counter-proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF) regimes. These updates, stemming from the FATF's June 2024 plenary meeting, are poised to have far-reaching implications for the global financial system and U.S. financial institutions.

Three home health agencies and their parent company have agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle allegations of violating the False Claims Act. The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Monday, July 1, 2024, that Guardian Health Care Inc., Gem City Home Care LLC, Care Connection of Cincinnati LLC, and their owner Evolution Health LLC have reached this agreement to resolve claims of providing illegal kickbacks for Medicare referrals.

The Federal Reserve Board has imposed a $43 million fine on Silvergate Capital Corporation and its subsidiary, Silvergate Bank, for inadequate transaction monitoring in violation of anti-money laundering (AML) laws.