U.S. banks may need to update their anti-money-laundering (AML) policies as a result of key provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 (NDAA), which primarily covers appropriations for the U.S. Department of Defense programs, activities, and military personnel. However, the NDAA also covers many “matters relating to foreign nations,” according to the overview… Read More >>
AML, KYC Fines Hit $5.6B as of mid-2020
Penalties assessed against financial institutions for non-compliance with anti-money laundering (AML), know your customer (KYC), and sanctions regulations totaled $5.6 billion by the end of July 2020, according to a mid-year report from a well-known fintech provider. That provider, Fenergo, founded in 2008, characterizes itself as a “digital enabler of client and regulatory technology for… Read More >>
DoJ Returns $300M in Fraud Proceeds to Malaysia
The U.S. Department of Justice has returned approximately $300 million to Malaysia, money that was misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Malaysia’s investment development fund, and laundered through financial institutions in America and several other states, including Switzerland, Singapore and Luxembourg. One person at the center of the money-laundering scandal was Low Taek Jho, aka… Read More >>
Chinese Bank’s Brokerage Settles DOJ & SEC Cases
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Financial Services LLC (ICBCFS), a New York-based, wholly owned subsidiary of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., will pay more than $42 million to settle charges that it improperly administered “pre-released” American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). Separately, ICBCFS has pled guilty… Read More >>
UBS to Challenge DoJ’s RMBS Fraud Charges
The United States Department of Justice has filed a civil complaint in the Eastern District of New York federal court, charging UBS AG and several of its U.S. affiliates with having “defrauded investors throughout the United States and the world in connection with its sale of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) from 2006 through 2007.” From… Read More >>
Ex-Deutsche Bank Traders Found Guilty of Rigging LIBOR
A former supervisor of Deutsche Bank’s pool trading desk and a former Deutsche Bank derivatives trader have been found guilty in a New York Southern District court for participating in a scheme to manipulate the London Interbank Offered Rate, better known as LIBOR, which the U.S. Justice Department calls a “critical global benchmark tied to… Read More >>
Nomura Pays $480M for Allegedly Misleading RMBS Investors
The U.S. Justice Department has settled with Nomura Holding America Inc. and its affiliates over federal civil claims that Nomura allegedly misled investors via the marketing, sale and issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) between 2006 and 2007, government and bank officials confirm. The settlement will cost Nomura $480 million, and Nomura officials say firm… Read More >>
Broker Pleads Guilty to ‘Pump & Dump’ Scheme
Michael Morris, a registered broker and managing director of New York-based Halcyon Cabot Partners, Ltd., has pled guilty in Brooklyn federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud for his participation in a 2013 $86 million market manipulation scheme involving the publicly traded company CodeSmart Holdings, Inc. Morris faces a maximum of… Read More >>
RBS Settles RMBS Misconduct Charges for $4.9 Billion
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) has signed a $4.9 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) over allegations that the bank misguided investors in the underwriting and issuing of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) from 2005 to 2008. Essentially, DoJ officials allege that RBS “securitized tens of thousands of loans that it… Read More >>
Wells Fargo Settles RMBS Case with Justice Department
The U.S. Justice Department reports that Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., the fourth largest in the U.S. by assets, and several of its affiliates will pay a civil penalty of $2.09 billion, “based on the bank’s alleged origination and sale of residential mortgage loans that it knew contained misstated income information and did not meet the… Read More >>
