The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) reports that it recently rewarded an insider whistleblower with more than $8 million for providing “significant information and assistance that led the CFTC and other agencies to bring multiple enforcement actions.” In fact, the whistleblower “helped the CFTC establish that one or more derivatives market participants deceived clients about… Read More >>
A Whistleblower’s $14M Payday & Other News Briefs
Whistleblower Led SEC to Ongoing Fraud A whistleblower that published an online report about “an ongoing fraud” wound up with a $14 million payday from the SEC, according to the latest award announcement from the regulator. The whistleblower went to the SEC after posting the report “and was persistent in reaching out to the staff,… Read More >>
ICE’s Bitcoin Custody Firm Gets a BitLicense
NYSDFS Approves Bakkt Marketplace The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) has approved the application of Bakkt Marketplace, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bakkt Holdings, LLC, for virtual currency and money transmitter licenses, Financial Services Superintendent Linda A. Lacewell reports. The licenses will allow Bakkt Marketplace, a digital currency trading platform,… Read More >>
FIS to Invest $150M in FinTech Startups
FIS Ventures to Fund ‘Flutterwave’ Financial technology specialist vendor FIS reports that its new “corporate venture investment division” FIS Ventures has launched “an effort to invest a target of $150 million in promising fintech startups over the next three years.” The first FIS Ventures investment is in Flutterwave, a Lagos, Nigeria and San Francisco-based… Read More >>
ETFs Added to U.K.’s Investment Association Sectors
ETFs To Be Compared Against IA’s 37 Fund Sectors The U.K. industry group Investment Association (IA) has agreed to let exchange traded funds (ETFs) join the IA sectors, officials say. The IA represents U.K. asset managers and supports British savers, investors and businesses, officials say. The association has 250 members that oversee £7.7 trillion of… Read More >>
Barclays Faced Prior Charges on Alleged Whistleblower Violations
An investigation by New York’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) has resulted in a $15 million fine assessed against Barclays Bank and its New York branch for state whistleblower violations, stemming from alleged attempts by its chief executive officer James Edward “Jes” Staley to identify the author, or authors, of two whistleblowing letters. But the… Read More >>
SEC Whistleblower Awards Total Hits $158 Million
At least two people (or groups) have gotten a whistleblower windfall from the SEC, probably in time for a summer vacation and probably a lot more. Late last month, SEC officials revealed that for two separate cases the regulator had handed out a total of $4.2 million to two whistleblowers, bringing the total in whistleblower… Read More >>
Whistleblowers May Survive Trump’s Regulatory Overhaul
While the Trump Team is clearly trying to change the dynamics of key regulators such as the SEC and CFTC, one popular and successful service — support for whistleblowers — may be staying pretty much the same. In fact, it appears the CFTC may be strengthening its support of its whistleblowers program, which is a… Read More >>
Barclays CEO Under Fire for Whistleblower Search
U.K. regulatory authorities are investigating why James E. “Jes” Staley, group CEO of Barclays, was hunting for the identity of a whistleblower, and Barclays officials say they are making “a very significant compensation adjustment” to Staley’s salary. For now, Staley still has the backing of the Barclays board and will be reappointed this coming May…. Read More >>
SEC Names Head of the Whistleblower Office
SEC Promotes Acting Chief The SEC reports that Jane Norberg has been promoted to head its whistleblower office. Norberg, who joined the SEC in 2012 as the first deputy chief of the office has served as acting chief since the departure of Sean McKessy, the whistleblower office’s inaugural chief. Before joining the SEC, Norberg was… Read More >>
