“He’s making a list, checking it twice. . .”
As part of our end of year wrap up, we present to you Santa's Naughty List. The definitive list of individuals and corporations who will be receiving a bag of coal from Mr Claus this Christmas.
Be sure to check in tomorrow, when we post Santa's Nice List. Subscribe to stay notified.
The Naughty List
- Google. The technology giant was fined a record €2.4 billion by the EU for using its position as the leader of internet search to illegally promote its own content ahead of its competitors. The fine, which followed a 7 year investigation, is a new record.
- Fat Leonard and the US Navy. 2017 saw the 'Fat Leonard' corruption scandal expand to include more than 60 admirals and hundreds of US Navy officers for their contact and dealings with 'Fat' Leonard Glenn Francis. The number of Navy admirals who are under investigation has doubled from last years figure. Mr Francis had for decades, bribed Navy officials with sex, liquor and extravagant feasts to win favorable shipping contracts.
- Lee Jae-yong. The South Korean vice chairman of Samsung gets our 3rd spot on the naughty list. Mr Lee was found guilty of corruption for 'bribery, embezzlement and perjury'. The case was one of the most high profile corruption scandals from 2017 and was directly linked to the impeachment of former South Korean president Park Geun-hye in 2016.
- PWC. PriceWaterHouseCooper was fined a record £5.1 million by the Financial Reporting Council (the UK's accounting watchdog) for misconduct during their audit of RSM Tenon group in 2011.
- Rolls-Royce. The British engineering giant apologized, and agreed a £671 million settlement with UK and US authorities for charges of corruption and bribery.
- Deutsche Bank. The German bank makes our naughty list 2 years running. This time for two separate fines. The first fine in January for £163 million to the FCA, for breaches of anti-money laundering laws, which is the largest penalty imposed by the FCA and former FSA for AML related misconduct. Their second high profile fine of the year was again for AML misconduct. This time they settled a $41 million with the US Federal Reserve. Both fines were pertained to a reported $10 billion laundered out of Russia.
Tomorrow we will cover the more positive events of the year with "The Nice List". Subscribe to our blog to be notified.
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