We have selected some of the GRC News highlights from the past month and summarized them into this blog post. Subscribe to keep up to date on more GRC news updates.
Halliburton Agree to Pay $29.2 Million to Settle SEC Case for Violations of FCPA (July 27th)
Oil Conglomerate Halliburton agreed to pay a $29.2 million settlement to the SEC for violations of the FCPA. The fine was levied for violation of books and records and internal accounting controls in order to secure lucrative oil contracts. (source)
Banking Representatives call for Fewer Financial Restrictions (July 27th)
Newly nominated Comptroller of Currency and, the Federal Reserve's Vice Chairman of Supervision, appeared before the Senate Banking Committee on behalf of the US's largest banks. They called for a cull in some of the stricter regulatory policies that were implemented post 2008 as a result of the financial crisis. Some of these include a suggested relaxing in the annual stress testing on large banks and making some of the smaller banks exempt completely. (source)
Most Annoying Office Buzzwords? (July 26th)
"Touching Base" and "Blue-sky thinking" have been voted as the 2 most grating office buzzwords in a survey by Glassdoor. Other popular phrases which scored high for cringe-inducing office buzzwords were, "game changer" and "pick it up and run with it". Time to reconsider your lingo? (source)
SEC Announces $2.5 Million Whistleblower Award (July 25th)
The SEC announced an award of nearly $2.5 million to an employee who brought to light misconduct within a domestic government agency. (source)
SEC Issues Warning on ICO's (July 25th)
The SEC issued a warning on Initial Coin Offerings (ICO's) following an internal investigation. They have called for these virtual currencies to adhere to securities laws and thus comply with financial regulations. Currently there is little to no regulatory oversight on these digital currencies. (source)
EU Rebukes Governments over AML Policies (July 23rd)
EU justice commissioner Vera Jourova has said that as many as 17 EU countries have failed to put in place the relevant measures to prevent criminals from laundering their money through European countries. One such measure requires member states to have a national register of the beneficial owners of its companies. (source)
Mid-Year FCPA Enforcement Report (July 21st)
There has been a total of 9 FCPA enforcement actions against organizations in 2017. The total monetary sanctions imposed exceed $108 million, and are predicated on alleged total bribery payments of at least $50 million. (source)
4 Ways to Improve Your Cybersecurity (July 20th)
Cybersecurity is once again an area of top priority for the SEC and FINRA in 2017. Read our blog post on; 4 ways to improve your cybersecurity.
UK regulator to launch investigation into £592Bn Asset Management Sector (July 17th)
The FCA has launched a review of the asset management sector in the UK. In particular, it will be looking into the use of online platforms (known as fund supermarkets) to sell investments to customers. (source)
FINRA Fines 2017 - A Midyear Update
Q1 2017 was a record opening quarter and you can read our latest blog post which looks at 7 key highlights from the FINRA fines review as we hit the mid-year point.
Many firms still behind in preparing for the EU's GDPR regulations (Jul 6th)
A recent survey found that only 9% of companies said they are prepared for GDPR. More worryingly, 32% of companies survived said they have no plan in place in anticipation of GDPR, which comes into effect in less than a years' time. (source)
Read our GRC News recaps from previous months