Compliance & Ethics

SEC Fines Western Asset $100 Million Over Failures Tied to Former Investment Chief’s Alleged Cherry-Picking Scheme

Pasadena-based Western Asset Management has agreed to pay a $100 million civil penalty to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it failed to detect and prevent an alleged cherry-picking scheme carried out by its former co-chief investment officer.

Welsh Water to Fund £44.7 Million in Environmental Improvements After Ofwat Wastewater Investigation

A £40 million fine would have disappeared into the Treasury. Instead, £44.7 million will stay in Wales. That was the calculation behind Ofwat's decision Friday to accept a legally enforceable package of undertakings from Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water following an investigation that found serious failures in the operation of the company's wastewater network.

Hungarian Competition Authority Fines Maspex Approximately $1.1 Million Over Minimum Pricing Scheme

According to Hungary's Competition Authority (GVH), wholesalers selling beverages distributed by Maspex Olympos. were told that if they offered products below the company's recommended minimum prices, they should not advertise the actual discounted price. Instead, they were encouraged to use attention-grabbing labels such as "TOP PRICE" or "BOMB PRICE."

Why Beneficial Ownership Remains AML’s Most Persistent Blind Spot

Beneficial ownership is one of the most established concepts in anti-money laundering compliance. It is also one of the most persistently misunderstood in practice. At onboarding, most financial institutions collect beneficial ownership declarations, identify individuals with controlling interests, and document ownership percentages as part of standard due diligence. On the surface, this appears to satisfy regulatory expectations.

Medicare Advantage Coding Practices Draw $56.5 Million False Claims Act Settlement

Federal prosecutors announced that Matrix Medical Network, HealthFair, and HealthFair founder Shahriah “James” Ekbatani have agreed to pay a combined $56.5 million to resolve allegations that unsupported and invalid diagnoses were used to increase payments from the Medicare Advantage program. Matrix will pay $36.5 million, while HealthFair and Ekbatani agreed to pay $5 million and $15 million respectively.

FINMA Flags Remaining Gaps in Anti-Money Laundering Risk Assessments Despite Industry Progress

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has published supplementary guidance on money laundering risk analysis, acknowledging improvements across the financial sector while warning that significant weaknesses remain in how some institutions assess and manage financial crime risk.

Banking Regulators Continue Campaign to Erase ‘Reputation Risk’ from Supervision

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Reserve Board, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced Tuesday that they have updated additional interagency documents to eliminate references to reputation risk, continuing a broader effort to strip the concept from federal bank supervision.