Compliance


  • Climate change protestors are seen marching.
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    Asanka Ratnayake via Getty Images
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    Greenwashing cases fall for first time in 6 years, but high-severity filings surge: report

    “There's certainly a global undercurrent of ‘greenhushing,’ so companies are being more cautious about how they communicate,” RepRisk’s chief commercial officer said.

    By Lamar Johnson • Oct. 10, 2024
  • Woman stands under TD Bank sign.
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    Drew Angerer via Getty Images
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    TD hit with asset cap, $3B in penalties over AML woes

    The bank will pay $1.8 billion to the Justice Department, $1.3 billion to FinCEN, and growth will be restricted in the bank’s U.S. retail unit.

    By Dan Ennis , Gabrielle Saulsbery • Oct. 10, 2024
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    FangXiaNuo via Getty Images
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    SEC charge hinges on director’s lack of ‘social independence’

    Financial ties are what come to mind when a company considers a director’s independence, but social ties are key, too, a settlement agreement shows.

    By Oct. 10, 2024
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    agrobacter via Getty Images
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    Apply California’s click-to-cancel law nationally, GCs advised

    The state has enacted the country’s first comprehensive curb on automatic subscription renewals. Companies should consider applying the law nationally, Airbnb’s former GC says.

    By Oct. 8, 2024
  • Chevron-Hess merger, FTC, Holyoak, Fergusun
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    Mario Tama via Getty Images
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    Commissioners blister FTC over Chevron-Hess merger settlement

    The agency threatened to block the deal on grounds that would never make it through the courts, the FTC’s two Republican-appointed members say.

    By Oct. 2, 2024
  • TD Bank at One Vanderbilt
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    Permission granted by TD Bank
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    TD to pay regulators $28.5M over spoofing scheme

    The broker-dealer arm of the Canadian bank will pay penalties to the DOJ, SEC and FINRA over a former trader’s scheme to place hundreds of fraudulent spoof orders amounting to billions of dollars.

    By Caitlin Mullen • Oct. 1, 2024
  • T-Mobile storefront in San Francisco.
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    Justin Sullivan/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    FCC reaches $31.5M settlement with T-Mobile over rash of data breaches

    The company agreed to a major change in board-level governance and will make a series of upgrades to boost its cyber resilience.

    By David Jones • Oct. 1, 2024
  • Panoramic view of Berkeley; San Francisco, Treasure Island and the Bay bridge visible in the background; California.
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    Sundry Photography via Getty Images
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    Berkeley settles ADA lawsuit over remote attendance for commission members

    City representatives approved requests but required commission members’ home addresses be publicly posted and that they allow members of the public into their homes, the complaint alleged.

    By Laurel Kalser • Sept. 30, 2024
  • SEC Reg. FD violation, social media posts
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    Social media posts cost DraftKings $200,000

    The company’s PR firm posted new information in the name of the CEO on sites that hadn’t first been disclosed as places where such information would be released, the SEC says.

    By Sept. 27, 2024
  • D&O insurance, Gallagher, entity investigation coverage
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    Boosting D&O protection with entity investigation coverage

    Market competition has made it more affordable for general counsel to get the costs of complying with SEC or DOJ investigations covered under their directors and officers insurance, a broker says.  

    By Sept. 26, 2024
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    Companies’ reduced penalties show benefit of clawbacks: DOJ’s Argentieri

    SAP and Albemarle had FCPA fines reduced by $109,000 and $763,000, respectively, for going after the pay of culpable employees.   

    By Sept. 24, 2024
  • whistleblower program, Peirce, Uyeda, confidentiality
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    SEC goes overboard on whistleblower confidentiality, commissioners say

    In a critique by two of its members, the agency is said to be evading accountability by needlessly redacting information on its awards.

    By Sept. 23, 2024
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    OceanFirst to pay $15M in DOJ redlining settlement

    The bank failed to provide mortgage lending services to predominantly nonwhite neighborhoods in three New Jersey counties, the agency said. The OCC downgraded the bank’s CRA rating in 2021.

    By Dan Ennis • Sept. 19, 2024
  • A man walks with an umbrella in front of AT&T logo.
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    Ronald Martinez via Getty Images
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    AT&T settles a 2023 data breach for $13M. Recent incidents are much worse.

    Telecom cybersecurity remains a challenge with widespread impacts. AT&T is not alone in experiencing a pattern of extensive breaches exposing customer data.

    By Matt Kapko • Sept. 18, 2024
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    TikTok fights for a legal path to continue its U.S. business

    The online video platform argues that a law forcing it to divest its U.S. operation or shut down violates its First Amendment rights.

    By Sept. 16, 2024
  • Draghi, EU tech company, competitiveness
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    Tech companies in EU face 100 laws, 270 regulators

    Without the wherewithal of U.S. tech giants, companies find EU laws overbearing, a report says. 

    By Sept. 16, 2024
  • SEC regulation whistleblowers
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    SEC levies over $3M in civil fines for whistleblower rule violations

    Seven companies had required employees to waive their right to receive financial rewards from reporting misconduct to regulators.

    By Sept. 9, 2024
  • The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seal hangs on the facade of its building.
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    Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
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    Friend or foe: Unpacking what the amicus briefs say about the SEC’s climate rule

    Amicus briefs in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s ongoing lawsuit concerning its climate disclosure rule find institutional investors and businesses largely on opposite sides.

    By Lamar Johnson • Aug. 20, 2024
  • Nasdaq penny stock delisting
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    Companies face quicker delisting under proposed Nasdaq rules

    Those whose shares trade as penny stocks will automatically be suspended at a certain point rather than given an appeals option if the SEC approves the changes the exchange wants.

    By Aug. 12, 2024
  • Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, speaks as U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland listens, during a news conference at the Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C.
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    Analysts cast doubt on antitrust angle of Capital One-Discover deal

    Capital One’s proposed acquisition of the smaller Discover seems “too small to be a core antitrust concern,” said Barry Barnett, an antitrust lawyer and partner at Susman Godfrey.

    By Caitlin Mullen • Aug. 8, 2024
  • incentive pay clawbacks, SEC
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    Nuthawut Somsuk via Getty Images
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    Most big-company clawback policies go beyond SEC rules

    Companies tend to want more executives to give back more types of compensation for more types of problems than what the government requires of them, an analysis finds.

    By Aug. 6, 2024
  • Someone pours breastmilk from a bottle into a storage bag.
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    isayildiz via Getty Images
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    Breastfeeding parents still face challenges at work despite federal protections, survey says

    The PUMP Act requires employers to offer a lactation space and reasonable break time to pump — but accommodating breastfeeding employees also needs to be addressed at the cultural level.

    By Carolyn Crist • July 31, 2024
  • Packaging boxes are wrapped and stacked on pallets in a warehouse, with a trailer at the dock.
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    Construction firm to pay $50K to settle claim it retaliated against HR manager for investigating harassment

    Pro Pallet allegedly chastised the HR manager for investigating the complaint, reassigned major parts of her job to others, and excluded her from meetings.

    By Ginger Christ • July 17, 2024
  • The exterior of the Supreme Court.
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    Deep Dive

    What employers can expect following the end of Chevron deference

    For one thing, the U.S. Department of Labor’s regulations may not fare well under federal courts’ scrutiny post-Chevron, a former DOL official told HR Dive.

    By Ryan Golden • July 17, 2024
  • A man on a rooftop looks at approaching flames.
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    David McNew via Getty Images
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    5 takeaways on costs, challenges of climate disclosure compliance

    Complacency regarding the SEC’s now-stayed rules could leave companies “scrambling to try to get ready” once they are put in place, PwC’s Marc Siegel said.

    By Maura Webber Sadovi • July 15, 2024