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March 2021 Regulatory Updates

March 2021 Regulatory Updates

by | Apr 1, 2021 | Compliance Updates, iComply Insights

March 2021 Regulatory Updates

Regulatory Actions and Updates from Around the Globe


Enforcement Highlights – March 2021

 

United States: 

 

  • The SEC charged the founder of San Francisco-based biotech company uBiome for defrauding investors out of USD $60 million with false claims of the company’s successful business model and track record.  

 

  • The SEC charged 7 individuals and tech company Airborne Wireless Network with running a fraudulent fundraising scheme that generated nearly USD $45 million.

 

  • The SEC charged private investor George Heckler for running a decade-long scheme defrauding investors of over USD $90 million through two private hedge funds.

 

  • The SEC charged Seth P. Levine, owner of real estate firm Norse Holdings, LLC, that defrauding at least 60 people out of millions based on false and misleading claims about real estate investments.

 

  • The SEC took action against California-based stock trader Andrew L. Fassari (known as @OCMillionaire on Twitter) for a $900K fraudulent Twitter scheme for a now-defunct cannabis company.

 

United Kingdom:

 

  • The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined over £530,000 24 Hour Trading Academy for giving unauthorized trading advice via Whatsapp to consumers.

 

  • The FCA fined experienced trader Mr. Adrian Geoffrey Horn £52,500 for executing trades with himself (“wash trading”) and prohibited him from participating in regulated activities.

 

Hong Kong:

 

  • The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong fined Yardley Securities Limited $5 million for failing to comply with AML/CFT regulatory requirements while handling third-party fund transfers.

 

  • SFC reprimanded and fined Sino-Rich Securities & Futures Limited $7.2 million for failures in complying with AML/CFT regulatory requirements when handling cash deposits and third-party fund transfers.

 

 

learn more

Is your AML compliance too expensive, time-consuming, or ineffective?

iComply enables financial services providers to reduce costs, risk, and complexity and improve staff capacity, effectiveness, and customer experience.

Request a demo today.

March 2021 Regulatory Updates

February 2021 Regulatory Updates

by | Mar 2, 2021 | Compliance Updates, iComply Insights

February 2021 Regulatory Updates

Regulatory Actions and Updates from Around the Globe


Enforcement Highlights – February 2021

 

United States: 

  • The U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) suspended trading in the securities of 15 companies due to questionable trading and social media activity targeted at artificially inflating their stock price.

 

  • The SEC charged an Oklahoma-based gas exploration and production company, Gulfport Energy Corporation, and its former CEO Moore, for failing to properly disclose executive perks and related person transactions.

 

  • The SEC charged three individuals with running a Ponzi-like scheme that raised over $1.7 billion from 17,000 retail investors through securities issued by a New York-based registered investment adviser GPB Capital.

 

  • FINRA fined Atlanta-based investment firm Triad Advisors $200,000 over findings that it neglected to follow proper compliance procedures when switching customers’ investments between funds.

 

  • The SEC’s initial fine of $5 million on two Ukrainian traders and their firm for defrauding investors was increased to $7.5 million in February 2021 by a U.S. Supreme Court judge.

 

  • OFAC fined BitPay, Inc., a digital currency company based in Georgia, more than $500,000 for over 2,100 international sanctions violations from multiple digital currency transactions.

 

United Kingdom:

  • FCA began criminal proceedings against two brothers, former Goldman Sachs and Clifford Chance employees, for fraud by false representation and insider trading.

 

Hong Kong:

  • The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) reprimanded Brilliance Asset Management Limited and fined it $3.15M over failures to ensure short position reports (SPRs) for four collective investment schemes.

 

  • SFC prohibited 13 brokers from dealing with assets held in 54 trading accounts related to a suspected social media ramp-and-dump scam involving the manipulation of the market

 

Regulatory Updates

Singapore:

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently published its Technology Risk Management Guidelines with a focus on establishing robust governance to ensure cyber resilience and sound technology risk practices for those companies operating both inside and outside of Singapore.

 

 

Upcoming Events:


The New Consumer: How to Ensure Integrity
in the Virtual Economy

 

Join our upcoming fireside event as we discuss the rise of virtual marketplaces as the new eCommerce, and how every player in these marketplaces – from consumers to payment processors – can establish a vibrant digital ecosystem built on integrity and accountability.

Register Now

learn more

Is your AML compliance too expensive, time-consuming, or ineffective?

iComply enables financial services providers to reduce costs, risk, and complexity and improve staff capacity, effectiveness, and customer experience.

Request a demo today.

March 2021 Regulatory Updates

January 2021 Regulatory Updates

by | Feb 2, 2021 | Compliance Updates, iComply Insights

January 2021 Regulatory Updates

Regulatory Actions and Updates from Around the Globe

Enforcement Highlights – January 2021

 

United States: 

 

  • Fund manager at MG Capital Management real estate fund was charged by the SEC with misappropriating $7 million from retail investors.

 

  • The SEC charged Deutsche Bank AG with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) due to a lack of sufficient internal accounting controls. The bank agreed to pay $43 million in disgorgement and interest.

 

Germany:

 

Hong Kong:

  • The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued restriction notices to five brokers to freeze client accounts related to suspected market manipulation.

 

Regulatory Updates

Austria:

An Austrian startup building an app for trading in security tokens became the first fintech company to be admitted to Austria’s Financial Market Authority (FMA) regulatory sandbox.

***

FMA announced that it has granted registration to 18 virtual asset providers since tightening anti-money laundering regulations in January 2020.

 

 

Past events:

Mergers & Acquisitions – The Future of Enhanced Due Diligence

 

Missed our January 2021 Fireside Chat? Watch the full event where guest panelists discuss the trends for enhanced due diligence within mergers and acquisitions for both buyers and sellers, and the importance that proper due diligence plays in successful M&A transactions.

Watch Now

learn more

Is your AML compliance too expensive, time-consuming, or ineffective?

iComply enables financial services providers to reduce costs, risk, and complexity and improve staff capacity, effectiveness, and customer experience.

Request a demo today.

March 2021 Regulatory Updates

December 2020 Regulatory Updates

by | Jan 4, 2021 | Compliance Updates, iComply Insights

December 2020 Regulatory Updates

Regulatory Actions and Updates from Around the Globe

Enforcement Highlights – December 2020

 

United States: 

  • The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged jewelry wholesaler Gregory Altieri for defrauding both current and retired police officers and firefighters in a Ponzi-like scheme.
  • SEC filed emergency action by imposing an asset freeze against Virgil Capital LLC in connection with an alleged securities fraud related to Virgil Sigma cryptocurrency fund.
  • SEC charged Ripple and its co-founders with raising over USD $1.3 billion through an unregistered, ongoing digital asset securities offering.
  • SEC charged real estate development company Silicon Sage Builders for USD $119 million securities fraud targeting the Northern California South Asian community.
  • China-based Luckin Coffee agreed to pay USD $180 million in penalties to settle accounting fraud charges for misstating the company’s revenue, expenses, and net operating loss.
  • General Electric paid a USD $200 million penalty to settle charges for repeated disclosure failures across multiple businesses that materially misled investors.

 

United Kingdom:

  • The Financial Conduct Authority fined Charles Schwab GBP 8.96 million for failing to arrange adequate protection for its clients’ assets and carrying out a regulated activity without permission.

 

Hong Kong:

  • The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong fined Fulbright Securities Limited USD $3.6 million for failing to implement internal control procedures to detect and prevent illegal short selling.
  • SFC issued a restriction notice to CNI Securities Group Limited to freeze client accounts linked to suspected market manipulation

 

Regulatory Updates

United Kingdom:

The Financial Conduct Authority has established a Temporary Registration Regime for cryptoasset businesses, which are required to be registered with the FCA by 10 January 2021. 

The regime was established due to FCA’s inability to assess and register all firms that have applied for registration due to the complexity of applications and COVID-19 pandemic restricting FCA’s ability to visit firms. It will allow existing firms that have applied for registration before 16 December 2020, and whose applications are still being assessed, to continue trading.

Businesses that began operating after 10 January 2020 are required to obtain full registration with the FCA before conducting business.

***

Her Majesty’s Treasury and The Home Office issued the third national risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing in the UK. The policy paper outlines how the key risks have changed since the UK’s second NRA was published in 2017, and the action taken since 2017 to address these risks.

 

 

Past events: How Compliance Changed in 2020

 

Watch the recording of our most recent webinar reviewing the impact that the Fifth Money Laundering, more commonly known as AMLD5, had on the landscape of compliance in 2020 for businesses and financial services providers around the globe.

Watch Now

 

Biometric Authentication in KYC

How is biometric authentication used in the realm of KYC and compliance? Learn more about how financial services providers are using biometric authentication to keep their customer’s identity secure in our most recent Regtech Glossary post.

 

 

 

Read More

learn more

Is your AML compliance too expensive, time-consuming, or ineffective?

iComply enables financial services providers to reduce costs, risk, and complexity and improve staff capacity, effectiveness, and customer experience.

Request a demo today.

March 2021 Regulatory Updates

November 2020 Regulatory Updates

by | Nov 23, 2020 | Compliance Updates, iComply Insights

November 2020 Regulatory Updates

Regulatory Actions and Updates from Around the Globe

Enforcement Highlights – November 2020

 

Hong Kong: The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong fined Credit Suisse Securities $2.1 million for regulatory breaches resulting in failures in its electronic trading systems.

 

United Kingdom: The Financial Conduct Authority imposed a £3.44 million penalty on TFS-ICAP Ltd, an FX options broker, for communicating misleading information to clients.

 

USA: The Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States charged Benja Inc., a San Francisco-based e-commerce startup, with defrauding investors, providing forged contracts and bank statements.

 

USA: The SEC filed actions against three investment advisory firms whose failure to implement written policies and procedures resulted in violations of the Investment Advisers Act in connection with sales of complex exchange-traded products.

 

Past events: Navigating the Complexities of Beneficial Ownership – The Challenges of UBO Due Diligence

Watch the recording of our most recent webinar breaking down the challenges and solutions to the Ultimate Beneficial Owner due diligence.

Watch Now

Legal Entity Customer Due Diligence

What is a legal entity in terms of compliance? Learn more about how due diligence helps financial institutions understand the relationships, risks, and obligations of a legal entity in our most recent Regtech Glossary post.

 

learn more

Is your AML compliance too expensive, time-consuming, or ineffective?

iComply enables financial services providers to reduce costs, risk, and complexity and improve staff capacity, effectiveness, and customer experience.

Request a demo today.

March 2021 Regulatory Updates

October 2020 Regulatory Updates

by | Nov 9, 2020 | Compliance Updates, iComply Insights

October 2020 Regulatory Updates

Regulatory Actions and Updates from Around the Globe

Enforcement Updates – October 2020

 

International: Regulators in the United States, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom charged Goldman Sachs for deficiencies in its compliance and AML controls that led to multi-billion misappropriation of funds in a 1MDB bond offering underwritten by the firm in 2012 and 2013. Goldman Sachs agreed to pay over $3 billion in fines to the SEC, SFC, and FCA.

 

United States: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a civil enforcement action charging the BitMEX trading platform with failure to implement required KYC/AML procedures.

 

United States: The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) targets the founder of Helix and Coin Ninja with a $60-million fine for violating AML laws.

 

United States: The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a Houston-based seismic data company with an accounting fraud that inflated the company’s revenue by approximately $100 million.

 

United States: The SEC fined Israel-based day-trading education firm $130,000 for selling security-based swaps to over 5,000 retail investors without registration.

 

United Kingdom: The Financial Conduct Authority censured Aviva plc insurance company for listing and transparency rules breaches.

 

 

Expert Insights

FCA Research Reveals 1.1 Million Spike in Cryptoasset Buyers

Oct 13, 2020  |  In our October Expert Insight series, Denisse Rudich of Rudich Advisory reviews the FCA’s recent findings on the growth of the cryptoassets industry in the UK and potential regulatory changes.

 

 

October’s Regtech Theme: UBO Due Diligence

Identifying and verifying an Ultimate Beneficial owner (UBO) of the company you are doing business with is a crucial requirement of corporate due diligence.

What are UBOs? How can you make sure they are not involved in money laundering or terrorist financing, and comply with AML regulations?

Learn more in the recent iComply Glossary article: Ultimate Beneficial Owner due diligence.

Upcoming Events


Fireside Chat: Navigating the Complexities of Beneficial Ownership

Date: Thursday, November 26, 2020 | 10am PST – 1pm EST – 7pm CET

Curious about the challenges and importance of beneficial ownership and proper due diligence?

Join our live November fireside chat, “Navigating the Complexities of Beneficial Ownership: The Challenges of UBO Due Diligence.“

Register Now!

learn more

Is your AML compliance too expensive, time-consuming, or ineffective?

iComply enables financial services providers to reduce costs, risk, and complexity and improve staff capacity, effectiveness, and customer experience.

Request a demo today.

Vaidyanathan Chandrashekhar

Vaidyanathan Chandrashekhar

Advisors

“Chandy,” is a technology and risk expert with executive experience at Boston Consulting Group, Citi, and PwC. With over two decades in financial services, digital transformation, and enterprise risk, he advises iComply on scalable compliance infrastructure for global markets.
Thomas Linder

Thomas Linder

Advisors

Thomas is a global tax and compliance expert with deep specialization in digital assets, blockchain, and tokenization. As a partner at MME Legal | Tax | Compliance, he advises iComply on regulatory strategy, cross-border compliance, and digital finance innovation.
Thomas Hardjono

Thomas Hardjono

Advisors

Thomas is a renowned identity and cybersecurity expert, serving as CTO of Connection Science at MIT. With deep expertise in decentralized identity, zero trust, and secure data exchange, he advises iComply on cutting-edge technology and privacy-first compliance architecture.
Rodney Dobson

Rodney Dobson

Advisors

Rodney is the former President of ADP Canada and international executive with over two decades of leadership in global HR and enterprise technology. He advises iComply with deep expertise in international service delivery, M&A, and scaling high-growth operations across regulated markets.
Praveen Mandal

Praveen Mandal

Advisors

Praveen is a serial entrepreneur and technology innovator, known for leadership roles at Lucent Bell Labs, ChargePoint, and the Stanford Linear Accelerator. He advises iComply on advanced computing, scalable infrastructure, and the intersection of AI, energy, and compliance tech.
Paul Childerhose

Paul Childerhose

Advisors

Paul is a Canadian RegTech leader and founder of Maple Peak Group, with extensive experience in financial services compliance, AML, and digital transformation. He advises iComply on regulatory alignment, operational strategy, and scaling compliance programs in complex markets.
John Engle

John Engle

Advisors

John is a seasoned business executive with senior leadership experience at CIBC, UBS, and Accenture. With deep expertise in investment banking, private equity, and digital transformation, he advises iComply on strategic growth, partnerships, and global market expansion.
Jeff Bandman

Jeff Bandman

Advisors

Jeff is a former CFTC official and globally recognized expert in financial regulation, fintech, and digital assets. As founder of Bandman Advisors, he brings deep insight into regulatory policy, market infrastructure, and innovation to guide iComply’s global compliance strategy.
Greg Pearlman

Greg Pearlman

Advisors

Greg is a seasoned investment banker with over 35 years of experience, including leadership roles at BMO Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup. Greg brings deep expertise in financial strategy and growth to support iComply's expansion in the RegTech sector.
Deven Sharma

Deven Sharma

Advisors

Deven is the former President of S&P and a globally respected authority in risk, data, and capital markets. With decades of leadership across financial services and tech, he advises iComply on strategic growth, governance, and the future of trusted data in AML compliance.