“The Securities and Exchange Commission just revealed that it thinks meme stocks are a joke—and took some shots at crypto bros while it was at it. Retail trading communities on the internet are saying they feel scapegoated,” reports Christine Mui in the Fortune.

“The financial watchdog released an unusual video as part of a campaign dubbed “Investomania” to educate the public to do careful research before making investment decisions, themed like a game show, with one 30-second video spot and three others at 15 seconds apiece. In the longest clip, a contestant named Brad starts with negative $5,250 and buzzes in “meme stocks” from a game board of investment options. Among the other categories are “stock tips from your uncle,” “crypto to the moon,” and “timing the market.””

Read the article.

 

“Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn has scheduled a new conference between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple lawyers to discuss renewed assertions of attorney-client privilege,” reports Alex Dovbnya in the U Today.

“Internal documents related to former high-ranking SEC official William Hinman will be at the core of the discussion. The conference is scheduled to take place on June 7. Since no call-in information has been provided, this appears to be an in-person conference only.”

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“Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of cross-border payments company Ripple, spoke during a panel discussion Monday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.,” reports Tom Farren in the Coin Telegraph.

“Garlinghouse, who also occupies a role as a member of the company’s board of directors, commented on a wide range of topics, most notably the current status of regulation in the United States versus G20 nations.”

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“Blockchain technology has opened up a world of new possibilities. From decentralized finance (DeFi) to digital scarcity and ownership through NFTs, there’s been an explosion of innovation around products, services, and platforms,” reports moreReese and DJ in Decrypt.

“Cryptoeconomics and tokenization are unlocking new models for organization and ownership. The products, services, and platforms emerging from these new models are user-owned and operated, built for and by the communities they serve. These communities are composed of individuals from all parts of the globe, with diverse backgrounds and skillsets.”

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“The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s landmark climate change proposal thrusts the Wall Street regulator into a role it usually takes pains to avoid: setting accounting rules,” reports Nicola M. White in the Bloomberg Tax.

“Almost 50 pages of the 500-plus page plan the agency issued Monday covers details of new financial statement disclosures big companies would have to make about climate change’s impact on financial statement metrics and how much they spend to combat risk.”

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“Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is pleased to present its 2021 Antitrust Year in Review. This report summarizes the most significant antitrust matters and developments of the past year,” reports Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in JD Supra.

“We examine policies and enforcement activity by U.S. and global antitrust agencies and enforcers across a range of merger review, civil conduct, and criminal enforcement matters as well as antitrust litigation filed by private plaintiffs.”

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“The Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the economy is far from over. Ripple effects spread far beyond the typical business’s bottom line. Besides obvious health and safety concerns and the operational difficulties that accompany remote work, and in addition to supply chain problems plaguing much of the economy, the typical enterprise has also seen its regulatory compliance obligations change dramatically, altering risks and increasing costs,” reports Kayvan Alikhani in Forbes.

“With 2022 just around the corner, now is the time to chart a new path forward that makes sure 2020 and 2021 were anomalies, not the new normal”

Read the article.

 

“As a result of the pandemic, businesses have been forced to rethink their operational resilience — especially when you consider 2020 was a record year for data breaches, despite seeing an increase in cybersecurity spending,” reports Gaurav Kapoor in Forbes.

“Adjusting governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) systems is one way that organizations can bounce back and transform potential problems into an advantage — even small adjustments made organization-wide can lead to millions of dollars in recovered revenues if the right risks are mitigated. Take note of these five post-pandemic trends that will be shaping GRC over the next several years.”

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“A Swiss bank implicated in FIFA corruption investigations said Monday it has agreed to a settlement in principle with the US Department of Justice and set aside $79.7 million to pay expected fines,” reports The Associated Press in First Posts’ Sports.

“Zurich-based Julius Baer said the agreement sees the bank ‘entering into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement’ and financial settlement to be charged against its accounts for 2020.”

The bank has cooperated with American authorities since 2015, when a sprawling investigation of corruption in international football was unsealed.”

“In 2017, a former banker with Julius Baer pleaded guilty in federal court in New York for his part in managing accounts that laundered bribes for South American football officials. They included Julio Grondona, who was FIFA’s former senior vice president and finance committee chairman when he died in 2014.”

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“The federal government is suing to block Visa’s $5.3 billion acquisition of fintech startup Plaid, alleging the merger violates antitrust laws,” reports Clare Duffy of CNN Business in KTEN News.

“Visa in January announced plans to acquire Plaid, which makes digital infrastructure linking financial data from people’s bank accounts to the apps they use to manage their money such as Venmo, Coinbase and Expensify.”

“The US Justice Department alleged Thursday that Visa is a ‘monopolist in online debit transactions’ — and a new service in development by Plaid could pose legitimate competition to Visa’s business, according to the complaint in US District Court in Northern California.”

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“A South Florida lawyer has been arrested for his involvement in at least five robberies or attempted robberies of local banks, FBI officials said Wednesday,” was reported in NBC South Florida’s Miami Dade County.

“Aaron Honaker, 41, was arrested Tuesday night as he was attempting to enter a bank in Coral Gables, officials said.

“According to allegations in the complaint affidavit, Honaker would follow a consistent approach during his robbery attempts and succeeded twice: Honaker would walk up to a teller and ask for assistance in making a withdrawal. He would then pass a handwritten note to the teller that would say messages like, ‘don’t touch the alarm or call the police,’ ’empty all of your $50s and $100s and put it in an envelope,’ and ‘keep calm, and give me all the money in the drawer, I have a gun.’ Honaker would take his note with him on the way out of the bank.

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“The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a litigation release today alleging charges of microcap fraud that involved an attorney prominent in the US crowdfunding sector,” reports JD Alois in Crowdfund Insider.

“According to the SEC complaint, Jillian Sidoti, affiliated with the law firm known as CrowdfundingLawyers.net, facilitated alleged fraudulent dumping of securities of penny stock company Blake Insomnia Therapeutics.”

“According to the SEC complaint, as an attorney for Blake, Sidoti apparently drafted and signed documents that contained materially false information regarding the operations and control of Blake, including a private placement memorandum and registration statements filed with the Commission.”

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“5Dimes and the U.S. Department of Justice reached a $46.8 million settlement of an investigation into illegal US sports betting operations, as well as money laundering and wire fraud,” reports Matthew Waters in Legal Sports Report.

“The company announced an intent to enter the US sports betting market following the deal, although state regulators likely will balk at the long list of criminal activity detailed in the settlement.”

“5D Holdings and owner Laura Varela will forfeit the illegally obtained gambling proceeds as part of a settlement with the US Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Pennsylvania into the criminal investigation of 5Dimes’ offshore operations in Costa Rica.”

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“A Florida attorney and former outside counsel for 1 Global Capital LLC (1 Global), has been charged today with conspiring to commit wire fraud and securities fraud in connection with an investment fraud scheme that, as alleged, impacted more than 3,600 investors in 42 different states, and involved him personally and fraudulently raising more than $100 million from investors,” released the Department of Justice in The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

“Andrew Dale Ledbetter, 78, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is charged in an information with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles of the Southern District of Florida.”

“According to the allegations in the information, 1 Global was a commercial lending business based in Hallandale Beach, Florida, that made the equivalent of “pay day” loans with high interest rates to small businesses, termed merchant cash advance loans (MCAs). To fund these loans, 1 Global obtained funds from investors nationwide, offering short-term investment contracts that promised to “place” the investors’ money onto MCAs.”

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“JPMorgan is set to pay nearly $1 billion to settle with US authorities investigating whether the bank manipulated the metals and Treasury markets, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday,” writes Ben Winck in Business Insider’s Markets.

“The sum would set a record for spoofing-related settlements and could be announced as soon as this week, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The payment would be in line with other market-manipulation sanctions but surpass previous spoofing fines.”

“The payment would resolve investigations by the Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the report. The agencies have been looking into whether traders on JPMorgan’s metals-futures and Treasury desks interfered with the respective markets.”

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OneSpan has published a white paper titled “Beyond Business Continuity, The New Normal in Remote Banking and Insurance” and made it available for downloading at no charge. (See the download form below.)

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated trends toward remote banking, digitization, and remote work as the world embraced new technologies and processes to keep our financial institutions, businesses, and society functional. Around the world, people now rely more than ever on digital solutions for interactions and transactions that have traditionally involved a visit to the branch or a face-to-face meeting with an advisor.

In this paper, we explore the top financial processes to digitize with e-signatures and digital identity verification technology – as well as key security considerations to support the rise of the digital-first financial services provider.

The new normal is here, and electronic signatures are key to continued success.

In this white paper, you will learn:

• Global regulatory responses shaping the new normal
• The top financial processes to digitize with e-signatures
• How to determine your organization’s readiness to deploy e-signatures

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“The self-proclaimed ‘Lottery Lawyer’ has been charged in a scheme in which tens of millions of dollars was swindled from lottery winners, federal prosecutors said Tuesday,” reports Phil Helsel in NBC’s U.S. News.

“New York lawyer Jason Kurland, 46, is accused of gaining the trust of his clients, some of whom won big in Mega Millions and Powerball, and steering them to invest in businesses controlled by three other people who are also charged. Kurland is alleged to have gotten kickbacks in the scheme.”

“More than $107 million was invested in the scheme, and of that, more than $80 million was either stolen or lost, prosecutors said. The indictment was unsealed Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn.”

Read the article.

“World Acceptance Corporation (WAC), a US-based consumer loan company, agreed to pay the SEC $21.7 million for FCPA violations in Mexico. WAC’s cited violations covered the full gamut of FCPA violations, including bribery payments to government officials in Mexico, failure to keep accurate books and records and inadequate internal accounting controls,” reports Michael Volkov in Volkov’s Corruption, Crime & Compliance.

“WAC engaged in an illegal scheme over a seven year period, from December 2010 to June 2017, to further its former Mexico subsidiary (WAC Mexico), which paid approximately $4.1 million in bribes directly or through third-party intermediaries, to Mexican government officials and union officials. WAC sold WAC Mexico in July 1, 2018. As a result of its bribery scheme, WAC earned approximately $18 million.”

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“A unit of UBS Group AG is paying $10 million to settle charges with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission that it broke rules concerning giving priority to small investors in the purchase of municipal bonds,” reports Shivdeep Dhaliwal in Benzinga.

“The SEC said Monday it found that UBS Financial Services Inc. allocated municipal bonds meant for retail investors to so-called ‘flippers,’ who then immediately resold the bonds to other broker-dealers for gain between 2012 to 2016.”

“This practice allowed the Swiss bank to obtain bonds for its own inventory in an improper way that violated rules concerning the priority of orders.”

“The federal agency has imposed a $1.7 million penalty, $6.74 million in disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, and $1.5 million in prejudgement interest along with a censure on UBS.”

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“ERISA litigation continues to flourish thanks to veteran plaintiffs’ attorneys refining their strategies, newcomers entering the ERISA arena using traditional arguments and lawsuits being filed against smaller plans,” reports Robert Steyer in Pensions & Investments’ Courts.

“For the veteran plaintiffs’ attorneys, their lawsuits ‘generally are sophisticated and appear to respond to roadblocks from decisions that have gone against plaintiffs,’ Thomas E. Clark Jr., a St. Louis-based partner and chief operating officer of Wagner Law Group who represents sponsors, wrote in an email.”

“For the new crop of law firms filing suits, “these complaints appear to generally be cookie cutter and borrow from legal theories from earlier lawsuits,” he wrote.”

“Recent defendants include Costco Wholesale Corp., Paychex Inc., KeyCorp, Land O’ Lakes Inc., Estee Lauder Inc., Oshkosh Corp., Automatic Data Processing Inc., MedStar Health Inc., Astellas US LLC, Quest Diagnostics Inc., Universal Health Services Inc., Schneider Electric Holdings Inc., CDI Corp., and CommonSpirit Health.”

“And that’s only since Memorial Day.”

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