|
|
|
|
|
The Morning Risk Report: Bank of America Ordered to Pay $250 Million Over Wrongful Fees, Fake Accounts
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good morning. Federal regulators hit Bank of America with a $250 million penalty for opening credit-card accounts in customers’ names without their consent and double-charging fees.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said the bank opened credit-card accounts without permission from customers using credit reports it obtained illegally.
Bank of America employees also improperly withheld credit-card rewards and charged overdraft fees several times for the same transactions, the CFPB and another regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, said.
Meanwhile, Bank of America's Merrill Lynch has agreed to pay a total of $12 million in fines to regulators for failing to file about 1,500 suspicious activity reports over more than a decade.
Under U.S. anti-money-laundering rules, broker-dealers like Merrill Lynch are required to file suspicious activity reports to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on transactions above $5,000 when they might signal criminal activities, such as tax evasion, to assist U.S. government agencies in detecting and preventing money laundering.
Merrill Lynch’s parent company, which was implementing the broker-dealer’s anti-money-laundering program, used a $25,000 threshold, instead of the $5,000 one, for reporting SARs between 2009 and late 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday.
|
|
|
Content from our Sponsor: DELOITTE
|
|
Analysis of Corporate Board Diversity Depicts Uneven Progress
|
In 2022, more than half of Fortune 500 corporate directors were women and people from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. But there is more to the story of how boards are—or are not—diversifying. Keep Reading ›
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Michelle Bond was a late entry in last summer’s GOP primary for the Long Island, N.Y., congressional seat that Republican Lee Zeldin vacated. PHOTO: JAMES CARBON/NEWSDAY/GETTY IMAGES
|
|
|
|
Former FTX executive linked to campaign-finance probe of New York GOP race
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating former FTX executive Ryan Salame and his girlfriend, ex-congressional candidate Michelle Bond, for possible violations of campaign-finance law, according to people familiar with the matter.
The probe is examining whether the couple illegally avoided federal limits on contributions to Bond’s 2022 campaign for the Republican primary for New York’s First Congressional District, one of the people said. Investigators are looking at money Salame gave to Bond and loans she made to her campaign, the person said.
|
|
|
Milwaukee Tool is questioned over alleged use of Chinese forced labor
Milwaukee Tool is facing questions from U.S. lawmakers over the possible use of Chinese prison labor in its supply chain, a probe that comes amid U.S. efforts to crack down on the import of goods made with forced labor in China.
Evidence shows that Milwaukee Tool, a maker of power tools and other construction products, might be sourcing work gloves from political prisoners working against their will, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.), and Rep. Chris Smith (R., N.J.) said in a letter sent to Milwaukee Tool Group President Steve Richman. The letter was made public at a hearing Tuesday.
|
|
|
|
600
|
The number of U.S.-listed companies out of a total 7,359 that reported material weaknesses related to personnel, typically in accounting or information technology, this year through June. The widening shortage of accountants has begun showing up in financial statements.
|
|
|
|
|
Banks say they are under a sanctions microscope
Financial institutions are under the sanctions magnifying glass—76% of them said they received increased regulatory scrutiny regarding sanctions in 2022, according to a survey from Grant Thornton. Overall, survey respondents reported that the cost of sanctions compliance significantly increased in 2022 and is expected to continue rising. The survey sampled 278 financial institutions, mostly banks, in 73 jurisdictions.
|
|
|
-
Microsoft can close its $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, delivering a major setback to the Biden administration’s attempt to rein in big mergers.
-
A glass house for Elon Musk has sparked an internal Tesla probe.
-
A federal court in Virginia has ordered a pause on construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, adding another twist in a legal saga that has pitted environmental groups against Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) and the Biden administration.
-
The European Union has fined Illumina more than $400 million for proceeding with its acquisition of cancer-test developer Grail before the bloc’s antitrust watchdog had decided whether to approve the deal.
|
|
|
|
|
A woman and her dog were pulled in a canoe in Cambridge, Vt. PHOTO: IAN THOMAS JANSEN-LONNQUIST FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
|
|
|
|
The flooding in Vermont is ‘historic and catastrophic,’ Governor says
Persistent rainfall battered Vermont overnight, causing catastrophic flooding in the capital city at levels not seen in nearly a century as search-and-rescue teams around the state raced to reach stranded residents.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott on Tuesday called the prolonged rain and flooding “historic and catastrophic.” He said floodwaters were still rising in some areas, surpassing levels seen during 2011’s Hurricane Irene, which weakened as it moved up the East Coast but pummeled this state. Scott said he had to hike a trail to get to a usable road to get to work on Tuesday.
|
|
|
“Even though the sun may shine later today and tomorrow, we expect more rain later this week, which will have nowhere to go in the oversaturated ground. I know thousands of Vermonters have lost homes and businesses and more. The devastation is far-reaching.”
|
— Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said Tuesday of the flooding
|
|
|
|
|
|
Public companies hit with high numbers of shareholder proposals on environmental, social issues.
Companies faced far more shareholder proposals on environmental and social issues in 2023's proxy season than in previous years, a report from law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer said. The number of such proposals aimed at Russell 3000 companies has increased by 52% since 2021, and the number that went to a vote jumped 125%, according to the report. But fewer shareholder proposals are receiving majority support, Freshfields said.
|
|
|
-
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had two highly publicized meals during her recent visit to Beijing. Starkly opposing reactions to them give a taste of the challenge the U.S. faces as it tries to repair its fractured relationship with China.
-
NATO leaders declined Tuesday to offer Ukraine a clear timeline or path to join the alliance while affirming plans to extend a future invitation, a level of ambiguity that President Volodymyr Zelensky blasted as “unprecedented and absurd” as his country battles Russia.
-
A top Japanese energy official called on Australia to back away from new carbon-emissions rules that Tokyo says threaten its energy security, stepping up a rare fight between the two U.S. allies.
-
North Korea said it scrambled jet fighters to intercept an American military spy plane that Pyongyang alleged had intruded on its airspace, something the U.S. and South Korea denied.
|
|
|
Justice Department fraud-section veterans launch boutique law firm.
Two former officials from the Justice Department’s criminal-fraud section have left behind Big Law to launch a boutique white-collar law firm in Washington.
|
|
|
Billy Jacobson and Jonathan Lopez, who met while working at the fraud section in 2007, have formed Jacobson Lopez to advise clients on white-collar criminal defense, government probes, internal investigations and compliance.
Jacobson, a former assistant chief in the fraud section, has worked as co-general counsel and chief compliance officer for oilfield service provider Weatherford International and as an independent compliance monitor for Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem. Lopez is a former member of the Justice Department's Enron Task Force and a former deputy chief of its bank integrity unit. Both were most recently partners at law firm Allen & Overy.
Jacobson Lopez said it expects to bring on another partner and several associates soon.
|
|
|
-
Office attendance is slumping again and bosses have a warning: We are a worse company when you stay home.
-
Taylor Swift proves too big for Ticketmaster, again.
-
When titans of finance get addicted to drugs and alcohol, they sometimes end up on the couch of Dr. Sam Glazer.
-
KPMG plans to invest $2 billion in artificial intelligence and cloud services across its business lines globally over the next five years through an expanded partnership with Microsoft, the latest move by a Big Four accounting firm to double down on the technologies.
-
Disney is exploring strategic options for its Star India business, including a joint venture or a sale, a sign of strain at one of the premier properties it acquired from Fox.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|