The European Commission (EC) stunned the foreign exchange (FX) world with the news yesterday that five major banks — Barclays, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Citigroup, JPMorgan, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) — have been fined a total of €1.07 billion ($1.19 billion) on charges that they took part in cartels that monopolized… Read More >>
Morgan Stanley Pays $150M to Settle MBS Cases
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) are alleging that Morgan Stanley misled them about the mortgage-backed securities (MBSs) in which they invested in the 2003 to 2007 period. Morgan Stanley officials have denied the allegations “and all claims of wrongdoing, damages and liability whatsoever.” The legal… Read More >>
UniCredit Group Settles Sanctions Cases for $1.3 Billion
The UniCredit Group has reached a combined $1.3 billion settlement with the federal and New York State governments, the U.S. Department of the Treasury reports. And as part of that overall settlement, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also reports that “three separate agreements totaling $611 million” have been reached with three… Read More >>
World Bank Signs Licensing Agreement with SimCorp
World Bank Deployment to Cover Middle and Back Offices SimCorp, which provides investment management products and services to the financial services industry, reports that the World Bank has licensed SimCorp Dimension, the vendor’s investment management system. The agreement was signed in late 2018, per SimCorp. Under the agreement, the World Bank has licensed SimCorp’s “middle… Read More >>
Cantor Fitzgerald Fined $2M for Alleged SHO Violations
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reports that it has fined Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. $2 million for regulation SHO violations and supervisory failures spanning a period of at least five years. The SEC adopted regulation SHO to “address concerns regarding persistent failures to deliver and potentially abusive ‘naked’ short selling, e.g., the sale of… Read More >>
BB&T Securities Settles SEC Charges of Misleading Clients
BB&T Securities and the SEC have settled charges that a firm acquired by BB&T’s parent company allegedly misinformed advisory clients that they were getting discounted full-service brokerage services internally “while significantly less expensive options were available externally,” according to the SEC. Ultimately, the agreement requires BB&T Securities to return “more than $5 million to retail… Read More >>
JPMorgan Pays $135 Million to Settle ADR Woes
JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. is paying more than $135 million in total monetary relief to settle the SEC’s allegations that it improperly handled “pre-released” American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), an industry practice that the bank says it has stepped away from. The SEC’s actions against JPMorgan constitute the “eighth action against a bank or broker, and… Read More >>
BNY Mellon Settles ‘Pre-Release ADRs’ Case for $54M
Custodian giant Bank of New York Mellon has agreed to pay more than $54 million to settle charges via the SEC that engaged in the “improper handling of ‘pre-released’ American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).” As the SEC notes, ADRs are “U.S. securities that represent foreign shares of a foreign company” that “require a corresponding number of… Read More >>
Société Générale Settles Sanctions & AML Claims for $1.3B
French bank Société Générale will be paying $1.83 billion (€1.2 billion) in penalties to five U.S. authorities in major effort to resolve probes into allegations that the bank has violated economic sanctions and laundered money. Specifically, Société Générale, based in Paris, reached settlement agreements, from largest to smallest, of: $717.2 million to the U.S. Attorney’s… Read More >>
Commerzbank, CFTC Settle Swap Ops Case for $12M
Commerzbank A.G. and the CFTC have agreed to settle allegations that the German bank failed to properly supervise its swap dealer activities, and then made misleading statements and material omissions to the CFTC about swap operations and compliance with key laws and regulations. A recently issued CFTC order compels Commerzbank, provisionally registered with the regulator… Read More >>
