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Germany-Based Software Company Settles Bribery Case with SEC for $3.7 Million
On February 1, the SEC agreed to a $3.7 million settlement with a Germany-based software company regarding allegations that it violated the FCPA regarding the payment and offer of bribes to senior Panamanian government officials. The settlement, stemming from the actions of the company's former executive Vincente Garcia who pleaded guilty last August to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA, found that the company lacked appropriate internal controls to detect the illegal activity. According to the SEC, Garcia arranged the sale of heavily discounted software licenses and used the savings to create a “slush fund.” The money in this fund was then used to pay bribes and kickbacks.
The SEC order also found that the company lacked sufficient internal controls to prevent the violations. While the company did not admit or deny the findings, it consented to the cease-and-desist order and agreed to disgorge $3.7 million in profits plus prejudgment interest of $188,896.
California-Based Pharmaceutical Company Settles with SEC Regarding FCPA Offenses in China
On February 4, the SEC settled FCPA allegations with a California-based pharmaceutical company with a cease and desist order finding that the company violated the FCPA’s anti-bribery, books and records, and internal controls provisions related to activities in China. The SEC found that from at least 2007 to 2012, employees of the company’s subsidiaries gave money and gifts to Chinese officials (including employees of state-owned hospitals) in order to boost sales. The SEC further found that the company failed to devise and implement a sufficient system of internal accounting controls and lacked an effective anti-corruption compliance program.
The company consented to the SEC’s order without admitting or denying the charges and agreed to pay $12.8 million to resolve the charges, including a $2.5 million penalty, the disgorgement of $9.426 million in profits, and $900,000 in prejudgment interest. The company will also provide status reports to the SEC for the next three years regarding remediation efforts and new anti-corruption compliance measures. The company simultaneously announced that the DOJ had declined to pursue any additional action.
CFPB Monthly Complaint Snapshot Highlights Financial Services Markets
On January 28, the CFPB released its monthly complaint report focusing on a number of financial services markets, including debt settlement, check cashing, tax refund anticipation checks, money order providers, and credit repair. The report states that, since July 19, 2014, the CFPB has handled approximately 2,700 complaints relating to these other types of financial services. According to the report, debt settlement and credit repair complaints are among the more common complaints, and over a quarter of these complaints mention student loans, with borrowers selecting fraud or scam as their primary issue. Additional findings highlighted in the snapshot include: (i) consumers being charged excessive fees, including upfront fees that are generally prohibited by law, for debt settlement and credit repair services; (ii) consumers encountering problems redeeming money orders, taking issue with the amount of time it took to resolve errors with customer service representatives; and (iii) consumers complaining they were victims of fraud when using money orders and travelers checks. The CFPB identified New York State and the New York metro area as its geographic spotlight in this issue, noting that, as of January 1, 2016, the CFPB has received 50,400 complaints from New York State consumers alone. Similar to past reports, mortgages remain the most complained-about product.
Virginia AG Herring Announces Settlement with Banks Over Alleged Mortgage-Backed Securities Fraud
On January 22, Virginia State AG Mark Herring announced a settlement with eleven banks over their alleged misrepresentation of residential mortgage-backed securities to the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Virginia Retirement System. Virginia recovered more than $63 million collectively from the banks involved, making it the “largest non-healthcare-related recovery ever obtained in a suit alleging violations of the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act,” and, according to AG Herring, “one of the largest of its kind in the nation.” As part of the settlement, the Commonwealth dismissed the claims against the defendants with prejudice and the defendants did not admit liability.
OFAC Issues Amendments to Cuba Sanctions Regulations
On January 26, OFAC announced amendments to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) to further implement policy changes announced by the Obama Administration on December 17, 2014. The regulatory changes will, among other things, “remove existing restrictions on payment and financing terms for authorized exports and reexports to Cuba of items other than agricultural items and commodities, and establish a case-by-case licensing policy for exports and reexports of items to meet the needs of the Cuban people, including those made to Cuban state-owned enterprises.” Significantly, under the amendments, U.S. depository institutions will be authorized to provide financing for authorized exports and reexports, including issuing a letter of credit. Prior to the amendments, cash-in-advance or third-country financing were the only financing options available for authorized exports.
OFAC issued new FAQs to address the amended CACR, which were published in the Federal Register on January 27, 2016 and are effective immediately.
FDIC Issues Quarterly Banking Profile for Third Quarter 2015
The FDIC published its most recent Quarterly Banking Profile, summarizing the latest financial results for the banking industry. According to the FDIC’s findings, community banks reported net income of $5.2 billion in the third quarter of 2015, up 7.5% from the previous year. The Profile’s featured article – Financial Performance and Management Structure of Small, Closely Held Banks – indicates that closely held banks are outperforming widely held banks in operational efficiency and financial performance. The FDIC’s research suggests that management structures in which a bank’s managers are members of the ownership group or ownership insiders prove beneficial in that principal-agent problems are minimized because the “manager can be expected to act in the interests of the owners because the manager is an owner.” Although the Profile comments on the disadvantages of the organizational form of closely held banks, including succession issues and difficulty in raising capital, the researchers conclude that the “favorable comparisons between closely held and widely held community banks suggest that the closely held organizational form is by no means an impediment to performance, and may well be one of the keys to the success of closely held banks.”
CFPB Provides Consumers with Information on Obtaining Credit Reports
On January 27, the CFPB announced that it published its 2016 list of consumer reporting companies. The list includes contact information for the three largest nationwide reporting companies and various specialty reporting companies concentrating on specific geographic market areas and consumer segments. In addition, the list provides consumers with (i) tips on determining which specialty credit reports may be important to review depending upon the particular circumstances, such as applying for a job or a new bank account; (ii) information regarding how companies confirm the identity of the consumer requesting a copy of his or her credit report; and (iii) information on which companies also provide free credit scores. The CFPB also reminds consumers of their legal rights to (i) obtain the information in their credit reports, per the FCRA; and (ii) dispute inaccuracies contained in the report.
Massachusetts AG Healey Expands Abandoned Housing Initiative
On January 25, Massachusetts AG Maura Healey announced that she was expanding her Abandoned Housing Initiative (AHI) in response to an increasing number of cities and towns seeking assistance to revitalize their neighborhoods. Under the AHI, the AG’s office seeks to have delinquent owners bring their distressed and abandoned residential properties into code compliance. If the owner refuses, a court-approved receiver completes repairs on the property and receives compensation, utilizing funds from the nationwide state-federal settlement over unlawful foreclosures, once the property is sold. According to Helen Zucco, Executive Director at Chelsea Restoration Corporation, the program “gives banks an incentive to approve construction loans, allows funds to be loaned to receivers at very low interest, and creates a streamlined process for receivers to obtain the funds they need to achieve their important role in [the] process.”
New York AG Schneiderman Takes Action Against Auto Dealers for Deceptive Practices
On January 20, New York AG Schneiderman announced a lawsuit against several auto dealerships located in Queens, New York, alleging that the dealerships used deceptive sales tactics to sell add-on products and services, including credit repair and identity theft protection services. According to the lawsuit, the dealerships charged “consumers for services while concealing such charges from the consumers, or [misrepresented] that the services were free,” collecting more than $1 million from consumers between January 2013 and November 2014 for the identity theft and credit repair services alone. The lawsuit further alleges that consumers did not receive the services for which they were charged, including VIN etching and key replacement services. AG Schneiderman alleges these products and services were “bundled into the vehicle sales price and not separately itemized,” ultimately inflating the stated price of the car on the purchase and lease documents. The lawsuit seeks a court order that would (i) prohibit the dealerships from engaging in deceptive practices; and (ii) order the dealerships to refund “all illegally obtained overcharges” back to consumers.
As part of his initiative to end dealerships’ practices of charging consumers for “hidden purchases,” AG Schneiderman simultaneously announced separate settlements with dealerships in Nassau and Suffolk Counties that allegedly sold credit repair and identity theft protection services to consumers. This is in addition to similar 2015 settlements with a “credit repair and identity theft protection” company and a group of dealerships in Queens and Westchester Counties, the latter potentially totaling $14 million.
European Commission Celebrates Data Protection Day; Deadline for US-EU Data Protection Framework Approaches
On January 28, the European Commission issued a statement in observance of its 10th European Data Protection Day. Vice President Ansip and Commissioner Jourová commented on the December 2015 agreement on EU data protection reform, noting that “[w]ith one streamlined set of rules across the European Union, we will cut red tape and ensure legal certainty, so that both citizens and companies can benefit from the Digital Single Market.” The United States and the European Union are scheduled to reach an agreement on the “Safe Harbor” data transfer program in the upcoming week, to which Ansip and Jourová commented: “These flows are essential, between EU countries, but also between the EU and its closest partners. The European Commission is currently working on a renewed and safe framework on transfers of personal data with the United States. We need an arrangement that protects fundamental rights of Europeans and ensures legal certainty for businesses.”