E.U. Fines Three Banks About $520 Million for Interest Rate Collusion

European antitrust regulators on Wednesday fined Crédit Agricole, HSBC and JPMorgan Chase a total of just over 485 million euros for colluding to fix benchmark interest rates tied to the euro.

The penalties, equivalent to about $520 million, came more than two years after the European authorities issued a statement of objections — a formal step in antitrust investigations — against the three banks. The inquiry began in 2011.

In December 2013, the European Union fined a group of global financial institutions a combined €1.7 billion to settle charges that they had colluded to fix benchmark interest rates, including the euro interbank offered rate, or Euribor. It was the largest combined penalty ever levied by European competition authorities. read more »

Medicare and State Health Care Programs: Fraud and Abuse; Revisions to the Office of Inspector General's Civil Monetary Penalty Rules

A Rule by the Health and Human Services Department on 12/07/2016 read more »

Whistleblower protections expanded to include government contractors

bill to strengthen protections for employees who blow the whistle on fraud, waste and mismanagement in government contracts has gained congressional approval and now will head to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

The bill, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, permanently expands whistleblower protections to nearly all contractors and subcontractors for the federal government, except for those who work in the intelligence community.

It also prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars to reimburse companies for legal fees incurred to defend themselves from whistleblower retaliation.

Whistleblowers act as the eyes and ears of taxpayers across the federal government, McCaskill said. read more »

IT Specialist Settles Charges of Insider Trading on Hacked Nonpublic Information

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced insider trading charges against a San Francisco-based information technology specialist who allegedly hacked senior executives at online travel company Expedia and illegally traded on company secrets.

The SEC alleges that Jonathan Ly, who worked in Expedia’s corporate IT services department, illegally traded in advance of nine company news announcements from 2013 to 2016 read more »

 

Abbott seeks to abort planned acquisition of Alere

Abbott Laboratories said on Wednesday it had filed a complaint in the Delaware Court of Chancery to terminate its proposed acquisition of Alere Inc, citing a "substantial loss" in the value of the diagnostics company.

The relationship between the two companies began to cool after Alere failed to file financial statements and disclosed probes into billing and foreign sales practices. read more » 

South Korea's Park digs in, as tycoons deny seeking favors

South Korean President Park Geun-hye, engulfed in an influence peddling scandal, said if she was impeached she would wait for a court to uphold the decision, a party official said on Tuesday, a sign a political crisis could drag on for months.

Park's embattled presidency faces a critical juncture, with parliament expected to hold an impeachment vote on Friday. Even if the motion is passed, it must be upheld by the Constitutional Court, a process that could take at least months.

Separately, South Korea's most prominent corporate chiefs told a parliamentary panel they had not sought favors when they made contributions to two foundations at the heart of the scandal, even as one of them acknowledged it was hard to say "no" to the government. read more »

Pfizer fined record £84.2m for overcharging NHS

Drugs giant Pfizer has been fined a record £84.2m by the UK's competition watchdog for overcharging the NHS for an anti-epilepsy drug.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also fined distributor Flynn Pharma £5.2m for the 2,600% overnight price increase for the drug in 2012.

NHS spending on the capsules, used by 48,000 UK patients, rose from £2m a year in 2012 to about £50m in 2013.

Pfizer rejected the findings and said it would appeal against the decision.

UK prices for the drug were many times higher than in Europe, the CMA said.

'Extraordinary' rises

Philip Marsden of the CMA said: "The companies deliberately exploited the opportunity offered by de-branding to hike up the price for a drug which is relied upon by many thousands of patients.

"These extraordinary price rises have cost the NHS and the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds." read more »