Former Wells Fargo Employees Say They Were Fired for Whistle-blowing

On Tuesday, Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf told the Senate Banking Committee that bank employees are “encouraged to raise their hands” if they see illegal activity taking place. Turns out, that’s so they can be fired.

That’s allegedly what happened to a handful of employees, who told CNN that they were let go after blowing the whistle on the fraudulent practices that resulted in $185 million in fines for the bank. read more »

Securities Regulation in the Interconnected Global Marketplace, SEC Chair Mary Jo White

“Today, all securities regulators need to be very cognizant of our global, as well as domestic, responsibilities, whether we are implementing standards for the global over-the-counter derivatives markets; detecting and protecting against new systemic risks in our financial systems; helping each other enforce our respective laws by gathering evidence from across the globe; examining our registrants, wherever they may be located, to ensure that they are abiding by the rules; or raising the bar on world-wide enforcement efforts to combat corrupt corporate payments, through our Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) or similar regimes in other jurisdictions.” read more »

LIA recovers $53.8 million from Cornhill Capital, $73 million from Lehman bankruptcy

The Tripoli-based Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) has successfully recovered $53.8 million from Cornhill Capital Limited after three years of battle.

The LIA said in a statement on Tuesday that the fundamental factor in the issue was Cornhill Capital’s reliance on international sanctions imposed against some of the assets of the LIA.

Cornhill, a leading independent investment company based in London, was able in the courts of Bermuda to delay the redemption on the grounds that such redemption would have constituted a violation of these sanctions regulations.

"Cornhill misconstrued the purpose for which sanctions were imposed, which was to protect the assets of the Libyan people of current and future generations. The recovery of funds has also cost the LIA unnecessary legal expense." The statement reads. read more »

Conviction of Lawyer at Heart of Law Firm Tax Shelter Scandal Upheld

The conviction of former attorney Paul Daugerdas in the massive tax shelter fraud scandal that destroyed Dallas-based law firm Jenkens & Gilchrist was affirmed Wednesday by a federal appeals court.

In a case that fascinated the legal community because of a juror who concealed the fact she was an attorney and praised the prosecution, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected each and every argument Daugerdas made on appeal.

Daugerdas, now 65, not only helped his wealthy clients save hundreds of millions in taxes, he helped himself. He used one shelter from 1993 to 1998 to pay just $7,315 in federal income tax, and another shelter to pay no tax at all on the $79 million it reaped between 1999 and 2001.

The Internal Revenue Service sued Jenkens & Gilchrist in 2003. That was the beginning of the end for the 600-attorney firm, which formally closed its doors in 2007. A nine-year criminal investigation out of the Southern District of New York resulted in an indictment alleging the firm, with Daugerdas as the ringleader, was a big part of some $1 billion in fictitious losses the IRS had discovered in a broader crackdown on illegal shelters. 

Petrobras CEO sees no significant impact from U.S. lawsuit, DOJ case

Investors have sued Petrobras, as the company is known, in New York, accusing it of covering up a sweeping graft scheme and publishing misleading accounts. They believe the corruption and mismanagement helped destroy nearly $200 billion of shareholder value in Petrobras' since 2008.

Plaintiffs lawyers are seeking billions of dollars in recompense, but would not provide a specific number.

Petrobras could also face a payment to settle with the U.S. Justice Department. read more »

1.5 Million Civil Monetary Penalty for Supervision, Risk Management Failures, and Making Inaccurate Statements in Required Filings with the CFTC

for failing to diligently supervise the handling of certain commodity interest accounts, for deficient risk management and credit risk practices, and for knowingly making inaccurate statements to the CFTC read more »

Solicitation Fraud in Connection with Off-Exchange Foreign Currency Transactions

Charging Defendants with solicitation fraud in connection with off-exchange foreign currency (forex) transactions and with failure to register as Commodity Trading Advisors read more »

Skincare products maker Nu Skin settles SEC probe

Nu Skin Enterprises Inc (NUS.N) said it had reached an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle a probe into the skincare products maker's charitable contribution in China in 2013.

The company also forecast third-quarter revenue at the high-end of its previously issued guidance of $560 million-$580 million.

Nu Skin said it agreed to pay $765,688 to the SEC after the agency found the company's books and internal controls related to the donation were insufficient.

As a part of the agreement, the company neither admitted nor denied the SEC's findings.

Shares of Nu Skin were up 3.6 percent at $61.00 after the bell.

Nu Skin said in February that it would pay $47 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged the company operated a pyramid scheme in China and had made false and misleading statements about its operations. read more »

SEC Pushes For Full $26.9M Repatriation In EB-5 Case

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission urged a California federal court Tuesday to order two businesspeople to repatriate $26.97 million raised in a deal involving an EB-5 immigrant investor program for a cancer treatment center that never got built.

The SEC requested the judicial order in the agency’s fraud suit against Charles C. Liu and Xin Wang for repatriation of the funds, saying the pair should repay the full $26.97 million they raised from Chinese investors despite their claims that they can’t possibly come up with either the money or a detailed accounting of their assets.

Liu transferred $11 million of the investor funds to three marketing firms in China — including one where he is CEO and chairman — and deposited another $7 million in his and his wife’s personal accounts, according to the SEC. read more »

Judge Nixes Some Forex Claims But Finds Banks Conspired

A New York federal judge favored currency investors in a $2 billion foreign exchange manipulation class action Tuesday, granting a motion by certain banks to dismiss antitrust claims only in part and finding sufficient evidence that the financial institutions had engaged in a conspiracy. read more »

Ex-Cuomo aide, eight others charged in New York corruption case

Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced charges against nine men, including two former advisers to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, in a corruption and fraud case involving state contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The charges followed a federal investigation into Buffalo Billion, a signature $1 billion economic development project by Cuomo aimed at revitalizing the area around the one-time industrial powerhouse city of Buffalo. read more »

Wal-Mart must face U.S. class action over alleged Mexican bribery

Wal-Mart Stores Inc must face a class-action lawsuit accusing the world's largest retailer of defrauding shareholders by concealing suspected bribery to help it expand faster in Mexico, a U.S. judge said.

In a decision on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey in Fayetteville, Arkansas rejected Wal-Mart's contention that a Michigan pension fund had no standing to lead the case because it had not suffered losses on the retailer's stock.

The decision means shareholders can sue Wal-Mart and former Chief Executive Mike Duke as a group over the alleged cover-up of bribery at Wal-Mart de Mexico. This could lead to a larger payout at lower cost than if individual lawsuits were required. read more »