Welcome to This Week In Compliance: GAN’s weekly news roundup, where we curate the latest stories on compliance and anti-corruption to keep you informed.
China cracks down on banks in anti-corruption effort
Chinese banks and insurers have become the most recent target of China’s sweeping anti-corruption crackdown that has been ensnaring top officials. So far in 2023, the Chinese Communist Party’s anti-graft agency, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) has investigated more than a dozen senior executives at China’s most important banks. Some say that these new efforts are politically motivated as a strategy by Xi Jinping to consolidate his power; the finance industry is the last of three key areas to suffer similar crackdowns.
British Airways is fined 135,000 USD over 2017 tarmac delay
The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) has imposed a fee of 135,000 USD on British Airways as a 2017 tarmac delay created a situation in which passengers were stuck on an aircraft for more than 4 hours without getting the chance to exit. Under a 2011 rule, airlines are prohibited from allowing international flights to remain on the tarmac for more than 4 hours at US airports without giving passengers a chance to exit. USDOT stated that it's planning to seek higher penalties from airlines and other firms that break consumer protection laws.
Judge vacates rule exempting medium-sized factory farms from environmental scrutiny
On April 4th, a federal judge vacated a rule that previously exempted medium-sized farms for industrial livestock from undergoing environmental reviews before receiving government loans, this turn was prompted by “severe problems with the rulemaking process”. The ruling implies that medium-sized factory farms must now undergo environmental impact assessments before receiving money from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Corruption ruling against mining magnate Steinmetz upheld by Swiss court
On April 4th, a Swiss appeals court upheld the guilty verdict against Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz, as he was previously sentenced in one of the mining industry’s most high-profile cases. Steinmetz was sentenced for paying a total of 8.5 USD million in bribes between 2006 and 2012 to Madamie Toure, one of the wives of the former president of Guinea, Lansana Conte, to obtain exploration permits for iron ore in the country.
New Jersey-based hedge fund settles SEC charges
Chatham Asset Management, a New Jersey-based hedge fund, and Anthony Melchiorre, its founder, have settled charges that they violated US investor protection laws when buying and selling bonds in American Media Inc for their clients. The hedge fund effectively increased prices for these bonds relative to similar securities, allowing the firm to collect more in fees. The fund has settled on paying a total sum of 19.3 USD million for improperly trading fixed-income securities.