Corporate Compliance

Three Takata executives are indicted in airbag scandal; company settles with Justice Department

Updated: Three former executives with the Takata Corp. have been indicted on wire fraud charges in connection with its production of faulty air bags that sometimes exploded. The executives were accused of deceiving automakers about the safety of the air bags, report the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal (sub.…

Jan 13, 2017 11:31 AM CST

Volkswagen executive is arrested in emissions scandal

A Volkswagen executive has been arrested on a charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States for allegedly misleading regulators in the automaker’s emissions scandal. The executive, Oliver Schmidt, was arrested in Florida on Saturday, the New York Times reports. USA Today and the Detroit Free Press have stories on…

Jan 9, 2017 12:13 PM CST

Future is cloudy for Dodd-Frank and financial regulatory agencies under Trump presidency

Throughout the course of his presidential campaign, there was a veritable laundry list of proverbial bogeymen that Donald Trump promised to vanquish if and when he got into the Oval Office. One of the biggest was the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The wide-ranging law, which was…

Nov 30, 2016 1:25 PM CST

Mary Jo White to step down as SEC chair, opening door to dismantling of Dodd-Frank

Mary Jo White is leaving her job as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Nov 14, 2016 5:28 PM CST

Trans-Pacific Partnership raises question: How should governments and corporations resolve disputes?

The Trans-Pacific Partnership appears to be a long way from going into force, but as a political issue, it clearly has arrived.

Nov 1, 2016 4:20 AM CDT

Lawsuit against Dave & Buster’s challenges reducing employee hours to avoid health insurance mandate

Renard Sanders remembers the day in 2013 when his bosses at Dave & Buster’s in Duluth, Georgia, called an early-morning meeting.

Oct 1, 2016 3:30 AM CDT

Fines against unsafe nursing homes are considered a slap on the wrist

Nursing home regulatory systems are structured around administrative fines—fines that are reduced so routinely that they have become widely considered a cost of doing business rather than an incentive to provide quality care. Read this ABA Journal feature recently honored by the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

Aug 1, 2016 4:25 AM CDT

Lawsuits fail to bring improvements to nursing homes

While state fines do little to bring meaningful change to the nursing home industry, litigation against the homes doesn’t help spark improvements, either.

Aug 1, 2016 4:20 AM CDT

Private civil RICO plaintiffs can’t sue based on overseas injuries, Supreme Court rules

The law allowing civil suits by private plaintiffs based on racketeering activity does not reach injuries to business or property suffered outside the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. Civil RICO plaintiffs must allege and prove a domestic injury to their business or property, the court ruled on…

Jun 20, 2016 11:59 AM CDT

Rite Aid can’t recover from imprisoned ex-lawyer because of release in shareholder suit, judge rules

A federal judge in Philadelphia has blocked Rite Aid’s $135 million suit in state court against its convicted former chief counsel and vice chairman because of a release signed by the company in a shareholder class action in 2001. U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell ruled June 7 that Rite Aid…

Jun 14, 2016 8:31 AM CDT

Panama firm obscured the trail of US funds to protect clients’ money from scrutiny, says NY Times

While there can be legitimate reasons for moving funds abroad to shell corporations, wealthy clients of the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca wanted to know, as one put it in an email to the firm: “How does a US citizen legally get funds to Panama without the knowledge of the…

Jun 7, 2016 10:50 AM CDT

San Francisco mulls fining, prosecuting home-share sites like Airbnb for listing unregistered units

In 2015, a law took effect in San Francisco that requires those who make short-term rentals available on sharing sites such as Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO to register with local government. But only around 1,400 of an estimated 7,000 or more owners who rent rooms and entire homes to travelers…

Jun 3, 2016 11:53 AM CDT

Appeals court overturns $1.27 billion penalty for Countrywide’s sale of risky mortgages

A federal appeals court has overturned a $1.27 billion civil penalty against Bank of America for risky loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by its Countrywide unit. The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that the government had failed to prove Countrywide acted…

May 24, 2016 2:20 PM CDT

Law firm targets real estate companies for ADA suits over inaccessible websites

A wave of “potentially costly and embarrassing” lawsuits over websites which allegedly fail to comply with the Americans with Disbabilities Act has hit real estate and home construction companies, the Chicago Tribune (reg. req.) reports. A partner of Carlson Lynch Sweet Kilpela & Carpenter, which represents plaintiffs in such cases,…

May 12, 2016 12:20 PM CDT

Another bank settles with DOJ over sales of risky mortgages; did it get a better deal than others?

Goldman Sachs Group has agreed to pay $5.06 billion to settle government claims that it sold risky mortgage securities to investors without disclosing the problems. The settlement includes $1.8 billion for consumer relief, nearly $2.39 billion in federal civil penalties, and $875 million to settle other federal and state claims,…

Apr 12, 2016 9:46 AM CDT