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Enforcement actions in ’24

US financial regulators dominated global enforcement actions in 2024, accounting for 95% of the $4.6 billion in penalties worldwide, according to new research from Fenergo, a provider of compliance and client management solutions.

The analysis revealed that while global penalties decreased 30% from 2023, penalties specifically targeting banks surged 522% to $3.65 billion. Transaction monitoring violations saw an even steeper rise, with penalties exceeding $3.3 billion — representing a 100% year-over-year increase. ESG enforcement also intensified, with global ESG-related fines increasing 98% to $37.7 million, while US ESG fines rose 13% to $21.5 million.

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Korea's financial watchdog said Tuesday it will map out a stricter supervisory system for banks and other financial firms, and take stern measures against their lack of internal control systems amid the continued extension of inappropriate loans. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said Industrial Bank of Korea had extended inappropriate loans totaling 86.2 billion won ($58.6 million), higher than its earlier estimate of 24 billion won, to the bank's ex-employees and their family members.

The lender's officials were also found to have received favors and gifts from borrowers over such inappropriate loans. "(The FSS) will penalize such inappropriate practices and illegal loans in accordance with principles and related rules," it said in a statement. "And more strict and detailed guidelines will be drawn up to prevent the recurrence of such cases." The FSS said earlier Woori Bank, KB and NH Nonghyup had extended inappropriate loans worth a combined 387 billion won.

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The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) has advised corporate offices and IT firms to be wary about a surge in sophisticated impersonation scams targeting financial personnel. According to the advisory, cyber criminals are posing as senior executives such as company chairpersons and CEOs, through WhatsApp, email, and SMS, to target accounts officers and deceive them into transferring huge sums of money under the guise of urgent business transactions. In a recent case, an accounts officer received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number that displayed the company’s CMD’s profile picture. The sender claimed to be the executive and requested the officer to save a new contact number. Shortly after, the scammer instructed the officer to make an urgent fund transfer for a critical project. Trusting the authenticity of the request, the officer transferred a substantial amount, only to later realise it was a fraud. In other instances, phishing emails have been sent from fake or look-alike addresses, claiming change in the company’s bank account and requesting re-routing of transactions.

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Seven people in Malaysia and Taiwan have been indicted on charges accusing them of a massive "pump and dump" investment fraud scheme, that resulted in U.S. officials seizing more than $214 million in ill-gotten gains.

Federal prosecutors in Chicago said Lim Xiang Jie Cedric, 50, of Malaysia, Ming-Shen Cheng, 36, of Taiwan, Ko Sen Chai, 57, of Malaysia, King Sung Wong, 39, of Malaysia, Siong Wee Vun, 37, of Malaysia, Chien Lung Ma, 54, of Taiwan, and Kok Wah Wong, 56, of Malaysia, each have been charged with wire fraud and securities fraud. Arrest warrants have been issued for all seven defendants.

According to the indictment, the seven defendants set up a misleading investment scheme, selling shares of a Cayman Islands-based company called China Liberal Education Holdings, Ltd., claiming it provided educational services in China.

The defendants posed as U.S.-based investment advisors on social media and messaging apps, falsely promising significant returns on investments in the company. After the stock on their company began to rise, they sold thousands of shares, netting millions of dollars in profits before the stock price ultimately plummeted, costing their clients nearly everything they had invested.

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The new initiative comes as President Trump winds back enforcement of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Authorities in the United Kingdom, France and Switzerland have announced the establishment of a new international task force aimed at intensifying the prosecution of bribery and corruption cases across borders. The International Anti-Corruption Prosecutorial Taskforce was officially launched on Thursday 20 March through a partnership between the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (Parquet National Financier, PNF) and the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG). According to the UK government, the initiative is designed to enhance collaboration among the three countries in the investigation and prosecution of international white-collar crime.

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Following the release of President Trump’s February 10 Executive Order implementing a “pause” in FCPA enforcement, a burst of concern emerged – particularly among practitioners who make a livelihood in that arena – that FCPA enforcement would disappear. An evaluation of Trump’s past rhetoric and actions and the FCPA’s benefits for American business suggests that foreign corruption enforcement is not going anywhere soon. Trump’s direction to put prosecution of current FCPA actions on hold and not initiate any new actions while the Attorney General reviews and revises FCPA policies and guidelines supposedly is rooted in “[r]estor[ing] American Competitiveness,” and “[i]t’s going to mean a lot more business for America.” The irony is that FCPA enforcement actually has advanced American businesses’ competitiveness in the global economy.

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New policy initiatives from the Trump administration, and the turbulence with which they have been introduced, combine to present board audit committees with unexpected new compliance oversight pressures. Every new administration has the right to institute its own policies with respect to legal and regulatory enforcement, and the Trump administration is no different in that regard. Furthermore, there was a clear sense following the election that the new administration would pursue substantive policy changes in many compliance-oriented areas, including the Department of Justice’s civil and criminal enforcement priorities. But the scope of this change, and the tempo in which it has been introduced, have been extraordinary. This in turn has created a variety of new challenges for the audit committee, including but not limited to those presented in the article.

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Designed for busy in-house counsel, compliance professionals, and anti-corruption lawyers, this newsletter summarizes some of the most important international anti-corruption law and enforcement developments from the past month, with links to primary resources. This month we ask: How is the anti-corruption landscape evolving in the early days of the Trump administration? Which countries had the best, and the worst, showings in Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index? What sectors will be added to China’s continuing anti-corruption crackdown in 2025? The answers to these questions and more are here in our February 2025 Top 10.

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Fraud is a silent but costly threat that continues to translate into significant financial losses every year. Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) reports reveal that businesses worldwide lose an estimated 5% of their annual revenue to occupational fraud. Yet, many organizations underestimate fraud risks and resort to prevention measures late, generally in response to severe episodes.

Fraud methods and targeted sectors: a changing landscape Analyzing the results of the ACFE reports from the past ten years reveals multiple shifts in fraud schemes, as well as in detection methods. Fraudsters have increasingly exploited cyber-enabled fraud, with ransomware and technology-based scams becoming more sophisticated. Moreover, AI-generated financial fraud and deepfake identities had made detection and attribution harder, forcing businesses to adopt real-time fraud monitoring. At the same time, classical methods of fraud, such as embezzling funds, forging documents, or conflicts of interest, remain relevant and continue to be exploited by fraudsters, adapting to new economic and technological contexts.

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Contact: Mr.Nikolai Triffet 

Email: nikolai@icib.org

Contact: Mr Nereo Guzman Mendoza

Email: nguzman@businesssolutionvalley.com

Tel: +52 811 181 3514

Contact: ICI Asean

Email: ici-asean@hotmail.com

Control Quote

• "Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change." 
• - Wayne Dyer