Regulatory Watch News

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  American Express Agrees to Pay $108.7M to Settle Allegations of Deceptive Marketing and “Dummy” Account Information

  US Department of Justice

  January 16, 2025

  The American Express Company (American Express), based in New York, New York, has agreed to pay a $108.7 million civil penalty to resolve allegations that it violated the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) by deceptively marketing credit card and wire transfer products and by entering “dummy” Employer Identification Numbers in the credit card accounts of its affiliate bank.

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  Treasury Targets IT Worker Network Generating Revenue for DPRK Weapons Programs

  OFAC

  January 16, 2025

  WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning two individuals and four entities for generating illicit revenue for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) government. The DPRK dispatches thousands of highly skilled information technology (IT) workers around the world with orders to generate revenue for the DPRK government to circumvent U.S. and United Nations (UN) sanctions. These IT workers obfuscate their identities and locations to fraudulently obtain freelance employment contracts from clients around the world for IT projects, such as software and mobile application development.

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  FCA expands Leeds office, creating new jobs and affirming its commitment to growth in the region

  Financial Conduct Authority

  January 16, 2025

  The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today opened further floor space at its existing base at 6 Queen Street, increasing it by an additional 5,000 square feet.

  First opened in 2022, the FCA’s regional office in Leeds is now a base for over 300 employees, with around 100 more people expected to be welcomed into the additional space this year.