Tyson Foods, the nation’s largest poultry processor — and the company behind a dizzying array of packaged foods — revealed this week that federal regulators are investigating allegations of price-fixing. [More]
securities and exchange commission
Did Yahoo Wait Too Long To Disclose Massive 2014 Data Breach? SEC Investigating
By 1.23.17
Yahoo, the online company that hosted your email in 2001, was the victim of two huge account breaches in 2013 and 2014, but didn’t tell customers or investors until last year. Now the Securities and Exchange Commission is one of the government entities investigating the breach, to find out whether Yahoo kept the info from its investors for too long. [More]
General Motors To Pay $1M Over Ignition Switch Accounting Issues
By 1.18.17
General Motors’ years-long ignition switch debacle has cost the carmaker billions of dollars in penalties, settlements, and compensation. Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission added $1 million to the hefty tab. [More]
SEC Chair To Step Down When Trump Takes Office
By 11.14.16
While the world waits to see what happens to the leadership and policies of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the head of another federal financial regulator has made it clear that she will be stepping down after President Obama leaves office, even though she could have stayed on in the office for several more years. [More]
SEC Fines California Health Insurer $340,000 For Breaking Whistleblower Protection Laws
By 8.19.16
When a business is doing something shady and illegal, often the best-placed people to know about it are the employees who are supposed to carry it out. That’s why there are laws in place to protect whistle-blowers who report their employers to the appropriate authorities… and breaking those laws can sometimes land a company in as much trouble as doing the thing an employee would report them for to begin with. [More]
Tesla Probed By SEC Over Fatal Autopilot Crash
By 7.12.16
Nearly two weeks after Tesla announced the first fatal crash in one of the company’s electric vehicles while operating in semi-autonomous Autopilot mode, federal regulators are reportedly investigating whether the carmaker was forthright with offering information about the crash to investors. [More]
Federal Inquiry Probes TCF Bank’s Overdraft Practices
By 11.6.15
Overdraft fees cost consumers an average of $32 billion each year. The hefty fees and their often less-than-transparent policies, which vary greatly between banks and financial products, have long garnered the ire of consumer advocates and federal regulators. Case in point: a Minnesota-based bank is now under investigation for possibly unfair and deceptive practices related to its overdraft program. [More]
More Trouble For ITT Education Services: Agency Restricts For-Profit’s Use Of Federal Student Aid
By 10.20.15
Just a month after for-profit college operator ITT Education Services announced it had become the focus of a federal fraud investigation, the Department of Education revealed it had placed restrictions on ITT Technical Institute’s use of federal grants and loans. [More]
Under-Investigation Educators Still Received $8.1B In Federal Funds Last Year
By 10.13.15
The federal government has ramped up its efforts to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive for-profit colleges in recent years: implementing so-called gainful employment rules this summer, discharging millions of dollars in student loans for students who were defrauded by Corinthian Colleges and restricting the University of Phoenix’s ability to participate in tuition-assistance programs for active-duty servicemembers. Still, these steps appear to have done little to keep questionable for-profit colleges from getting their hands on billions of dollars in funding straight from the government. [More]
ITT Educational Services Target Of Federal Fraud Investigation
By 9.22.15
Things don’t appear to have gotten better for for-profit college operator ITT Educational Services since it announced in September 2014 that it was under increased scrutiny from federal regulators, as the owner of the ITT Technical Institute chain revealed on Monday that the Department of Justice is looking into whether the company defrauded the federal government. [More]
Target Won’t Face SEC Charges Over Breach
By 8.26.15
Nearly two years after a massive data breach at Target left millions of consumers’ personal information at risk, the company announced it won’t face enforcement action from at least one government agency. [More]
SEC Investigating Beverage Giant Diageo Over Allegations It Artificially Boosted Sales Figures
By 7.24.15
When a company says it’s moving a whole lot of products, that could mean that its sales are booming. The thing is, just because a business might be shipping a lot of products, that doesn’t necessarily mean it actually sold as much as it’s sending to distributors. To that end, the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating beverage giant Diageo — the company behind brands like Smirnoff, Guinness, Johnnie Walker and more — for allegedly artificially boosting its sales by shipping excess inventory to distributors. [More]
Legislator Demands Department Of Education Investigate For-Profit Chain ITT Technical Institute
By 5.15.15
Following the Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision earlier this week to file fraud charges against current and former executives with ITT Education Services – the operator of for-profit college chain ITT Technical Institute – for their part in concealing problems with company-run student loan programs, one legislator is calling on the Department of Education to further investigate the company. [More]
SEC Charges Current, Former Executives Of For-Profit Chain ITT Educational Services With Fraud
By 5.12.15
Back in September ITT Educational Services – the operator of for-profit college chain ITT Technical Institute – revealed it was facing increased scrutiny by several government agencies. That scrutiny turned to action this week as the Securities and Exchange Commission filed fraud charges against current and former executives with the company for their part in concealing problems with company-run student loan programs. [More]
SEC Reportedly Investigating Bank Of America Over Customer-Protection Rule Violations
By 4.28.15
Financial institutions are required under federal law to follow an array of rules that aim to protect consumers’ accounts. Bank of America may not have followed one of those rules over the course of several years, and now reportedly faces an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. [More]
SEC Alleges Ex-NFL Player Ran $31M Ponzi Scheme
By 4.7.15
In football, a cornerback is tasked with defending against pass offenses. It appears one former NFL player wasn’t doing much defending on behalf of investors off the field. Instead, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleges former New York Giants player Will Allen used his big league connections to assist in the operation of a $31 million Ponzi scheme based on making loans to cash-strapped pro athletes. [More]
American Apparel Founder Dov Charney Under Investigation By SEC
By 3.26.15
Any hope founder of American Apparel Dov Charney had of returning to the company may have gone out the window this week, after it was revealed that the Securities and Exchange Commission opened an inquiry into the circumstances leading to his departure. [More]
Corinthian Colleges Inc. Expected To Be Delisted From Nasdaq Tuesday
By 2.13.15
Embattled for-profit college operator Corinthian Colleges Inc. — the company behind the Everest, WyoTech, and Heald College chains — is set to be delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange Tuesday after it failed to meet a deadline to file quarterly earnings reports.
