Category: Asia-Pacific

Regulatory Watch News

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  SEC Awards $6 Million to Joint Whistleblowers

  SEC

  April 21, 2025

  Washington D.C., April 21, 2025 —

  The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of approximately $6 million to joint whistleblowers who provided new information that led to the opening of an examination and provided a roadmap for an enforcement action that resulted in the covered action.

  “Today’s award illustrates that the agency can leverage whistleblower information in various ways, including by prompting an examination,” said Jonathan Carr, Acting Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. “If that examination ultimately results in an enforcement action, the whistleblower may be eligible for an award.”

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  Walgreens Agrees to Pay Up to $350M for Illegally Filling Unlawful Opioid Prescriptions and for Submitting False Claims to the Federal Government

  US Department of Justice

  April 21, 2025

  The Justice Department, together with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), today announced a $300 million settlement with Walgreens Boots Alliance, Walgreen Co., and various subsidiaries (collectively, Walgreens) to resolve allegations that the national chain pharmacy illegally filled millions of invalid prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances in violation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and then sought payment for many of those invalid prescriptions by Medicare and other federal health care programs in violation of the False Claims Act (FCA). The settlement amount is based on Walgreens’s ability to pay. Walgreens will owe the United States an additional $50 million if the company is sold, merged, or transferred prior to fiscal year 2032.

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  Response to Letter “Hold vendors to same high standards, or they may become weakest link” – The Straits Times, 14 April 2025

  MAS

  April 21, 2025

  The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) expects all financial institutions (FIs) to put in place stringent controls to protect any customer information that they disclose to their third-party vendors. These vendors would include printing agencies like Toppan Next Tech (TNT). FIs are expected to regularly review and affirm that the controls of their vendors are adequate to safeguard the confidentiality of customer information. Even with the appropriate controls, occasional breaches may still occur. Where there is an unauthorised disclosure of customer information by a vendor, the FI must act quickly to mitigate the impact to its customers. This means preventing further loss of customer information and communicating with customers promptly to advise them on what they need to do to prevent the information from being exploited.