Google pays largest FTC penalty, HHS adopts rule to cut red tape, and more.
- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that Google Inc. has agreed to a $22.5 million settlement – the agency’s largest penalty ever – on charges the company misrepresented privacy protections to users of Apple’s Safari browser.
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) exempted small banks and other financial institutions from new foreign money transfer rules.
- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it will be holding a roundtable technology next month on trading technology in the wake of several high-profile incidents involving automated trading systems.
- The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said a new billing rule will cut red tape for doctors and hospitals, saving up to 9 billion dollars over the next decade.
- A coalition of conservation groups filed a lawsuit seeking to compel the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to strengthen the regulation of chemical oil dispersants.
- The U.S. Deputy National Security Advisory for Homeland Security reports that the Obama administration is considering using its executive authority to take steps to improve the security of computer networks supporting critical infrastructure.
- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) put a hold on making any final approvals of new nuclear reactors after a recent federal court questioned the agency’s plans for storing radioactive wastes.
- The SEC dropped an investigation into Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s role in selling mortgage-backed securities.
- Investigations of JPMorgan Chase & Co’s derivatives trading widened to include approximately eleven government agencies and international enforcement groups.
- A new estimate has forecasted that up to 1.76 million young undocumented immigrants would get work permits under President Barack Obama’s de facto amnesty – an increase from previous estimates.
- The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a class-action privacy suit, ruling that police departments that put too much private data on parking citations can violate federal privacy law.
