Ex-Goldman Sachs employee spared jail over New York Fed leaks

A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc associate who admitted to illegally obtaining confidential documents from a friend at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was handed a fine on Tuesday but spared a prison sentence.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan had sought up to a year in prison for Rohit Bansal, who they said used the documents to further his career and shared some with other Goldman Sachs employees to help on bank client work.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein called Bansal's motivations "significantly disturbing," and said Bansal was aware the documents he obtained from Jason Gross, the New York Fed employee, were confidential.

But he said Bansal's conviction, coupled with the loss of a career, had sent a "powerful message" to others who might engage in similar conduct, and sentenced him to a $5,000 fine and two years of probation with 300 hours of community service...

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-goldman-sachs-fed-crime-idUSKCN0WO34B

Security Researcher Goes Missing After Investigating Bangladesh Bank Cyber-Heist

Tanvir Hassan Zoha, 34, security researcher, has gone missing just days after accusing Bangladesh's central bank officials of negligence, which facilitated the theft of over $81 million from the country's oversea accounts.

On February 5, 2016, hackers accessed the accounts of Bangladesh's central bank at the US Federal Reserve Bank in New York and tried to steal $1 billion dollars. Their attempt to transfer the money was thwarted by a simple typo, but not before managing to take $81 million.

In the investigation that followed, security researchers blamed malware and a faulty printer but at the same time said that the Bangladesh central bank officials were also to blame because of weak security procedures. The bank's governor and two deputy governors had to quit their jobs after the scandal...

http://news.softpedia.com/news/security-researcher-goes-missing-after-investigating-bangladesh-bank-cyber-heist-501905.shtml

Goldman Sachs To Pay $50 Million Fine, Admit Failure To Supervise Over Fed Breach

Goldman Sachs Group GS -1.06% is set to pay a $50 million fine and admit to failure to supervise for banking law violations after an associate at the investment bank, Rohit Bansal, used his contacts at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, his previous employer, to gain confidential regulatory information he then used when advising clients.

The fine, administered by the New York Department of Financial Services, requires that Goldman admit it failed to supervise Bansal. It further calls for Goldman to accept a three-year voluntary abstention from accepting new consulting engagements that require the Department to authorize the disclosure of confidential information under New York banking laws. Goldman also has pledged to implement new compliance procedures with employees who previously worked in government and regulatory roles.

“We are pleased that Goldman Sachs has decided to resolve this matter and work with us to institute reforms that help prevent similar problems from occurring in the future,” Acting Superintendent Anthony J. Albanese said in a statement.

“This case underscores the critical need for financial institutions to put in place strong controls and policies for employee conflicts screening and the use of confidential regulatory information,” he added.

Bansal, who was hired by Goldman in July 2014 after a near seven-year stint at the New York Fed, joined the financial institutions group within the firm’s investment banking division. The issues settled on Wednesday stem from Bansal’s initial work at Goldman.

In May, prior to his start date, the New York Fed restricted Bansal from consulting for a unnamed financial institution until February 2015. However, the NYDFS says in its settlement he began working with that entity upon his start date in mid-2014.

That quickly created problems.

In his brief spell with Goldman, Bansal, who goes unnamed in the NYFDS settlement but has plead guilty to leaking confidential documents, is alleged to have obtained about 35 confidential documents on 20 occasions from a former co-worker at the New York Fed. Those documents, the settlement shows, helped Goldman advise unnamed clients on regulatory matters such as capital ratios. The leaks appear to have occurred in August and September 2014.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/antoinegara/2015/10/28/goldman-sachs-to-pay-50-million-fine-admit-failure-to-supervise-over-fed-breach/