One Heart Boston: All proceeds beyond the direct material costs, postage and applicable taxes from the sale of One Heart Boston merchandise will benefit The One Fund Boston, created to raise money to help those families most affected by the tragic events that unfolded during this year’s Boston Marathon.
These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention.
Rep. Waters Introduces Investment Adviser Examination Improvement Act
Representative Maxine Waters (D-Cal.), along with Representative John Delaney (D-MD), again introduced legislation that would allow the SEC to charge user fees to fund examinations of investment advisers, the Investment Adviser Examination Improvement Act of 2013. … The proposed legislation also has the backing of a number of organizations including NASAA, which issued a supporting statement. Nevertheless, the likelihood of action in the foreseeable future is remote.
House Panel Examines SEC Failure to Meet JOBS Act Rulemaking Deadline, Comm. Walter Says Accredited Investor Definition Is Outdated in Jim Hamilton’s World of Securities Regulation
At a hearing of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Financial Services Committee examining the failure of the SEC to meet the statutorily imposed deadline for implementing Title II of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS) Act, SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter testified that the Commission will move ahead to adopt final regulations implementing Title II as expeditiously as possible. This is a top priority for the SEC, she emphasized. During the hearing, Commissioner Walter said that she favors a revision to the definition of accredited investor to focus more on the amount of money a person already has invested.
Scott London Subverted Sarbanes-Oxley: Big Four Mock Audit Partner Rotation in re: The Auditors
The rest of the column goes on to explain that London seems to have subverted the intent of Sarbanes-Oxley Section 203 that requires lead engagement partner rotation off engagements to promote objectivity, independence and professional skepticism. But he’s not alone. The more I looked into this the more I realized it’s probably pretty common in the firms. After ten plus years of Sarbanes-Oxley, we’ve probably got quite a few of these roll off, roll back on partners out there. An early draft of a paper by four academics, including former PCAOB academic fellow Brian Daughtery, says almost everyone does it.
Financial Analyst Survey: “Chinese Wall? Reg FD? Never Heard of Them…” in The Corporate Counsel .net
Meanwhile, in this survey of hedge fund professionals – commissioned by Labaton Sucharow, HedgeWorld and the Hedge Fund Association – 46% said they believe that their competitors engage in illegal activity, 35% have personally felt pressure to break the rules, and 30% have witnessed misconduct in the workplace. When asked if they would blow the whistle or report the misconduct, 87% of respondents said they would report wrongdoing given the protections and incentives such as those offered by the SEC Whistleblower Program.
