These are some of the compliance-related stories that caught my attention this week.
Four Companies to Watch for ‘Trump Risk’ by Matt Kelly in Radical Compliance
Last week two companies became the first public filers to cite the incoming Trump Administration as a risk worth disclosing in the Risk Factors section of their quarterly reports. We haven’t seen any more since then, although we will in the future.
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Which companies are most worth watching for what they say about the Trump Administration? I have five picks, in alphabetical order. [See the picks…]
Why FCPA Compliance Makes America Great by Tom Fox in the FCPA Compliance Report
I began this week by considering the practical and legal reasons that I do not think the incoming Attorney General will lessen FCPA enforcement and President-Elect Trump would overturn the law by executive fiat. Since that time I have spoken about the compliance discipline in an attempt to demonstrate that good compliance is really good business and for that reason alone, the compliance profession is not going away under the incoming administration. Today, I want to return to the FCPA to demonstrate the effectiveness of the law in assisting American business interests outside the United States and making America great when companies are in compliance with the law. I also want to show how FCPA compliance puts forward a much wider variety of US interests to make America great again and again. [More…]
JP Morgan Pays $264 Million to Resolve ‘Sons & Daughter Program’ FCPA Offenses by Richard L. Cassin in the FCPA Blog
JPMorgan Chase and a Hong Kong subsidiary agreed Thursday to pay $264.4 million to the DOJ, SEC, and Federal Reserve to resolve FCPA offenses for awarding prestigious jobs to relatives and friends of Chinese government officials to win banking deals. [More…]
House Republicans ask White not to pass any ‘midnight rulemaking’ by Jacquelyn Lumb in Jim Hamilton’s World of Securities Regulation
In opening remarks at the House Financial Services Committee hearing to consider the SEC’s 2018 budget request, Chair Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex) strongly urged Chair Mary Jo White to resist the temptation to finalize any regulations, including Dodd-Frank Act Title VII regulations, in deference to the right of the incoming administration to set its own priorities. He said whenever there is a transfer of power from one administration to another, federal agencies are often tempted to rush pending rulemaking to implement policies of the outgoing administration. This type of “midnight rulemaking” is neither conducive to sound policy nor consistent with principles of democratic accountability, he warned. [More…]
The “Financial Choice Act” is much more than merely repealing big chunks of Dodd-Frank. There are a handful of provisions that would render the SEC’s ability to conduct rulemaking much more difficult. But this provision in particular – infamous “Section 631” – just blows me away:
SEC. 631. CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW. If the agency classified a rule as “major,” according to specified criteria, the rule would require a joint resolution of Congress to go into effect, unless the President finds that an emergency requires that it be effective (for 90 days). Congress would also have the right to disapprove certain non-major rules.
[More…]
LL.M.s in Corporate Compliance by Emily Cataneo in the LLM Guide
Law programs focusing on corporate compliance are growing in popularity following the financial regulatory reforms of the past decade. [More…]
The Interstate of Things: Saying Goodbye to the Mass Pike Tollbooths by Sadalit Van Buren in A Matter of Degree
On October 28, the Massachusetts Turnpike switched to an all-electronic tolling method, and immediately thereafter, began to tear out the tollbooths that had been the gateways and choke points of the Pike since its construction in the 1950s and 1960s. Unobtrusive gantries over the highway now do all the data collection for the toll-taking. It’s been very strange to drive freely through spots that have been obstructed since I was born, and I’ve been reflecting on the change. [More…]
