These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention.
Does Profanity at Work Create a Hostile Work Environment? (Maybe.) by Daniel Schwartz in the Connecticut Employment Law Blog
The court’s decision focuses on the difference between profanity of the general type, which it calls “general, indiscriminate vulgarity” (presumably, words like “sh**”), and “gender-specific, derogatory comments made about women on account of their sex.” [More…]
Review: Complete Compliance Handbook by Matt Kelly in Radical Compliance
The book is divided into 12 chapters that constitute the major challenges of building a compliance program: operationalizing compliance through HR, for example; or crafting written standards, or improving third-party risk management. Each chapter is divided into “days” — as in, 21 days to better written standards — where the day’s content is a single essay that you could read in one sitting, with time left to stare out the window and ponder how to put that day’s lesson to work in your specific organization. [More…]
GOP Senate Aide Considered for SEC Post by Andrew Ackerman in the Wall Street Journal
Elad Roisman, the chief counsel to the banking panel led by Mike Crapo (R., Idaho), is a top contender to succeed Michael Piwowar at the top U.S. markets regulator, these people said. Mr. Piwowar plans to leave the SEC by July.
If nominated and confirmed, Mr. Roisman, 37 years old, would join a long list of former banking committee staffers who have filled top slots at the five-member commission, including Mr. Piwowar and two other sitting commissioners: Kara Stein, a Democrat, and Hester Peirce, a Republican. [More…]
Potholes in Compliance: Hidden Risks Under Rule 506(d)’s Bad Actor Disqualification by Joshua Pirutinsky in NYU Law’s Compliance & Enforcement blog
Blue Sand Securities, a small private placement agent, nearly lost their core business due to a simple compliance breakdown which may have resulted in their being deemed a Bad Actor under Rule 506(d). The potential fatality of Blue Sand should alarm any compliance officer, as their demise would have been attributed to a minor and unrelated infraction rooted in a failure to adequately appreciate risks associated with their business. While compliance professionals are wise to allocate resources to issues that have a high likelihood of occurrence or sensitivity to their business line, they must also be wary of overlooking important but minor interstitials, such as the 506(d) Bad Actor Disqualification, that may bear outsized costs on their firm. There is much to learn from the example of Blue Sand Securities, and one should be sure to discover and prepare for the unknown before an employee puts their firm at risk. [More…]
The Why Behind the No: Remarks at the 50th Annual Rocky Mountain Securities Conference by Commissioner Hester M. Peirce
am here today, though, to talk about the small part of our enforcement work that is controversial. Some of you may have read an article earlier this week that suggested that I have “a penchant for saying, ‘No,’ when it comes to [the Commission’s] enforcement work.”[5] The article noted that my “yes” votes are above 85 percent, but my 15 percent no rate is higher than the rate at which any other Commissioner votes against recommendations from the Enforcement Division.[6] Without touching on any particular enforcement matter, I hope today’s remarks will help to explain the why behind my no’s. [More…]