These are some compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention.
Do Private Equity Managers Raise Funds on (Sur)real Returns?
by Niklas Huether
The CLS Blue Sky Blog
By analyzing valuations at the deal-level, I do not find any evidence of window dressing in private equity. The key factor for performance peaks lies in the deal composition rather than in inflated NAVs.
http://clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu/2019/12/10/do-private-equity-managers-raise-funds-on-surreal-returns/
The Incomparable Value of Service in Secret: Lessons from the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower
by Jordan A. Thomas
NYU Law’s Compliance & Enforcement blog
Nearly ten years ago, following a global financial collapse spurred by serial wrongdoing, Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Within its 2,000 pages of sweeping reform was the charge to establish an investor protection initiative, which emerged as the SEC Whistleblower Program. Its three pillars—anonymity safeguards, substantial monetary bounties, and significant employment protections—shaped a first-of-its-kind paradigm to encourage individuals to report suspected violations of the federal securities laws. The formidable combination of these programmatic mainstays and an enforcer armed with early actionable intelligence has proven to be a game changer. It’s not just recoveries and reform, however. Behind the results, including in the just-released Office of the Whistleblower’s Annual Report to Congress, stand everyday people willing to take a bold step forward, to be the outsider and the anti-hero, no matter the size of Goliath and his balance sheet.
https://wp.nyu.edu/compliance_enforcement/2019/12/03/the-incomparable-value-of-service-in-secret-lessons-from-the-secs-office-of-the-whistleblower/
Betrayed by the Big Four: whistleblowers speak out
by Madison Marriage
Financial Times
These individuals worked for four of the most renowned names in the business world: EY, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC. They are among 20 former employees from the Big Four accounting firms who have spoken to the Financial Times about their experience of harassment, bullying and discrimination in the workplace over the course of a year’s investigation into how these firms treat whistleblowers within their ranks.
https://www.ft.com/content/78f46a4e-0a5c-11ea-bb52-34c8d9dc6d84
The FT identified a disturbingly common pattern in terms of how complainants were treated: most initially felt ignored, then isolated and were eventually pushed out. Legal clauses aimed at silencing them swiftly followed; nine of those interviewed said they were pressured into signing restrictive non-disclosure agreements. Others were asked to sign but resisted.
Women in Compliance 2020 Finalists
Recognising and celebrating the achievements female compliance professionals make every day in the world of compliance and business from every industry around the world.
Bringing together female compliance professionals to provide practical learning skills in the compliance world as well as worthwhile opportunities for networking and mentoring.
25-26 March 2019 | London, UK
Discover more information
The Securities and Exchange Commission wants bad guys to know: ‘We’re watching’
by Bob Pisani
CNBC
I spent a day at SEC headquarters with the regulators Chairman Jay Clayton and the co-directors of the Division of Enforcement, Stephanie Avakian and Steven Peikin. The highlight was a visit to the Forensics Lab, a copper-lined room where the SEC extracts data from cell phones and computers from traders and others who may be engaged in suspicious activity.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/11/the-sec-wants-bad-guys-to-know-were-watching.html
New List: The FCPA Top 40
by Richard L.Cassin
The FCPA Blog
There’s a surprisingly wide geographical distribution of the companies in the top 40. Ten come from the United States and five from France. Four companies are from Germany, followed by three each from Switzerland, Japan, Brazil, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
https://fcpablog.com/2019/12/12/new-list-the-fcpa-top-40/
Photo by Evan Nitschke at Pexels.
https://www.pexels.com/photo/brick-leading-line-lines-snow-1009302/ 