These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention.
U.S. Senate votes 53-45 to confirm Gary Gensler as Biden’s SEC chief
Katanga Johnson
Reuters
“Gary Gensler has the perfect mix of market expertise, regulatory experience and commitment to the public interest to be an outstanding SEC Chairman,” said Barbara Roper, chief investor advocate at Washington-based Consumer Federation of America.
https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-senate-votes-53-45-confirm-gary-gensler-bidens-sec-chief-2021-04-14/
Is Your Compliance Program Consumed by Process Rather Than Outcomes?
Duncan Milne
SCCE’s The Compliance & Ethics Blog
This approach significantly reduces the impact of the compliance program – senior management and the wider business can then view the compliance function as one of form over substance and a purely administrative cost center – something they are required to have rather than something they actually need. Or worse still, something that actually impedes business performance rather than enhancing it. It can be demotivating to compliance teams, generating endless content that nobody ends up reading, with any valuable insights getting lost in the trees.
https://complianceandethics.org/is-your-compliance-program-consumed-by-process-rather-than-outcomes/
SEC Accuses Actor of $690 Million Fraud Based on Fake Netflix Deal
Matt Robinson
Bloomberg
Zachary Horwitz never made it big on the Sunset Strip — there was the uncredited part in Brad Pitt’s “Fury” and a host of roles in low-budget thrillers and horror flicks. But federal charges suggest he had acting talent, duping several financial firms out of hundreds of millions of dollars and enabling him to live the Hollywood dream after all.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-07/actor-s-690-million-fraud-based-on-fake-netflix-deal-sec-says
Division of Examinations issues ESG Risk Alert
Rodney F. Tonkovic, J.D.
Jim Hamilton’s World of Securities Regulation
The SEC’s Division of Examinations has issued a risk alert highlighting its recent observations from exams of firms offering ESG products and services. The alert gives the Division’s observations of deficiencies and internal control weaknesses derived from examinations of ESG investing by advisers and funds.
https://jimhamiltonblog.blogspot.com/2021/04/division-of-examinations-issues-esg.html