Compliance Bricks and Mortar – Page 18

Compliance Bricks and Mortar for August 21

These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention.

The 5 Most Common AML Compliance Program Deficiencies by Michael Volkov in Corruption, Crime & Compliance

In my view, AML programs do not get sufficient support and exposure from top-level management. A compliance failure usually can be traced back to the lack of tone and commitment to ethics. This basic deficiency results in blatant, systemic problems that plague AML programs: poor or outdated technology; weak controls that can be overridden by business needs; and commitment to revenue at all costs. [More….]

What Is the SEC Backup Plan if It Loses the ALJ Constitutionality Issue in Court? in Straight Arrow’s Securities Diary

The saga of challenges to the constitutionality of the SEC’s administrative law proceedings — and in particular the appointments and removal protections of the administrative law judges — has played out over many months in both court and commentary. After some early SEC victories on jurisdictional challenges, the Commission seemed content to try to fend off the court cases on such procedural grounds, and fight the merits by deciding the issue in its own favor on a petition for review of one of these proceedings (like the one now before it in the Timbervest case), with perhaps an upper hand once the case reached a federal appeals court. [More…]

Is Kim Kardashian West the New Face of Compliance? by Angela Gamalski, MHSA, CHC in SCCE’s The Compliance & Ethics Blog

About a month ago, Ms. Kardashian West posted to Instagram regarding her use of a prescription drug to control her morning sickness, including a picture of herself with said prescription drug and links to the manufacturer’s website. As Ms. Kardashian West is a celebrity with millions of followers who is often paid for her promotional ability, it was not an unusual post by any means (I assume, as I am not one of her followers). What is notable about this post is that it resurfaced this week as a hot news item after the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) publicized a warning letter to that drug’s manufacturer in response to said post, citing the Instagram posting for failing to contain the appropriate safety warnings. [More…]

The Justice Department Has Some Things to Tell You about Cybersecurity by David Smyth in Cady Bar the Door

In April the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section issued its Best Practices for Victim Response and Reporting of Cyber Incidents. It is an excellent guide for a business organization to respond to cyber attacks and, one hopes, move forward with its business intact. The guide outlines what to do before, during, and after a data breach, and is quite detailed. [More…]

Compliance Bricks and Mortar for August 14

These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention.

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Beware the ‘SEC Impersonator’ Scams Targeting Your Money by Bruce Carton in Compliance Week

You might not think that fraudsters impersonating the SEC would be a significant or ongoing problem but the volume of the SEC’s “Investor Alerts” on this topic would seem to suggest otherwise. On August 5, 2015, the SEC issued the latest update in a series of Investor Alerts it has released entitled, “SEC Warns of Government Impersonators Demanding Money.” [More…]

Keep it Under Your Hat by Adam Turteltaub in the SCCE’s Compliance & Ethics Blog

But there is one thing families do share with work colleagues: the unwillingness to share problems outside the group. It’s okay to talk with each other about this or that serious issue, but talk about it outside the family or the work group, and it can be seen as a betrayal. Quickly the dialogue becomes “She betrayed us,” and “He’s a traitor.” [More…]

The Difficulties Of Compliance in the FCPA Professor

In the minds of some, compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or other similar laws is simple: you just don’t bribe.

As highlighted in this prior post such a simplistic position is entirely off-target. Indeed what I find ironic about certain commentators who have articulated this position is that they devote their professional lives to selling compliance services and products.

Contrary to the simplistic rhetoric of some, a recent report regarding Siemens once again highlights the difficulties of compliance in a multinational business organization with tens of thousands of employees. [More…]

Government agencies turning up the heat on fees by Hazel Bradford in Pensions&Investments

While officials at the SEC are looking hard at fees and expenses charged to investors, the IRS is looking more at possible abuses by private equity general partners shifting income to more favorable tax treatment. [More…]

Compliance Bricks and Mortar for August 7

I finished the charity bike ride across Massachusetts. There’s still time to donate. Look at the bottom of this update. Since, I’m off the bike, these are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention.

SEC Tries Flipping Witnesses by Jean Eaglesham in the Wall Street Journal

The SEC touts the cooperation program as a vital source of testimony for enforcing against financial wrongdoing. Critics, however, worry that key safeguards on the use of cooperators in criminal cases are lacking in the SEC’s administrative courts, where the agency brings the cases, appoints and pays the judges, has first say on appeals and the power to decide what to fine the cooperator after he or she testifies. [More…]

SEC Confirms Expansive View on Whistleblower Protections by Matt Kelly in Compliance Week

The interpretive guidance, posted to the SEC’s website on Aug. 4, clears up confusion about the word “whistleblower” as it appears in two different rules implementing Section 21F of the Securities Exchange Act. That section was created by Dodd-Frank to establish whistleblower protections and to create rewards for anyone who brings useful information to the SEC about corporate misconduct.

The question was whether a person must report possible misconduct to the SEC for the purpose of seeking a whistleblower reward—rewards are addressed by Rule 21F-9(a)—to qualify for anti-retaliation protections defined by Rule 21F-2(b)(1). [More…]

Implementing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act by the Securities and Exchange Commission

The Commission has taken action to address virtually all of the mandatory rulemaking provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. The overarching objective of these rulemakings is to promote the long-term sustainability of the U.S. financial system. While the worst of the financial crisis is behind us, the Commission intensively continues its critical work to fulfill our obligation to protect investors, enhance market stability, and promote capital formation. – Mary Jo White, Chair, SEC

[More…]

Social Media Week Part I – Using Social Media In Your Compliance Program

Social Media Week Part II – Sharing in the Compliance Function

Social Media Week Part III – Twitter and Innovation in Your Compliance Program

Social Media Week Part IV – Telling a Story About Honey

Social Media Week Part V – Tools and Apps for the Compliance Practitioner

Are conflicts of interest policies a violation of labor law? by Jeff Kaplan in Conflict of Interest Blog

In recent years, an unfortunate – in my view – line of decisions and reports has been issued by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (“the NLRB”) holding that various aspects of company policies violate the National Labor Relations Act (“the Act”). For those looking to learn more about this area generally, a good place to start is with this article by Joe Murphy in a recent issue of Compliance & Ethics Professional. Of particular concern to readers of the COI Blog might be a decision handed down by the NLRB in June – in Remington Lodging & Hospitality, LLC d/b/a The Sheraton Anchorage – finding that a generic conflict of interest policy in an employer’s handbook was unlawful under the Act. The case can be found here, but – given the procedural history involved – readers may wish instead to review this summary of it published by attorneys at the Arent Fox law firm. [More….]

On Teaching Compliance by D. Daniel Sokol in the CLS Blue Sky Blog

Compliance is a growth field in both legal education and practice. Overall, whether compliance teaching is geared towards students or individuals within a company, greater care and nuance must be taken in undertaking compliance teaching and training to reflect the inter-disciplinary and proactive elements of the creation of robust and effective compliance programs. Increasingly, this means that lawyers and law professors need to incorporate insights from other disciplines in their teaching to use more case studies. [More…]

I rode my bike between Hillsdale, New York and Provincetown, Massachusetts last weekend as part of the Pan-Mass Challenge ride to support cancer research. I huge thank you to those readers of Compliance Building who donated.

If you were waiting to donate to see if I could complete the ride, my task is done. There is still time to donate. 100% of your donation goes to the Jimmy Fund.

[button link=”http://www2.pmc.org/e.asp?tid=7200&q=https://www2.pmc.org/egifts/DC0176″]Donate to the Pan-Mass Challenge[/button]

Compliance Bricks and Mortar – Pan-Mass Challenge Edition

At the time this story gets published on Friday, I will be on bike somewhere between Hillsdale, New York and Sturbridge, Massachusetts. That’s the first leg of my Pan-Mass Challenge ride to support cancer research. I’ll end up in Provincetown on Sunday afternoon.

Many of the readers of Compliance Building have generously supported my ride. Just because I’m on my bike it does not mean it’s too late to donate.

[button link=”http://www2.pmc.org/e.asp?tid=7200&q=https://www2.pmc.org/egifts/DC0176″]Donate to the Pan-Mass Challenge[/button]

Given all of the training and fundraising for the PMC, I have not had time to post as many stories as I usually have in the past. Thank you for your support.

Doug

Here are two stories that caught my attention when I was off the bike.

AP Offers Up New Treasure Trove of SEC-Related Videos by Bruce Carton in Compliance Week

The Associated Press and British Movietone announced on Wednesday of last week that they have made more than 550,000 video stories dating from 1895 to the present available on their YouTube channels. The AP noted that “viewers can see video from the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, exclusive footage of the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, Marilyn Monroe captured on film in London in the 1950s and Twiggy modeling the fashions of the 1960s.”

Very interesting, but what about some good SEC-related clips, you ask? Well, they have that, too!

Once a Crowdfunder, Always a Crowdfunder by Broc Romanek in the CorporateCounsel.net

A lot of ink has been spilled about crowdfunding in the press, such as this Huffington Post piece that gives a plain vanilla take on crowdfunding (and here’s another piece). In addition, there are some misunderstandings in the press about the capital options that a company has – this infographic by Kiran Lingam and Anthony Zeoli can help sort that out.

Here’s some thoughts from members on crowdfunding (similar to this series of blogs a few years back): In response to a question about the effects of an initial crowdfunding investment on a possible later venture capital transaction, Patrick Reardon of The Reardon Firm had the following thoughts:

Compliance Bricks and Mortar for July 24

These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention in between bike rides.(It’s not too late to support my Pan-Mass Challenge ride to support cancer research.)
[button link=”http://www2.pmc.org/e.asp?tid=7200&q=https://www2.pmc.org/egifts/DC0176″]Donate $___ to the Pan-Mass Challenge[/button]

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SEC hires new private funds specialist by Katherine Bucaccio in Private Funds Manangement

Jennifer Duggins will join the commission later this month to co-head OCIE’s Private Funds Unit alongside Igor Rozenblit. [more..]

Is the Word Ethical Being Used in an Unethical Way? by Roy Snell in SCCE’s The Compliance and Ethics Blog

The point here is…are we using the word ethical correctly? If ethical means right from wrong, how can both parties involved in any debate both be ethical or both be unethical?

If the word ethical could speak for itself it might tell you it’s troubled by the recent use of the word ethical. [more…]

Email Hack Costs Cetera Advisor His Career by Ann Marsh in Financial Planning

It’s the kind of case that cybersecurity experts have been warning advisors about for years – and that they only expect to see more of.

A Cetera Financial advisor lost his 17-year career after falling for an email from a hacker who impersonated a client and persuaded him to illegally transfer $160,000 to a bank unconnected with the client or his wife. [more…]

SEC won’t second guess CCOs, but will bring enforcement action in cases of significant misconduct / failures by them. Speech by Mary Jo White

To be clear, it is not our intention to use our enforcement program to target compliance professionals. We have tremendous respect for the work that you do. You have a tough job in a complex industry where the stakes are extremely high. That being said, we must, of course, take enforcement action against compliance professionals if we see significant misconduct or failures by them. Being a CCO obviously does not provide immunity from liability, but neither should our enforcement actions be seen by conscientious and diligent compliance professionals as a threat. We do not bring cases based on second guessing compliance officers’ good faith judgments, but rather when their actions or inactions cross a clear line that deserve sanction.[more…]

Hemingway and Trust and Respect for Compliance Leadership by Thomas Fox in FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog

I thought about Hemingway and his writing style when reading the most recent Corner Office column by Adam Bryant in the New York Times (NYT), entitled “To Work Here, Win the ‘Nice’ Vote”, where he profiled Peter Miller, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Optinose, a pharmaceutical company. Miller has some interesting leadership concepts that are applicable to the position of Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) 2.0 and how a CCO 2.0 could use influence to lead, not only in the compliance function but also across an organization. [more…]

One way to mark an anniversary – 5 years after Dodd Frank created CFPB, it fines Citibank $700m

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has ordered Citibank, N.A. and its subsidiaries to provide an estimated $700 million in relief to eligible consumers harmed by illegal practices related to credit card add-on products and services. Roughly 7 million consumer accounts were affected by Citibank’s deceptive marketing, billing, and administration of debt protection and credit monitoring add-on products. A Citibank subsidiary also deceptively charged expedited payment fees to nearly 1.8 million consumer accounts during collection calls. Citibank and its subsidiaries will pay $35 million in civil money penalties to the CFPB. [more…]

Closed is by #sebastianmarekphotos
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Compliance Bricks and Mortar for July 17

These are some of the compliance related stories that recently caught my attention.

Bricks and Bikes

Deflategate (Part Two): My texts runneth over by Joshua C. Garbarino in The FCPA Blog

The spontaneous nature of texts, often with photos, and sending them before anyone thinks about the consequences, means the texts can be a very revealing source of eDiscovery.

Several courts have addressed the discoverability of employee text messages. In this post and in the final one of this series, I’ll look at some of those cases.[More…]

Cybersecurity ‘Not Owned’ by Compliance but Shared: FINRA Exec in ThinkAdvisor

Cybersecurity is an “an operational risk issue, not generally owned” by a firm’s chief compliance officer and legal department, Daniel Sibears, FINRA’s EVP of regulatory operations said Tuesday at the joint FINRA and Securities and Exchange Commission Broker-Dealer Compliance Outreach Seminar in Washington. [More…]

An Example of Cooperation Credit from the SEC by Thomas O. Gordon in SEC Actions

The Commission’s recent settlement with cooperator Frank Tamayo is an illustration of cooperation credit given by the agency, according to an agency press release. SEC v. Tamayo, Civil Action No. 3:14-cv-09844 (D. N.J.). Mr. Tamayo was the man in the middle of an insider trading ring composed of three friends. He had been friends with Steven Metro since law school. Mr. Metro later became a managing clerk at Simpson Thatcher. He has also been friends with Vladimir Eydelman, a registered representative with Oppenheimer & Co., for years. [More….]

SEC’s White: Compliance officers not a target of the agency by Mark Schoeff Jr. in Investment News

“To be clear, it is not our intention to use our enforcement program to target compliance professionals,” Ms. White told about 1,000 broker-dealer compliance officials at SEC headquarters in Washington. “We have tremendous respect for the job you do. You have a very tough job in a complex industry where the stakes are extremely high.” [More…]

U.S. Chamber: 28 Recommendations on SEC Enforcement Practices by Bruce Carton in Compliance Week

The report offers several recommendations about a topic that is currently generating considerable controversy: SEC administrative proceedings. It also recommends reforms in areas including the Wells process; the SEC’s policy on requiring admissions in settlements; document requests and production; SEC press releases and litigation releases; and much more. [More…]

Pan-Mass Challenge: It’s not too late to show your support for me and cancer research. [Donate] The Pan-Mass Challenge donates 100% of every rider-raised dollar to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through its Jimmy Fund.

If you are reading this on Friday morning I’m in the middle of this grueling 130-mile training ride. Support me in my suffering.

[button link=”http://www2.pmc.org/e.asp?tid=7200&q=https://www2.pmc.org/egifts/DC0176=25″]Donate $25 to the Pan-Mass Challenge[/button]

[button link=”http://www2.pmc.org/e.asp?tid=7200&q=https://www2.pmc.org/egifts/DC0176=50″]Donate $50 to the Pan-Mass Challenge[/button]

[button link=”http://www2.pmc.org/e.asp?tid=7200&q=https://www2.pmc.org/egifts/DC0176=100″]Donate $100 to the Pan-Mass Challenge[/button]

[button link=”http://www2.pmc.org/e.asp?tid=7200&q=https://www2.pmc.org/egifts/DC0176″]Donate $___ to the Pan-Mass Challenge[/button]

Bike on Wall is by Josh Zakary

Compliance Bricks and Mortar for the July Fourth Weekend

These are some of the compliance-related stories I set aside to read this holiday weekend.

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What Do Rating Agencies Think about “Too-Big-to-Fail” Since Dodd-Frank? by Gara Afonso and João Santos in Liberty Street Economics

Is it possible that, while S&P still expects support for some BHCs, the perceived strength of support has decreased and is now negligible? A look at the chart below reveals a mixed picture. According to S&P, the strength of government support has weakened (as indicated by progressively lighter shading for the uplift measure). However, as the black line suggests, the number of BHCs that could receive support has remained unchanged. In S&P’s view, four large U.S. BHCs (representing 31 percent of the total BHC assets) still retain one notch of uplift relative to their main commercial bank, two notches down from the height of the crisis. [More..]

The Role of Chief Compliance Officers Must be Supported by Luis A. Aguilar in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation

Recently, a fellow Commissioner issued a public dissent in two recent enforcement actions against CCOs of investment advisers. While I respect the views of my fellow Commissioners, based on what I’m hearing from the CCO community, the dissent, and the resulting publicity, has left the impression that the SEC is taking too harsh of an enforcement stance against CCOs, and that CCOs are needlessly under siege from the SEC.

Thus, I am concerned that the recent public dialogue may have unnecessarily created an environment of unwarranted fear in the CCO community. Such an environment is unhelpful, sends the wrong message, and can discourage honest and competent CCOs from doing their work. [More…]

Frequently Asked Questions about Regulation A+ by Alexander J. Davie in Strictly Business

While there are a lot of people very excited about Regulation A+ and its possibilities, the reality is much more modest. Here are some of the common questions I receive from clients and potential clients about Regulation A+ and the answers I give in response: [More..]

FIN4 May Have Embarked on a Risky Hacking/Insider Trading Strategy by David Smyth in Cady Bar the Door

[W]e learn that the SEC and the Secret Service are investigating a sophisticated computer hacking group known as “FIN4” that allegedly “has tried to hack into email accounts at more than 100 companies, looking for confidential information on mergers and other market-moving events. The targets include more than 60 listed companies in biotechnology and other healthcare-related fields, such as medical instruments, hospital equipment and drugs.” Apparently their plan is to harvest this information and then trade on it. Nobody knows where FIN4 is from. They could be overseas, but supposedly their English is flawless and they have a deep knowledge of how financial markets work, so maybe they’re in the United States. At one level, a little terrifying! [More….]

Pink Flamingos and the Compliance Audit by Tom Fox in the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog

The creator of one of the most ubiquitous symbols of mid-century Americana died earlier this week. Don Featherstone, the creator of the pink plastic lawn flamingo, the ultimate symbol of American lawn kitsch, has died. He was 79. Featherstone, a trained sculptor with a classical art background, created the flamingo in 1957 for plastics company Union Products, modeling it after a bird he saw in National Geographic. Millions of the birds have been sold. Whether you think of the Pink Flamingo as a symbol of Miami Vice, Jon Waters and Devine or for something less salacious, here is to Featherstone, a true original.

While Featherstone created one of the ultimate symbols of the second half of the 20^th century for a generation of South Floridians, the Japanese company Takata Corporation (Takata) continues to be in the news for much less prestigious reasons. As reported in the New York Times (NYT), in an article entitled “Senate Panel Says Tanaka Cut Audits on Safety”, Hiroko Tabuchi and Danielle Ivory said “In the middle of what would become the largest automotive recall in US history, the Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata halted global safety audits to save money”. Interesting (or perhaps ominously might be a better word) Takata responded by saying it had not halted safety audits for products but rather for worker safety. Doesn’t that give you some comfort? [More…]

DOJ Joins Instagram … Your Move, SEC! by Bruce Carton in Compliance Week

The DOJ sees your Pinterest account, SEC, and raises you an Instagram account! Today the DOJ announced on the front page of its website that it has taken the Instagram plunge. [More…]

If you enjoy reading Compliance Building, please consider making a donation to my Pan-Mass Challenge bike ride. 100% of your donation goes to support cancer research.

Click here to make a donation.

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Compliance Bricks and Mortar for June 19

These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention.

bricks and mortar

Ethisphere Announces the 2015 Attorneys Who Matter

Honorees represent all areas of practice including federal agencies, in-house counsel, top ethics and compliance officers of major companies, and outside counsel. Each one raises the bar for ethical behavior and boasts a commendable track record of public service, legal community engagement, and academic involvement. [More…]

Never Tick Off a Redbird by Tom Fox in the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog

As to the Cardinals, what on earth could the Astros have that they could possibly want? Take the Astros record over the past five years; it’s the worst in baseball. You want a piece of that? How about secret information on the leadership savoir fare of the Astros owner ‘Mr. I am smarter than everyone in the room because I made a $100mm in business’ Jim Crane. Why be one of the best-run sports franchises, when you can mimic the Astros? First you can tell everyone how stupid they are because they do not understand how it is in your interest to try and lose; next why you should cut off over 70% of your fan base from even watching games on television so they will not see your joke of a team play and, finally, how to sue the prior owner who sold you the team for mis-representing the quality of the assets.

Why the SEC can’t easily solve Appointments Clause problem with ALJs by Alison Frankel for Reuters

It seems as though there ought to be an easy way for the Securities and Exchange Commission to stomp out claims that its in-house judges are unconstitutionally appointed through a bureaucratic process, a defense theory that has spread as fast among SEC defendants as viral cute-animal memes on the Internet. But the SEC has so far avoided even addressing the potential consequences of that quick fix – perhaps because the solution isn’t so simple after all. If the SEC changed the way it appoints in-house judges, the fix could call into question the outcome of scores of past and present SEC enforcement actions as well as cases at other regulatory agencies.

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You Can Finally Spend That Extra $12,000 On A WALL ST Vanity Plate by Alexander C. Kaufman in The Huffington Post

The seller bought the plates when they first became available in 1976, and he slapped them on his brand-new Chrysler Cordoba, according to Bloomberg Business. At the time, the Saratoga Springs resident, whose name hasn’t been reported, was working at the brokerage firm E.F. Hutton.

Now, the plates are attached to his 2002 Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan. And, yeah, you get the car if you buy the plates, per Bloomberg.

If you enjoy reading Compliance Building, please consider making a donation to my Pan-Mass Challenge bike ride. 100% of your donation goes to support cancer research.

Click here to make a donation.

Compliance Bricks and Mortar for June 12

These are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention.

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Jamie Dimon Says He’s Unsure If Elizabeth Warren Understands Global Banking System by Kim Chipman for Bloomberg

[W]hen asked about his biggest worries, Dimon expressed concern that the U.S. may eventually be hurt by ideological decisions being made in Washington. [More…]

Legal Ethics for Compliance Lawyers By Jeffrey Kaplan From Compliance & Ethics Professional, a publication for SCCE members

I do not think that there is any great tension between the two. Of course, a company’s lawyers have to abide by somewhat different rules with respect to reporting suspected violations than do employees generally, because the lawyer’s knowledge of possible wrongdoing may be subject to the attorney-client privilege. But this is as it should be, since jeopardizing the privilege would make it less likely that a company would seek legal advice on C&E matters, thereby weakening C&E programs.[More…]

Warning: Keeping Compliance Simple by Michael Volkov in Corruption, Crime & Compliance

CCOs have to avoid something that comes with influence and authority – making compliance programs too complex. Why do I worry about this?

Compliance depends on simplicity and accessibility. It does not depend on self-actualizing theories and designs of wordy compliance concepts. Take one example – (and I apologize to advocates of this) the so-called “three-lines of defense” (“TLOD”) or other compliance program acronyms and theories.[More…]

How biased are you about bribery (or anything else)? Watch the first video. Then read the post and find out. by Etai Biran in thebriberyact.com

Being aware of our biased behavior during the information selection stage has significant implications on the rest of the decision making process. Selecting the right information to form a decision will have great impact on the decision’s outcome. Using the wrong information to evaluate a situation will have a “domino effect” on the rest of the decision making process and will eventually lead to bad judgment and bad decisions. If the information selection process is biased it may well be that the final decision turns out to be a bad one because it was based on wrongful information all along.[more…]

If you enjoy reading Compliance Building, please consider making a donation to my Pan-Mass Challenge bike ride. 100% of your donation goes to support cancer research.

Click here to make a $50 donation.

Fort Jackson; Brick Wall is by Jodi Green
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Compliance Bricks and Mortar for June 5

These are some of the compliance-related stories that recent caught my attention.

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren Sharply Criticizes SEC Chairman in Letter in the Wall Street Journal

Ms. Warren took aim at several issues in Tuesday’s letter, including a long-delayed executive compensation rule mandated by the 2010 Dodd-Frank law requiring companies disclose the pay gap between chief executives and their employees. The agency proposed the rule in 2013 but has yet to complete it. Congressional Democrats and unions have long-championed the measure though it is opposed by Republicans and business groups. [more…]

Why The WSJ Is Wrong About SEC Rulemaking On Claw backs by Keith Paul Bishop in California Corporate and Securities Law

Section 954 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires the SEC to require the stock exchanges to prohibit the listing of securities of issuers that have not developed and implemented compensation claw-back policies. Thus, I expect that the SEC, when it gets around to it, will be forcing the stock exchanges to change their listing standards. The SEC won’t be directly forcing companies to claw back incentive pay. [more…]

The Impact of Newman on SEC Enforcement by Thomas O. Gorman in SEC Actions

In the wake of Newman the SEC has three apparent options: 1) Comply with Newman’s pleading requirements; 2) bring its actions as administrative proceedings; or 3) bring actions outside of the Second Circuit where the decision may not be applicable.

The Impact of Newman on SEC Enforcement: Part I

The Impact of Newman on SEC Enforcement: Part II

The Impact of Newman on SEC Enforcement: Part III

The Impact of Newman on SEC Enforcement: Part IV

The Impact of Newman on SEC Enforcement: Part V

Wall Street and Ethics by Michael Volkov in Corruption, Crime & Compliance

I have to confess that there is a part of me that was skeptical about a new survey released last week finding that banks and other financial institutions have not embraced a culture of integrity. (Survey Here). Indeed, the survey found that numerous individuals continue to operate with the idea that illegal or unethical behavior is a necessary part of succeeding in the financial markets. [more…]

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