Category: Compliance Bricks and Mortar

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

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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…]

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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…]

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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…]

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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…]

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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…]

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

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The Impact of Compliance –Another Reversal For a Jefferies Trader by T. Gorman in SECActions

The key role of compliance threads through the continuing saga of Jefferies & Co. trader Jesse Litvak as well as a series of similar cases. Mr. Litvak is one of a number of traders who were indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for allegedly making misstatements to counterparties while trading residential mortgage backed securities or RMBS. Although those markets are largely opaque, the traders and counterparties are highly sophisticated, employing complex pricing models to guide their transactions. Mr. Litvak, who was initially indicted in 2013, was just freed from prison following the second reversal of his conviction by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. U.S. v. Litvak, No. 17-1464 (2nd Cir. May 3, 2017). [More…]

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Volcker Rule Rewrite Is Said to Drop Key Trading Burden on Banks by Jesse Hamilton and Benjamin Bain

In a much anticipated overhaul of Volcker, the Federal Reserve and other regulators are planning to drop an assumption written into the original rule that positions held by banks for less than 60 days are speculative — and therefore banned, the people said. Instead, banks would have leeway to conclude that their trades comply with the rule, putting the onus on regulators to challenge such judgments, the people said. [More…]

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Can Sophisticated Investors Be Defrauded? Two Cases Raise Hurdles by Peter J. Henning in the NYTimes.com’s Dealbook

So do parties in a negotiation get a free pass on what they say, even if it is not the truth? An April 2016 decision by the federal appeals court in Chicago in United States v. Weimert answered that question in the affirmative. The court overturned the conviction of David Weimert for wire fraud for misleading both sides in a real estate transaction. The judges pointed out that in a negotiation the two sides “will often try to mislead the other party about the prices and terms they are willing to accept. Such deceptions are not criminal.” [More…]

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Disgorgement After Kokesh – Evidence from SEC Insider Trading Actions (FY2005-FY2015) by Verity Winship in NYU Law’s Compliance & Enforcement blog

For about 50 years – at least since Texas Gulf Sulphur – the SEC has ordered defendants to disgorge their profits from transactions that violated the securities laws.  Despite disgorgement’s long history, in its 2017 opinion in Kokesh v. SEC, the US Supreme Court put two aspects of the remedy on the table.  It applied a five-year statute of limitations to disgorgement.  It also reopened old debates over agencies’ power to seek remedies not specified in statute.  My article, Disgorgement in Insider Trading Cases: FY2005-FY2015, provides data to inform these debates over the agency’s use of disgorgement and the effects of Kokesh.  It reports the results of an empirical study of ten years of the remedies ordered by the SEC in insider trading actions, with particular emphasis on the agency’s reliance on disgorgement.  [More…]

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How do we reconcile UBO due diligence and GDRP obligations? by Lindsay Columbo in The FCPA Blog

What all this means is that financial institutions face new challenges to reconcile their compliance obligations. On one hand, their obligations are increasing to conduct customer due diligence to verify UBO information, among other things. On the other hand, the data processors at the same institutions are obligated to limit circumstances in which personal data can be collected, and when it is collected, to ensure it’s adequately protected according to EU standards. [More…]

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Buyer Beware: Hundreds of Bitcoin Wannabes Show Hallmarks of Fraud By Shane Shifflett and Coulter Jones in the Wall Street Journal

In a review of documents produced for 1,450 digital coin offerings, The Wall Street Journal has found 271 with red flags that include plagiarized investor documents, promises of guaranteed returns and missing or fake executive teams. [More…]

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

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It’s On! Federal Judge to Hear First Ever Oral Argument Asserting ICOs are NOT Securities. Read Legal Briefs From SEC, DOJ and Defense Here . . by John Reed Stark

This week the ICO/SEC battle is finally on: The first ever oral argument before a federal judge on the issue of whether initial coin offerings (ICOs) are securities offerings and are therefore subject to SEC jurisdiction. Below are the details and all of the relevant court filings in one place, neatly organized for quick and easy review. [More…]

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Enforcement Co-Chief Offers Tips on Meeting with the SEC by Steven R. Peikin in the CLS Blue Sky Blog

At the SEC, we frequently confront issues that are novel, complex, or both. For the staff, productive communication with defense counsel can often provide a better understanding of complicated businesses, markets, and financial products. Effective communication allows us to tailor our theories, focus our inquiries and get to the end of our investigations efficiently.

I believe that the benefits of this communication flow in both directions. That is, effective dialogue can also yield significant benefits for defense counsel and their clients. In some instances, defense counsel will persuade us that we have gotten something wrong, leading us to abandon a charge, recommend different relief, or decline to pursue a matter entirely. Even where that isn’t the case, effective communication often helps defense counsel to better understand our thinking, which in turn allows them to provide better advice to their clients. [More…]

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AT&T, foreign corporations risk legal action for payments to Michael Cohen firm by Francine McKenna in MarketWatch

The payments made to the personal attorney of President Donald Trump raise questions as to whether these companies violated anti-bribery rules, experts in federal bribery laws say.

The lawyer for the adult film star suing the president revealed that three companies, AT&T, Switzerland’s Novartis and Korea Aerospace Industries, made payments to Michael Cohen. Each company has confirmed the payments that the lawyer, Michael Avenatti, disclosed. AT&T said its $200,000 was for insights into understanding the new administration, Korea Aerospace said its $150,000 was for legal insights on U.S. accounting standards and Novartis said it paid $1.2 million for insights onto Trump’s stance on health policy. [More…]

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Cyber Matters: The Unintended Consequence of GDPR? Spam by Rob Sloan, cybersecurity research director, WSJ Pro

One of the unintended consequences of GDPR, is that internet registrars no longer will be able to share information, known as ‘WHOIS’ data, that includes names, physical addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses related to the registered owners of websites or domains. Under GDPR, discrete registrars that collect the data when domains are purchased no longer will be able to share it, because it will be classified as “personally identifiable information.”

This likely will result in a significant uptick in junk email and a rise in malware being distributed via websites and could severely hamper cyber investigations. Companies that rely on this data to deliver certain security services, such as spam-filtering, could even find their business models threatened. [More…]

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It’s Harder To Pay Off Foreign Governments Than The US One by Matt Kelly in Buzzfeed (yes, Buzzfeed)

As we learn that AT&T, Novartis, and other large companies paid millions of dollars to Michael Cohen’s company while he was serving as President Trump’s legal counsel, it’s worth remembering that there is a whole subset of professionals embedded in every headquarters in corporate America who work to prevent exactly this type of shady business.

These ethics and compliance officers exist to keep corporations on the right side of a strict anti-corruption law. A big portion of their work is specifically to prevent companies from paying money to intermediaries — like, say, the personal lawyer and long-time confidant of a government official — to influence government officials’ behavior in favor of the company.

But there’s a catch: The law outlined above applies to foreign governments. It’s called the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the Justice Department enforces it on a regular basis. [More…]

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

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SEC Adds Fuel to the Best-Interest Fire by Aron Szapiro

Many of us probably have fiduciary rule whiplash. On March 15, a court struck down the Department of Labor’s rules package, known as the fiduciary rule, placing in limbo the new rules as we wait to see if the agency appeals. Last night, the Securities and Exchange Commission weighed in in a big way, dropping their version of a fiduciary standard late after a vote of 4 to 1. The SEC has the ball now, and it wants to run with it. [More…]

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The SEC’s Scare Tactics May Work on Advisers by Ernest Badway

In rapid succession, the SEC has issued warnings and announced sanctions against registered investment advisers for fee and expense practices, false statements regarding assets under management, and misleading performance data. No one should be surprised that the SEC is actively seeking to uncover transgressions in the RIA field. [More…]

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U.K. to Dig Into Who Owns London Property by Mara Lemos Stein

Foreign entities that own property in the U.K. will need to disclose the beneficial owners of the assets in a public register or face criminal charges under a proposed law. Parliament will draw up legislation for the proposed register, the first of its kind in the world, later this year. A fully accessible register of beneficial owners of U.K. real estate isn’t expected to go live until 2021, but current property owners need to start working to comply, attorneys said. [More…]

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Starbucks and Policy Management Perils by Matt Kelly

The peril for large organizations is that they might lurch for simple policy solutions that create more problems than they solve. For example, Starbucks could enact a nationwide policy: all seats and bathrooms are reserved for patrons who have already purchased a product.

A policy like that would clearly put Nelson and Robinson in the wrong, regardless of race. It’s simple and effective, but it also undercuts the culture and spirit Starbucks wants to achieve: being the friendly, leisurely “third place” between home and work where people can relax over food and coffee. It would also, inevitably, lead to some other store denying the bathroom to some ill person, or a mother with small children, or lord knows what.  [More…]

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2018 Global Study on Occupational Fraud and Abuse by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

This study contains an analysis of 2,690 cases of occupational fraud that were investigated between January 2016 and October 2017. The data presented herein is based on information provided by the Certified Fraud Examiners who investigated those cases. Their firsthand experience with these frauds provides an invaluable resource for helping us understand occupational fraud and the impact it has on organizations.  [More…]

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Ninth Circuit: No Crime Policy Coverage for Social Engineering Fraud Losses by Kevin LaCroix in the D&O Diary

Aqua Star is a seafood importer. One of its employees was duped by a fraudster posing as one of the company’s seafood vendors into sending $713,890 to an overseas bank account controlled by the fraudster. The fraudster had directed the employee to change the vendor’s bank account information. The employee made the changes as instructed. The company sought coverage for the loss of funds under the computer crime coverage in its commercial crime policy. The crime insurer denied coverage for the loss arguing among other things that coverage was precluded by a policy exclusion (Exclusion G) precluding coverage for “loss or damages resulting directly or indirectly from the input of Electronic Data by a natural person having the authority to enter the Insured’s Computer System.”

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Arguments about gold vein refrain mainly remain in vain By Rodney F. Tonkovic, J.D. in Jim Hamilton’s World of Securities Regulation

A Second Circuit panel has affirmed that a gold mining company was not misleading investors when it repeatedly expressed confidence in a glowing estimate of how much gold a project could produce. In a ruling by summary order, the panel concluded that none of the three sets of statements at issue constituted a material misstatement or omission (Martin v. Quartermain, May 1, 2018, per curiam). [More…]

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

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IA Arrested On Bail For Continuing Fraudulent Scheme by T. Gorman in SEC Actions

A focus of a typical bail hearing is flight risk – is the person charged likely to return for the pending court proceedings and face the charges. Recently, a long established investment adviser was arrested on fraud charges. He had three separate offices in the community. Bail was set and the adviser was released. It was soon revoked. Law enforcement officials discovered that the adviser did indeed return to the community. He also continued to fleece investors. Bail was revoked; new charges were brought; a guilty plea followed. U.S. v. Newsholme, No. 3:17-mj-05015 (D. N.J.). [More…]

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Sticking Around Too Long? Dynamics of the Benefits of Dual-Class Structures by Hyunseob Kim and Roni Michaely in the CLS Blue Sky Blog

The main drawback of a dual-class share structure is, of course, that insiders who control the firm with voting rights that are disproportionately greater than their cash flow rights can easily take advantage of dispersed outside shareholders. (Co-founders Bobby Murphy and Evan Spiegel, for example, jointly own 45 percent of Snap shares but control more than 70 percent of votes.) Since managers-insiders control more votes relative to their cash flow rights, they may have less incentive to maximize a company’s performance and more incentive to collect perks or build an empire that is not in the best interest of other shareholders. [More…]

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SEC preparing cryptocurrency fraud crackdown, Jay Clayton’s biggest enforcement move yet by Charles Gasparino in Fox Business

Since taking office, Clayton’s enforcement staff at the SEC has brought as many as nine cases involving cryptocurrency fraud, but people at the commission and securities lawyers familiar with the agency’s enforcement agenda said investigators are working on dozens more. Those cases have been trickling out in recent months, but according to securities lawyers a deluge of enforcement actions is expected sometime this year, given the immense caseload under scrutiny. [More…]

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$7 Billion Hasn’t Moved The Needle on Financial Crime by Lionel Laurent Bloomberg / The Washington Post

Pan-European crime-busters Europol reckon only about 5 percent of transactions firms identify as suspicious is reported to the authorities, of which 10 percent leads to further investigation. That’s a conversion rate of less than 1 percent, suggesting banks are prophylactically over-reporting data rather than providing valuable information that that can lead to arrests. [More…]

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What Drives Misconduct: The EPA Example by Matt Kelly in Radical Compliance

The lessons that compliance professionals can learn from embattled EPA administrator Scott Pruitt are many. Some are so obvious we need to step back and deconstruct them to understand why his behavior is so corrosive to the organization he supposedly wants to lead. Other lessons are more subtle, and raise the possibility that Pruitt might not get fired, despite ethical misconduct all over the place.

All these lessons, however, are of the most important sort: about how an executive loses his grip on constituencies he or she needs to run an organization effectively. That’s what your bosses dread the most, so let’s go exploring. [More…]

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Is this compliance idea as bad as it sounds? by Richard L. Cassin in the FCPA Blog

In a securities filing by one of Canada’s uranium miners, the company said the CEO is responsible for “administering and interpreting” the anti-bribery policy, under the oversight of the audit committee. Should the CEO sit on top of compliance? Can he or she ever make decisions about compliance that aren’t business driven? [More…]

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These are some of the compliance-related stories that I’ve been reading.

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Mulvaney’s CFPB plan is dangerous by Rob Blackwell in American Banker

On Monday, Mulvaney called for four major reforms to CFPB: putting it on Congressional appropriations; creating a dedicated inspector general (currently the Federal Reserve’s inspector general oversees it); giving the president more oversight of the bureau; and, most importantly, subjecting all major new rules to Congressional approval. This fourth suggestion, a version of the so-called REINS Act that some conservative Republicans have been pushing for years, is by far the most dangerous and far-reaching. [More…]

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Ethical Decision-Making in Business: Why Good People Do Bad Things by Laura Petrolino

This means it’s now more important than ever to be very clear about our ethical decision-making processes.
Where do we draw the line?
How do we work with our team and clients to make decisions?
[More…]

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Directors and compliance programs: a look at the law by Jeff Kaplan in Conflict of Interest Blog

In an article to be published in the Temple Law Review – and summarized on the Harvard Law School Corporate Governance Forum – Professor Donald C. Langevoort of the Georgetown University Law Center takes a look at the role that Caremark has played over the last 20 years in encouraging directors to promote compliance at their respective companies. It is a thoughtful and informative piece that is strongly recommended for those who advise boards on C&E matters. Among other things, it can help such advisors avoid making the mistake that I nearly did, and instead  focus on the legal expectations that matter most to boards. [More…]

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SEC Discusses Online Trading Platforms — With a Word of Caution by Stephen J. Crimmins in The CLS Blue Sky Blog

On March 7, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Division and its Trading & Markets Division issued a joint “Statement on Potentially Unlawful Online Platforms for Trading Digital Assets.” The release appeared to be the strongest signal yet of a broadening of the SEC’s enforcement and regulatory interest beyond its focus over the last year on the need for certain coin offerings to be registered or to qualify for an exemption as private placements. [More…]

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WORLD SERIES BANNERS AND RED FLAGS by Tom Fox in FCPA Compliance & Ethics

The 2017 World Series Champions, the Houston Astros, had their home opener on Monday evening. After 56 years and a few minutes of frustration (more on that later) the World Series (WS) banner was unveiled. As it is metal it could not be unfurled. It was a moment every Astros fan had literally waited their lifetime to see. Yet even with this triumphant moment the hometown heroes provided a few distinct lessons learned for the compliance practitioner, one around red flags. [More…]

For those of you with that responsibility, I hope you have your Form ADV filed or ready to go. Meanwhile, here are some other compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention.

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It’s Not Cricket – Ethics on the Pitch by Tom Fox in FCPA Compliance & Ethics

Is it cricket? Or isn’t it cricket? That might be a question many Americans are asking these days while the rest of the sporting world is embroiled in one of Cricket’s biggest scandals ever; which decidedly isn’t cricket. Confused yet? The scandal involves the highest levels of the Australian national Cricket team, who concocted a scheme to scruff the ball on piece of yellow tape in the pants pocket of the bowler, Cameron Bancroft. He was instructed to do so by (now former) team captain Steve Smith and (now former) vice-captain David Warner. All three have been thrown off the team. Now here is the best part, bowler Bancroft scruffed the ball on yellow tape on the pitch, not only in view of the entire playing field but all the fans in the stands. Better yet, he was caught on international television doing the deed. [More…]

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Will SEC Rule Curb Corporate Political Spending Disclosure? by Mara Lemos Stein in the WSJ.com’s Risk & Compliance Journal

A provision in the latest U.S. government spending bill bars the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from mandating corporate disclosure of political spending but it won’t stop the trend of increased transparency around the issue, said two advocates for more transparent corporate governance. [More…]

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Is the Cryptocurrency Bubble About to Burst? by Glenn Luinenburg and Jennifer Zepralka in WilmerHale Launch

We previously discussed ICOs and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Report of Investigation on the DAO. But there are still open questions about other types of ICOs, where it may not be squarely an investment, but instead the token has some use other than just providing a return to the holders. That’s where the SEC’s Munchee case in December gave us some more color and in our recent QuickLaunch University webinar on the future of ICOs and cryptocurrencies, we discussed this case and other developments and offer a few key takeaways if you are invested in or planning to launch an ICO: [More…]

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Should compliance officers be optimists? by Jeff Kaplan in Conflict of Interest Blog

I think the case for optimism has grown – particularly in the past year. By this I mean not that things are looking better than in the recent past but that the need for an optimistic cast of mind may be at an all-time high. [More…]

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

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FINRA warns public about fake . . . FINRA
by Richard L. Cassin

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) warned about con artists posing as FINRA to make phony investment pitches. Scammers are using FINRA’s name and logo in letters that say FINRA is guaranteeing investments. The letters include a fake signature from FINRA president and CEO Robert W. Cook. [More…]

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When The Sport of Curling Should Make Your Hair Curl
by Adam Turteltaub

In the You Can’t Make This Up Department, reports out of Korea indicate that a Russian curler has tested positive for a banned substance.  Yup, doping in curling. Doping in sports is not so surprising these days.  Doping from a Russian athlete, not so shocking either.  But doping in curling?  Really?  Curling?  I mean, seriously?  Have you watched the sport?  I don’t deny that it’s harder than it looks, it is probably quite physical, and I know I couldn’t make the US Olympic curling team, but really? [More…]

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2018 Cross-Industry Compliance Staffing and Budget Benchmarking and Guidance Survey
by the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics

On the following pages are a series of data tables that can be used to benchmark compliance program budgets and staffing by several factors. As you review the data, keep in mind that this data should be considered directional in nature. Different companies of the same size will likely have very different histories in terms of compliance issues and risks. [More…]

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Six Do’s and Don’ts of Due Diligence Questionnaires
by Kristy Grant-Hart

Due diligence questionnaires are a critical tool for understanding third-parties. But they can quickly get out of control, putting unreasonable burdens on the answering party, and at worst, invading the privacy of individuals in wholly unnecessary ways. How do you balance the legitimate need for information with the reality that no questionnaire can fully protect the company from the possibility that the third-party will misbehave? Here are three do’s and don’ts when it comes to due diligence questionnaires. [More…]

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SEC’s Jackson questions rationale for dual-class ‘forever shares’
By Mark S. Nelson, J.D.

New SEC Commissioner Robert Jackson hit the ground running in his first substantive speech as a commissioner by taking on the topic of the proliferation of companies that have adopted dual-class share structures. Jackson’s speech in San Francisco at a Silicon Valley event on M&A, antitrust, and governance issues comes at a time when initial public offerings (IPOs) have become scarcer and an abundance of private capital allows growing start-ups to remain private longer, thus giving the founders of some companies that do go public the leverage to demand share structures that may protect their jobs. For Jackson, though, the question is one of how long a company should retain a dual-class structure post-IPO rather than a debate about the merits and demerits of such structures. He said the outcome of the debate over dual-class structures may have long term implications for Main Street investors. [More…]

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

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Asset Managers Show Less Concern About Compliance by Ben DiPietro

More than three-quarters of respondents said the reduced regulatory concern meant compliance issues are not as significant as they were in the past; 52% said they are more focused on reputational risk the last six months than regulatory risk. [More…]

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How to Survive a Root Cause Analysis: Chapter 8 of The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Guide for Compliance Professionals by Tom Fox

For the first time, companies that sustain an FCPA violation are required to perform a root cause analysis and incorporate that information back into the compliance program. Learn how to survive. [More…]

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Rabobank Unit to Forfeit $369 Million to Settle Money-Laundering Probe by Samuel Rubenfeld

The guilty plea comes about two months after George Martin, a former Rabobank vice president, entered into a deferred-prosecution agreement with the U.S. for his role in aiding and abetting the bank’s failure to maintain an effective compliance program. He agreed at the time, as part of his plea deal, to cooperate with the ongoing U.S. investigation. [More…]

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Market regulators on crypto: We’re on it, but may need help by Ian McKendry

Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said the two agencies are not ignoring the fast-growing cryptocurrency sector and they have some oversight powers. But they indicated that they might need more. [More…]

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

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Misplaced Regulatory Moves, Up Close by Matt Kelly in Radical Compliance

Like manna from heaven, every time you write about some grand plan from government, fate sends an example of how harebrained bureaucracy can be in practice. And so today we have an example of missing the point on deregulation, which some bureaucrat at the Federal Communications Commission clearly did.[More…]

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Beware ICO Lawyers: As Regulatory Gatekeepers, You’re the Next SEC Target by John Reed Stark

Equally astonishing is that ICOs have grown largely outside of regulatory oversight and without the investor protections and disclosure requirements that apply to traditional investment offerings. In fact, ICOs provide a virtual “Driver’s Ed” film of possible securities law violations.   [More…]

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Compliance and Creative Problem Solving by Tom Fox

One thing that compliance officers must never forget is that their customers are company employees. This means when an employee comes to you with a problem, they need you to fix it or to help them fix it. As the article noted, customers cared less about the actual outcome than about the process by which the employee tried to offer assistance. “It’s not about the solution—it’s about how you get there.” Once again, the Fair Process Doctrine raises its head not only in the corporate world but specifically in the compliance realm. [More…]

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Ex-Morgan Stanley advisers used clients’ cash to fund wind farm project: feds

Two former Morgan Stanley advisers have agreed to plead guilty to US charges that they misused client funds to invest in a wind farm project they were involved with, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.[More…]

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BRING ON THE BIKOCALYPSE by Felix Salmon

Chinese cities have been overtaken by the chaos and clutter of dockless bikes. American cities should follow their lead.[More…]