Section 922 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act created the SEC’s whistleblower program, awarding cash to individuals who report misdeeds that result in successful SEC cases. If the SEC collects more than $1 million, the whistleblower can receive between 10% and 30% of the award. Section 922 also required the Office … Read more »
How Effective is Your Gate?
Does your compliance program sometime feel like this gate? A tool working alone is not necessarily effective. It may be a great tool, but still not be effective. If it’s easy to get around then it’s not effective. Do you even know if people are going around? Is it even possible to know if they … Read more »
Private Equity Enforcement Concerns
Bruce Karpati, chief of the SEC’s Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit laid out a clear picture of the SEC’s expectations and concerns about private equity in a recent speech. He was speaking at Private Equity International’s annual CFOs and COOs Forum. The speech was centered around five main questions. Q1: How has the creation of … Read more »
Compliance Bricks and Mortar for January 25
These are some of the compliance related stories that recently caught my attention. The SEC at a Crossroads: Can Things Be Turned Around? by Broc Romanek in the CLS Blue Sky Blog Over the past fifteen years, the SEC’s reputation has been routinely sullied – in the press, by the Courts and certainly in the … Read more »
Network Security, Compliance, and Out-Sourcing Your Job To China
You may have heard the story about the computer programmer who outsourced his work duties and sat in is office watching cat videos all day. “Bob” was an “inoffensive and quiet” programmer in his mid-40’s, with “a relatively long tenure with the company” and “someone you wouldn’t look at twice in an elevator.” His company … Read more »
Lance Armstrong – A Lying Liar Just Like Madoff
It’s tough to see a hero fall. I didn’t consider Lance Armstrong to be a hero for riding. But what he did for cancer survivors was remarkable. Until recently, cycling was filthy with doping. Take a look at the podium finishers for the Tour de France. Only two of the podium finishers in the Tour … Read more »
Social Media Access by Employers
There was a kerfuffle in the news about employers demanding access to employees’ social media site. The stories stated the employers asked for the employees’ passwords, in addition to their usernames. In response, at least six states have started the legislative process to prevent employers from demanding that access. As you might expect, the tricky … Read more »
Cash Transactions, Money Laundering, and a CCO Going to Jail
When I see a story about a chief compliance officer going to jail it catches my attention. Judge John F. Walter in the Central District of California sentenced Humberto Sanchez, the compliance officer of G&A Check Cashing to 60 months in prison. Private fund managers rarely have to worry about check cashing and bags of … Read more »
Crowdfunding and the Ban on General Solicitation
While entrepreneurs are looking to create crowdfunding portals under Title III of the JOBS Act, small business owners looking to raise capital should keep an eye on the regulatory changes under Title II of the JOBS Act. That may do a better job of opening the spigot for capital than the avalanche of crowdfunding portals … Read more »
Crowdfunded Companies Won’t Be Here Anytime Soon
When the JOBS Act passed last spring, there was a huge surge on the future of crowdfunding. In pursuit of the riches of startup investing, many ignored the already successful world of Kickstarter, Indie Go Go, and others that already successfully fund projects. Those platforms don’t show the investor a pot of gold at the … Read more »