Rosabeth Moss Kanter points out another reason that the “tone at the top” is only one factor for corporate compliance in Powerlessness Corrupts. “Power corrupts, as Lord Acton famously said, but so does powerlessness. Though powerlessness might not result in the egregious violations associated with arrogant officials who feel they are above the law, it … Read more »
Trust and Compliance
Yesterday’s Carnival of Trust post got me thinking about the relationship of compliance and trust. “Compliance lays out policies and checks to make sure you are complying with those policies. Trust, but verify, and mostly verify.” I equate trust more with the ethics side of business: Doing what you should (or should not) do, based … Read more »
Carnival of Trust
The Carnival of Trust is the brainchild of Charles Green of Trust Matters. It’s intended to highlight the best posts about trust in the business and professional workspace over the previous month. He apparently ran out of worthy people to host his carnival and, in what must have been a moment of weakness, asked me … Read more »
Compliance Bits & Pieces for July 9
Here are some stories I found interesting: Compliance Lessons in Country Music by Frank Sheeder in The Healthcare Compliance Blog We all get our inspiration from different places. As you will see, country music can support some of the best themes that we can establish as compliance professionals. The titles of some of the more … Read more »
Performance Fees for Private Investments Funds under the Investment Adviser Act
As more private investment funds will be pulled under the regulatory umbrella of the Investment Advisers Act,they will need to focus on the limitation on performance fees. Section 205(a)(1) of the Advisers Act generally prohibits any investment adviser, unless exempt from registration pursuant to Section 203(b) of the Advisers Act, from entering into, extending, renewing, … Read more »
A Closer Look at the new SEC Rule 206(4)-5 on Pay to Play
Over the weekend, the Securities and Exchange Commission released the full text of Rule 206(4)-5 in Release No. IA-3043. I made few notes during the broadcast of the open meeting, but there were lots of unanswered questions. Rule 206(4)-5 is only 12 pages long, but Release IA-3043 also includes another 190 pages of commentary and … Read more »
The Changing Standard for an Accredited Investor
As financial reform has made its way through Congress there have been several proposed changes to the standard of what it takes to be an accredited investor. In 1982, the SEC prescribed the standard in Rule 501 of Regulation D: 5. Any natural person whose individual net worth, or joint net worth with that person’s … Read more »
Fourth of July and Compliance
With the Fourth of July on Sunday, most businesses are closed on July 5th. (We hate to waste a good holiday.) What better way to celebrate the independence of the United States than by taking the day off from work and watching stuff blow up. In colonial times, official proclamations were read from the Old … Read more »
Compliance Bits and Pieces – July 2
Early this week, some people expected fireworks to come from the Free Enterprise v. PCAOB decision. Instead, we got cheap package of sparklers. Fun for a few minutes, but unlikely to leave much of a lasting impression. Here are some interesting compliance-related stories from the past week. SEC Statement on Supreme Court’s Decision in FEF … Read more »
Cheap Sunglasses and Compliance
Can cheap sunglasses affect your ethical behavior? An important part of a compliance program is monitoring and improving the ethical behavior of your workforce. I’m always intrigued by ethics experiments. Francesca Gino of Chapel Hill, Michael Norton of Harvard Business School, and Dan Ariely of Duke tested the effect of wearing knock-off designer sunglasses. They … Read more »