How do you open a bank account when you are hiding from domestic violence? The rules implementing the Bank Secrecy Act require a financial institution to implement a Customer Identification Program that includes procedures that enable it to form a reasonable belief that it knows the true identity of its customers. The rules also require … Read more »
Ethics of Oreos in the Minibar
Is it ethical to replenish the items in your hotel’s minibar to avoid being charged for consumption? Randy Cohen tackled this issue in last week’s The Ethicist. David Lat, publisher of the legal tabloid Above the Law, posed the question after eating a box of Oreos from his minibar and then later replacing them. Mr. … Read more »
Monitoring Employee E-mail in Canada
The key to a defensible system of e-mail monitoring is the creation of a comprehensive and communicated computer use policy. That is apparently as true in Canada as it in the United States. Brian Bowman and Andrew Buck put together an excellent privacy primer on Monitoring employee e-mail: a privacy primer. In what situations is … Read more »
Are You Trying to be a Trust Agent?
Yes? Then you have probably already read at least part of Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust, the new book from Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Most likely, you are wondering what a “Trust Agent” is supposed to be. “Trust agents have established themselves as being non-sales-oriented, non-high … Read more »
Enterprise 2.0 Conference: Session Proposals
The Enterprise 2.0 Conference is coming back to Boston on June 14-17. They are letting attendees vote on the sessions. This is a great way for the conference organizers to take advantage of 2.0 tools in organizing the conference. I am part of two panels, if they get approved. If either of them interest you, … Read more »
Compliance Bits and Pieces for January 8
Here are some interesting stories from the past week: BAE Bribe Suit Tossed On Appeal from The FCPA Blog The decision is a big win for BAE (and all U.K. companies threatened with shareholder litigation in the U.S.). But it’s another setback for plaintiffs who bring claims based on allegations that, if true, would violate … Read more »
Public Companies Fail to Disclose Ethics Waivers
According to Usha Rodrigues from University of Georgia Law School and Mike Stegemoller from Texas Tech University – Rawls College of Business, in their paper Placebo Ethics, public companies are failing to disclose ethics waivers. They focused on Section 406 of Sarbanes-Oxley which requires public companies to disclose when they have granted an ethics waiver … Read more »
2009 Year-End FCPA Update
In case you missed it, 2009 was full of FCPA enforcement actions and trials. The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission worked hand in hand over the past year bringing actions for FCPA violations. They set a record by bringing more FCPA prosecutions during 2009 than in any prior year in the FCPA’s … Read more »
New Massachusetts Lobbying Law is now in Effect
In mid-2009, the Massachusetts Legislature was rocked by the highly public federal indictments of a state senator and speaker of the Massachusetts House. In response, the legislature passed a sweeping overhaul of its campaign finance, lobbying and government ethics laws. There are new rules in the Commonwealth that went effective on January 1. (Massachusetts is … Read more »
Custody of Funds or Securities of Clients by Investment Advisers
The SEC released the final version of its new custody rule (.pdf). The Commissioners had announced their approval of the rule on December 17 and then released the final text on December 30. The rule goes into effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. The amendments are designed to provide additional safeguards under … Read more »