Articles | Compliance Week – Page 276
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FASB simplifies Topic 718 of the Accounting Standards Codification
Preparers have long wanted a simpler, easier, better kind of GAAP, especially when it comes to accounting for stock options and other share-based payments. Now, says CW’s Tammy Whitehouse, it looks like they are getting their wish.
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Investment companies prepare for fresh wave of cyber-scrutiny
Armed with Regulation S-P—the SEC’s go-to enforcement tool for cyber-security—regulators will soon begin a fresh wave of actions against investment advisers and broker-dealers who take a cavalier approach to their cyber-security responsibilities. Joe Mont reports.
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Carrots and sticks: A closer look at the FCPA Pilot Program
The Department of Justice has churned out a brief, but valuable, piece of guidance setting forth the details of a one-year FCPA enforcement pilot program, providing companies with much needed and long-awaited transparency into how the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section measures and credits voluntary self-disclosure and cooperation in FCPA investigations. ...
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Is the French governance code about to become more shareholder-friendly?
Image: French financial markets regulator Autorité des Marchés Financiers has issued a report comparing countries’ various corporate governance codes, and it looks as if France has some work to do. While the AMF won’t be rewriting France’s code, says spokeswoman Christèle Fradin, it would like their suggestions taken into account, ...
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Market shifts, SEC priorities spark debate of FINRA’s future
Changes may be afoot at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority as Congress and others ponder whether its duties should expand, compress, or just be folded into the Securities and Exchange Commission. Amid the debates one thing is clear: FINRA is doubling down on its enforcement efforts.
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To be a great internal auditor, be a great communicator
For internal audit leaders to deliver the most value to their audit committees, they need to develop a suite of skills that are not always stressed as being part of the audit profession. But without great communication and presentation skills to present their findings, auditors can’t be truly great at ...
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Unaoil bribery scandal offers harsh lesson in due diligence controls
Image: CCOs can learn a lesson or two from the massive media-leaked bribery and corruption scandal surrounding Monaco-based Unaoil. “Unaoil’s due diligence reports contained a number of items that increased their risk level substantially, but there was no credible evidence of bribery or other misconduct,” says Alexandra Wrage, president of ...
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ArticleMossack Fonseca leak prompts global compliance crackdown
While politicians draw fire for their connections to shell companies, regulators and legislators are threatening to take action. CW’s Joe Mont says to expect plenty of renewed scrutiny on beneficial ownership data, attacks on U.S. incorporation laws, and a focus on how firms conduct due diligence on third parties, business ...
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Special report: Are FCPA actions merely a slap on the wrist?
Companies on the receiving end of an FCPA enforcement action often face monitoring, fines, and litigation as a result. But many times, what they don’t experience is a drop in their share price. In fact, among the largest FCPA violations on record, many companies saw no drop in share price. ...
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Regulators explore what’s wrong with audit supervision
Image: Audit supervision in general and auditing firm staffing levels and management structure in particular are under scrutiny as an old question surfaces: How can audit firms improve the quality of their own systems? “There is this inference that we keep finding engagements where we think the auditing standards aren’t ...
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Even with concessions, Labor Department’s fiduciary rule is still controversial
The Department of Labor has finalized a new rule that requires retirement investment advisers to meet a fiduciary standard and eliminate conflicts of interest with their clients. Although several notable concessions worked their way into the final rule, CW’s Joe Mont says to expect continued controversy as advisers struggle with ...
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How the Panama Papers uncovered a global cornucopia of corruption
Working from one of the most ambitious whistleblower tips of all time, more than 370 journalists in 80 countries embarked on a year-long effort to parse through leaked files from the Panama-headquartered law firm Mossack Fonseca.
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ISO 37001 anti-bribery standard gains momentum
Image: The push to adopt ISO 37001, a uniform set of international anti-bribery management system standards, is gaining momentum on a global scale and ultimately will raise the bar for compliance officers looking to reinforce their anti-bribery compliance programs. “This is the first time that you will have an internationally ...
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Longer case closure times boost risk of whistleblowers reporting externally
Employers are taking longer and longer to act on internal whistleblower reports, which can frustrate employees who have been encouraged to step up and report what they see as unacceptable behavior. As reporters find their concerns languishing in limbo, the chances they might simply take their issue to an outside ...
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New accounting rules aim to make change for unredeemed gift cards
Everybody has an unspent gift card or two around the house. Maybe you just never got to the store to use it, or maybe there’s only got a few dollars left on it and it would feel like a pain to zero it out. But unspent cards like these are ...
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Preparing for a HIPAA compliance audit
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has officially kicked off its second phase of audits for covered entities and their business associates to review compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s privacy, security, and breach notification rules. CW’s Jaclyn Jaeger says healthcare CCOs ...
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Boards are in the hot seat over dividends, stock buybacks
With the increased use and value of buybacks and dividends showing no sign of slowing—and with a distinct lack of regulatory involvement to consider—boards find themselves with the unenviable task of finding a Solomonic middle ground between opposing viewpoints on long-term and short-term strategy. Layered in, says reporter Joe Mont, ...
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Harmonizing corporate disclosure on climate change by making the most of your CDP response
Linking corporate sustainability and good business results is a big part of driving companies to adopt more environmentally responsible outlooks and operational strategies. But there is more than one way to determine that link, and harmonizing the results between various methodologies is key for creating the best kind of sustainability ...
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How employee hotlines can improve organizational well-being
According to the CDC, in 1965 more than forty percent of the U.S. population smoked. After decades of persistent education, the general population has come to realize that best practices include healthy decisions; decisions that increase well-being and reduce expenses. Today, less than twenty percent of the population are smokers ...
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Loyalty shares v. one share – one vote: The Florange Act
France will experience a sea change in voting rights next month with the passage of the Florange Act. Adopted in 2014, the Act provides for the automatic granting of double-voting rights to stock held by shareholders for at least two years in a row. Rients Abma, executive director of Eumedion, ...