Articles | Compliance Week – Page 285
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Audit Fees Are Up; What’s Interesting Is Why
Audit fees are rising—which you probably already knew—but the latest data on audit fees raises questions about what’s behind that increase. PCAOB audit firm inspections are part of it; but many big jumps in fees seem due to external events like a merger more than vigorous audits for SOX compliance, ...
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How Bad Is SEC Politicking? Pretty Bad
Image: That the SEC endures its share of politics is not exactly news—but the amount of politics, and the sheer partisan in-fighting at the agency? That’s rising. Split votes are more common, published dissents from commissioners more frequent. “Sometimes when I see what’s going on now, I’m sorry I ever ...
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ISO 20022: Tepid U.S. Embrace for New Financial Standard
Image: The push to adopt a new ISO standard for financial transactions is gaining momentum on a global scale—even as the United States continues to weigh the business case for it. “It’s important because it is seen as the standard that all new financial transactions will move to over time,” ...
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FTC Speaks on Antitrust; Leaves Many Confused
Image: The Federal Trade Commission has finally spoken (for the first time in 100 years) about how it defines the scope of its enforcement authority for anti-competitive business practices. The bad news: Its guidance is short reading and slim on specifics. The lack of detail “may have opened the floodgates ...
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Feel the Churn: Big 4 Get Squeezed on Audit Engagements
Image: The Big 4 audit firms have lost more audit clients this year than they have gained, and second-tier firms seem to be picking them up. That churn is probably due to a variety of factors, from cost to PCAOB inspection reports to ease of working relationship, but the overall ...
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Global Transparency Failures Endure, Adding Risk
Image: One of the great challenges for U.S. compliance officers as they build global programs is the basic lack of transparency into enforcement information in other countries. Two new reports give a better scope of the problem, even if the picture revealed is not terribly encouraging. “Getting access to information ...
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Don’t Let Bad Culture Short-Circuit Your Training
A compliance training program is only as effective as the corporate culture it stands upon—which means employee cynicism and fear of retaliation need to be addressed first if you ever hope your training program will matter. Inside we look at how CCOs can combat cynicism, even when it takes a ...
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More Questions, and Evidence, on Undisclosed Control Weaknesses
Image: Fresh data from the PCAOB is raising awkward questions about whether companies and audit firms really are disclosing all the weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires. PCAOB board member Jeanette Franzel presented the data in a recent speech that should prompt some soul-searching ...
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How Can Compliance Manage Chat Risks? That’s Tough
Image: As the financial sector embraces the speed and efficiency of instant messaging services, compliance officers have a new challenge: how to detect misconduct in real time, not in e-discovery after the fact. Vendors are rushing in with new products; the bad news is that regulators are looking into “chat ...
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Undermined! Court Ruling Chisels Away at Conflict Minerals Rule
Corporate America has won a bit of a reprieve (emphasis on “a bit”) in conflict minerals compliance, thanks to the Aug. 18 court decision barring the SEC from requiring companies to disclose whether they are conflict mineral-free. But the duty to analyze your supply chain remains and, thankfully, this year’s ...
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Learning Lessons for Principled Performance
Image: In the latest installment of the GRC Illustrated series, OCEG outlines the “learn” component in its GRC Capability Model, where companies learn how to observe change, analyze, update strategies, and respond appropriately to any curveballs thrown their way to achieve principled performance.
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More Cyber-Security Guidelines for Govt Contractors
Image: The Obama Administration is considering new cyber-security guidance that would effectively impose stringent new reporting obligations on government contractors. That means more due diligence on third parties, and a review of contract language to see who is responsible for what. “[E]verybody is going to need to get their cyber-house ...
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Unpacking the Reporting Challenge in Patent Boxes
Image: For businesses heavy on intellectual property, “patent boxes” are the new tool in your tax strategy—jurisdictions that offer lower taxes on income flowing from IP. A nifty idea, many say (and one that may hit the United States soon), but the compliance and disclosure hurdles are many. The value ...
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The Global State of the Right To Be Forgotten
More than a year after the EU established is right-to-be-forgotten principle, U.S. compliance professionals in the tech sector probably wish the decision itself could be forgotten, too. France is insisting that the principle be applied worldwide; even before that ever happens, compliance within Europe is laborious and complicated. Our latest ...
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Trying for More Clarity on Work of Audit Specialists
Image: Another question on the way to a better corporate audit: whether audit firms need new rules to scrutinize the work of specialists, crucial players in producing fairly stated financial statements. The PCAOB wants to end confusion over specialists, which should help auditor and client company alike. “If you look ...
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The Current State of SEC Whistleblower Guidance
The SEC’s latest guidance on whistleblower protection, confirming that employees need not report misconduct first to the SEC to win anti-retaliation protections, seems at first glance to be good news for internal compliance programs. For corporations as a whole, less so. Inside, we take a deeper look at the limits ...
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CCOs Playing a Stronger Role in Data Privacy Practices
Image: As data privacy laws proliferate, they are creating a web that traps how corporations use personal data in their operations. The challenge for compliance officers: how to play a more strategic role and ensure your business doesn’t get stuck. “The inclusion of the CCO function in defining controls related ...
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Final Pay Ratio Rule Gives a Few Compliance Breaks
Image: Some good news now that the SEC’s much-maligned pay ratio disclosure rule is here: Companies forced to disclose that comparison of CEO compensation to pay of the median employee might find the final rule less onerous than the original proposal from 2013. “The biggest surprise is that the SEC ...
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FAQs, but Few Answers, on Iran Deal Implications
Image: Questions abound on the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal. Assuming the agreement comes into force, what does that mean for compliance officers? Nothing easy, as your sanctions effort must shift to more complex due diligence efforts. “The sanctions world is moving from an entity-based inquiry to an entity- and activity-based inquiry. ...
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Comment Letter Conversations Get a Bit Easier
Those awkward conversations you have with SEC staff when they comment on your periodic filings? They’re getting easier. The number of comment letter conversations has fallen 50 percent in the last five years, suggesting overall improvement in financial reporting. “Obviously internal controls have gotten better at companies, and that certainly ...