All articles by Joe Mont – Page 57
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Blog
Corp Fin issues new guidance on shareholder proposals
The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance has issued a new Compliance and Disclosure Interpretation addressing rules requiring that the proxy “identify clearly and impartially each separate matter intended to be acted upon.” The question it answers: How specifically must a registrant describe a Rule 14a-8 shareholder proposal on its proxy ...
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Article
SEC nominees in the firing line at Senate hearing
During a nomination hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on March 15, President Obama’s picks to fill vacancies on the Securities and Exchange Commission—Republican Hester Peirce and Democrat Lisa Fairfax—endured more than two hours of questioning that ranged from cordial to confrontational. Enforcing individual liability, ensuring cost-effective rulemaking, and the ...
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Article
GE unveils new approach to investor reporting
GE might seem an unlikely company to take a lead in the push to simplify financial disclosures. A multinational conglomerate with a long list of business lines, its inherent complexity might seem to make it ill-suited for such a task. And yet, GE is aggressively taking the lead, notably with ...
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Blog
CFTC approves substituted compliance framework with EU
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has approved a substituted compliance framework for dually-registered central counterparties, located in both the United States and European Union. European CCPs registered with the CFTC can now comply with its rules by meeting corresponding European Market Infrastructure Regulation requirements.
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Blog
FINRA scrutinizes digital investment advice, ‘robo-advisers'
Financial services firms’ offerings of digital investment advice—also known as ‘robo-advisers’—require sound governance and supervision, including effectively overseeing the suitability of recommendations, conflicts of interest, customer risk profiles, and portfolio rebalancing. That’s the warning in a new report released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
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Blog
Study: technology key to CCOs keeping a ‘seat at the table’
The ability of financial institutions’ compliance functions to manage risk is challenged on multiple fronts, including rising expectations that they play a stronger, more strategic role in front-office processes, the increased volume and complexity of regulations, and a lagging data and technology architecture, according to a new study by Accenture. ...
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Article
New law adds to forced labor concerns
In recent weeks, companies have learned—some the hard way—that the government is getting even more serious about human trafficking and forced labor issues. While a new law targets international trade, potentially blocking forbidden products at the U.S. border, an expanding view of joint-employer arrangements is also causing concern for domestic ...
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Article
Pax World’s Joe Keefe on how ESG continues to go mainstream
Image: The 2016 proxy season, building upon trends that emerged from last year’s annual meetings, may prove to be pivotal for investors focused on sustainability, diversity, and environmental issues. “I’ve seen more uptake in the last 18 months than I’ve seen in the previous 17 years,” says Joe Keefe, president ...
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Blog
Podcast: Compliance challenges in financial services
Image: In the latest edition of the Compliance Week podcast, we discuss regulatory and compliance issues facing the financial services world with Todd Cipperman, founding principal of Cipperman Compliance Services. Among the topics we discuss are individual liability, third party compliance reviews, and the continuing buzz around “culture.”
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Podcast
Podcast: Compliance challenges in financial services
In the latest edition of the Compliance Week podcast, we discuss regulatory and compliance issues facing the financial services world with Todd Cipperman, founding principal of Cipperman Compliance Services. Among the topics we discuss are individual liability, third party compliance reviews, and the continuing buzz around “culture.”
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Blog
BDO USA weighs in with proxy season advice
Volatility and risk around the globe is fostering uncertainty in corporate boardrooms around the country, and the “unsettled climate should make for an interesting annual meeting season,” says a new report by BDO USA, an accounting and consulting firm. The firm has compiled a list of topics that corporate management ...
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Blog
Senate committee sets March 15 hearing on SEC nominations
The months-long wait for filling vacancies on the Securities and Exchange Commission may soon be coming to an end. On March 15 at 10 a.m., the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on President Obama’s October nominations of Lisa Fairfax (a Democrat) and Hester Peirce (a Republican) to replace ...
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Blog
Survey finds mid-sized businesses still challenged by ACA
The recently released ADP Midsized Business Owners Study for 2015 looks at how that market segment is responding to regulatory and compliance challenges, notably obligations under the Affordable Care Act. Regulatory concerns appear to be increasing. In 2014, only 30 percent ranked managing the layers of government regulations as the ...
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Article
Q&A with Randy Stephens of NAVEX Global: Why third-party due diligence still flummoxes so many companies
Image: Third-party risk continues to be a major concern for executives, and there is no shortage of high-profile compliance failures in recent years. And yet, a recent survey by NAVEX Global of more than 300 ethics and compliance professionals found that 32 percent of their companies don’t evaluate third parties ...
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Article
Proxy season debates may include board scrutiny and short-termism
With proxy season just around the corner, the annual tradition of assessing the mood of investors has begun. On tap, experts say, are demands for improved transparency and communication, better disclosures, and a continuing scrutiny of directors, including how (and how much) they and their C-suite cohorts are compensated. “We ...
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Blog
SEC creates Office of Risk and Strategy
The SEC is creating an Office of Risk and Strategy within its Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, which will consolidate and streamline risk assessment, market surveillance, and quantitative analysis teams and provide operational risk management and organizational strategy for OCIE. Peter Driscoll will lead the office and has been ...
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Blog
IOSCO updates securities markets risk assessment
The International Organization of Securities Commissions has published the “IOSCO Securities Markets Risk Outlook 2016,” examining key trends in global financial markets and their potential risks to financial stability. Among matters addressed in the forward-looking report: corporate bond market liquidity; the use of collateral in financial transactions; and cyber-threats.
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Blog
Federal Reserve rule addresses inter-bank lending
The Federal Reserve Board has proposed a rule intended to address the risk associated with excessive credit exposures of large banking organizations to a single counterparty. Specifically, it addresses large credit exposures between financial institutions, a practice that led to financial instability during the Financial Crisis. The proposal would apply ...
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Blog
SEC’s Piwowar on regulatory challenges to ABS marketplace
Image: Speaking at the ABS Vegas 2016 conference this week, billed as the “largest capital markets conference in the world,” SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar agreed with that characterization, but quipped that banking regulators—unfortunately, in his view—might be inclined to call it the “largest shadow banking conference in the world.” Piwowar ...
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Blog
EU rule on derivative contracts aims for financial stability
Image: The European Commission has adopted a new set of rules that requires certain over-the-counter credit derivative contracts to be cleared through central counterparties. The rules implement a clearing obligation under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation for credit default swaps. “[The] decision marks another step towards making good on our ...