All articles by Joe Mont – Page 66
-
Blog
iSpoke Too Soon: Apple CEO in Reg FD Flap
Image: That pesky Regulation Fair Disclosure has ensnared yet another high-profile CEO. This time, it’s Apple’s Tim Cook (left) who could come under SEC scrutiny for over-sharing company information. Pundits on Tuesday were questioning whether the Commission could sanction Cook for e-mailing CNBC host Jim Cramer about sales in China. ...
-
Blog
Insurers Brace for International Capital Standards
The International Association of Insurance Supervisors seeks to impose new capital standards upon systemically important insurance companies, echoing mandates from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The effort has irked the Financial Services Roundtable, which is urging U.S. regulators to oppose it. Who enforces any new standards is also unclear. ...
-
Blog
Appellate Court Dings Conflict Minerals Rule Again
Image: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has upheld an earlier ruling that prohibited the SEC from requiring companies to report publicly whether certain minerals used in their products are conflict free or could support militias in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Citing free speech ...
-
Article
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 ...
-
Article
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. ...
-
Blog
SEC Alleges Accounting Fraud at Miller Energy Resources
The Securities and Exchange Commission is alleging that the former chief financial officer and current chief operating officer of Miller Energy Resources, an oil and natural gas production company, inflated values of oil and gas properties, resulting in fraudulent financial reports for the Tennessee-based company. The audit team leader ...
-
Podcast
Podcast: Why Do So Many Companies Struggle with PCI Compliance?
The Verizon 2015 PCI Report from earlier this year found that one of the most prevalent causes of compliance breakdowns with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, and a cause of breach incidents is difficulty with network firewall policy management. In our latest podcast, we talk to Jody Brazil, ...
-
Blog
SEC Sets Swap Dealer Registrations, 'Bad Actor' Waiver Battle Looms
The easy part: adopting new rules and a process for the registration of security-based swap dealers and major security-based swap participants. More controversial, is a new proposal, announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, to give swap dealers the ability to do business with individuals and firms convicted ...
-
Blog
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Names New CCO
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego, has named Ryan Brown as a vice president and chief compliance officer. Brown will be responsible for developing, implementing, and managing the company’s corporate compliance program to support the planned commercialization of a treatment for psychosis associated with Parkinson’s disease.
-
Blog
SEC Adopts Divisive Pay Ratio Rule
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s pay ratio rule is now final, approved by a 3-2 vote on Wednesday. The rule requires a comparison of CEO pay to the compensation of the median employee. Concessions to corporate concerns include the ability to exclude up to 5 percent of non-U.S. employees when ...
-
Article
Small-Company Rules Inch Forward
Congress (and SEC commissioners) routinely complains that the SEC is so focused on churning out overdue rules for compliance with the Dodd-Frank Act, it has neglected to churn out overdue rules on capital formation required under the JOBS Act. In truth, the SEC is likely to move forward with what ...
-
Article
Squeezed: Banks Have No Easy Path on De-Risking
Image: Money service businesses, bitcoin startups, marijuana shops; the population of high-risk customers in the banking world is surging. Regulators have sent conflicting messages about wholesale de-risking of certain sectors, and that can force painful questions about how to build effective, and extensive, due diligence programs. “Regulators are talking from ...
-
Blog
FDIC’s Hoenig Pitches Framework for Regulatory Relief
Thomas Hoenig, vice chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, wants to see the regulatory burden for “traditional” banks eased, regardless of their asset size. Speaking on this week about a Congressional demand to identify outdated and unduly burdensome regulations he recommended that a bank be eligible for regulatory relief ...
-
Blog
ISS Posts Annual Policy Survey
Institutional Shareholder Services, a leading proxy advisory service, kicked off its annual global policy formulation process on Tuesday by releasing its 2016 proxy voting policy survey to institutional investors, corporate issuers, and corporate directors. The survey will be operational from Aug. 4 to 5 p.m. (ET) on Sept. 4.
-
Blog
NY Regulator Blocks Promontory from Bank Consulting
New York’s Department of Financial Services Department will deny Promontory Financial Group access to confidential supervisory bank information, a move that prevents it from engaging in regulatory work with financial institutions the state regulator oversees. The action follows a report critical of work the consultant did for British bank ...
-
Blog
GE, AIG Unable to Shed SIFI Status at Annual Review
What will it take to be de-designated as a systemically important financial institution by the Financial Stability Oversight Council? We may need to waitlonger for the answer to that burning question as, despite a restructuring that will slice away most of its financing arm, General Electric was not yet able ...
-
Blog
GAO: Dodd-Frank Plan for Ratings Agency Overseer is 'Premature'
A new government report says creation of an oversight body for credit rating agencies is “premature” right now, and that Washington should wait to see how rules the SEC adopted in June for agencies might change their behavior. Tighter oversight of credit rating agencies was one call from the Dodd-Frank ...
-
Blog
Podcast: The Volcker Rule Deadline and What's Next
Image: July 21 was a big day for banks and the beginning of the Volcker Rule’s compliance regime. The rule, a cornerstone of the Dodd-Frank Act, prohibits proprietary trading activities at federally insured banks. In our latest podcast we talk to Chris Scarpati, a partner in PwC’s financial regulation practice, ...
-
Podcast
Podcast: The Volcker Rule Deadline and What's Next
July 21 was a big day for banks and the beginning of the Volcker Rule’s compliance regime. The rule, a cornerstone of the Dodd-Frank Act, prohibits proprietary trading activities at federally insured banks. In our latest podcast, we talk to Chris Scarpati, a partner in PwC’s financial regulation practice about ...
-
Blog
Legislation Could Limit CFPB's Purview of Auto Lending
Before breaking for August recess, the House Financial Services Committee delivered a potential blow to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s oversight of non-bank lenders. The bill, "Reforming CFPB Indirect Auto Financing Guidance Act of 2015," advanced with a bipartisan vote of 47-10, would repeal a CFPB bulletin from 2013 ...