All Rules & Proposals articles – Page 44
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Blog
SEC launches new calculation tool for filing fees
The Securities and Exchange Commission has released a new online tool to help companies calculate registration fees for form submissions to EDGAR, its electronic database of financial reports and other filings. The new Registration Fee Estimator is intended to improve the accuracy of fee calculations and minimize the need for ...
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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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Blog
The compliance side to Obama’s new tax incentives
At the end of 2015, President Obama signed into law a number of federal tax incentives for businesses to encourage various hiring, training, and investing practices. But there are special compliance considerations that come with all of these programs. CW Editor Bill Coffin offers a closer look.
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BlogBanks get report cards, to-do demands for their ‘living wills’
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve Board have released firm-specific report cards on the 2015 resolution plans of eight systemically important, domestic banks. The determinations were made public on Wednesday, one day after a report by the Government Accountability Office called for greater transparency in how their ...
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Article
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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Blog
SEC forgoes Supreme Court appeal for conflict minerals rule
The SEC had until April 7 to defend its controversial conflict minerals rule by appealing to the Supreme Court. While many watched for the filing of a writ of certiorari on the deadline day, there was a twist: A decision to forgo a challenge was made, with little fanfare, last ...
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Blog
Ruling that rescinded MetLife’s SIFI status made public
A ruling that rescinded MetLife’s designation as a systemically important financial institution by the Financial Stability Oversight Council has been made public following an agreement to do so by both parties. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer found that the FSOC’s designation process failed to follow both internal guidelines and external ...
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Blog
Crackdown on tax inversions blamed for killing Pfizer/Allergan merger
The Treasury Department has issued temporary and proposed regulations intended to limit the use of corporate tax inversions by undermining their benefits. Included are rules to address earnings stripping, a commonly used technique to further minimize taxes. Within hours of their issuance, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer terminated its $150 billion merger ...
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Article
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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Blog
CFTC Commissioner: Regulators should ‘do no harm’ to blockchain
As regulators address the use of blockchain technology by financial institutions, three words should guide their efforts: “do no harm.” That was the message from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s J. Christopher Giancarlo during a speech at the 2016 Blockchain Symposium. Regulators should foster, not impede, developments, he said.
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Blog
GE Capital seeks to shed ‘too big to fail’ status
One day after a federal judge revoked MetLife’s designation as a “systemically important financial institution” by the Financial Stability Oversight Council, GE—specifically the wholly owned subsidiary GE Capital—is requesting that it also be able to shed the classification and increased regulatory demands that come with being “too big to fail.”
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Blog
Mutual fund directors grapple with risk, regulation
Complex risks connected to derivatives, liquidity, and trading mean that mutual fund boards must ensure they are equipped to address continuously evolving challenges, while not stepping over the line that divides oversight from day-to-day management. That’s the word from SEC Chair Mary Jo White, who delivered the keynote address at ...
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BlogJudge sides with MetLife in battle over SIFI designation
A federal judge has sided with insurance giant MetLife in its effort to remove the “systematically important financial institution” designation placed upon it in 2014 by the Financial Stability Oversight Council. The ruling is unlikely to mark the end of the battle as the government has the option of either ...
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Article
As SEC targets EB-5 fraud, the visa program could raise money laundering risks
Image: A government program that grants visas to overseas investors is more popular than ever. The problem: Critics say it is rife with the potential for fraud and money laundering risks. “You can see which way the winds are blowing,” says Eric Berg, special counsel for Foley & Lardner. “The ...
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Blog
White details how SEC may utilize budget boost
Image: Defending a proposed $1.8 billion budget for the SEC before Congress, Chairman Mary Jo White provided a look at its future efforts. The proposed funding will allow the agency to hire an additional 250 staff in “critical, core areas,” White said. Goals include increasing examination coverage of investment advisers; ...
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Blog
SEC readies concept release on Regulation S-K review
The SEC will meet next week to take the next step in an ongoing review of its disclosure regime. On March 30, the Commission, in an open meeting, will consider whether to issue a concept release seeking comment on modernizing business and financial disclosure requirements in Regulation S-K. Also at ...
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Blog
EPA, CFTC agree to share data
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that allows the agencies to share Renewable Fuel Standard data and analysis, including proprietary business information. Sharing this information, the agreement says, will allow the CFTC to assist the EPA with investigations into ...
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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
Scalia’s absence a blow to companies?
Image: Many companies are left wondering what the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (left) means for business cases moving forward and for the handful of others that remain suspended in a state of legal limbo. “The mere uncertainty created by Justice Scalia’s absence may cause businesses to ...
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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 ...