All Rules & Proposals articles – Page 52
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Article
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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Blog
Court Upholds SEC's 'Pay to Play' Rule
The SEC’s 2010 “pay to play” rule , which places limitations on investment advisers whose political contributions could lead to government work, has survived an attempt by Republican groups to brand the requirements as unconstitutional. A recent court decision set aside First Amendment issues and focused on how the ...
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Article
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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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. ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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Article
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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Article
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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Blog
FTC Issues First-Ever Guidance on Unfair Competition
After more than 100 years, it has finally happend: the Federal Trade Commission has published guidance on what it considers “unfair” competition. The pronouncement is a welcome development for companies, as they now have at least some idea as to what activity could potentially result in a FTC investigation. More ...
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Blog
Aguilar Sounds Off on CCO Liability Again
Image: More shots fired this week in the continuing war of words at the SEC about whether the agency is unfairly taking enforcement action against chief compliance officers. This time, Commissioner Luis Aguilar defended the agency with a statement calling for the SEC to be more clear in its enforcement ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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Article
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 ...
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Blog
Piwowar Jabs Again at Pay Ratio Rule
Image: SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar has taken the rare step of publishing a second statement opposing the newly adopted pay ratio disclosure rule (not to be confused with his first statement of outrage last week). The length and tone of the statement add fuel to the theory that his criticisms ...
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Blog
New OCC Task Force on Banking Innovation
Image: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is pulling together a team to consider the regulatory implications of advances in banking technology. “We’re still early in the process, so I can’t tell you exactly where we’ll end up,” OCC director Tom Curry said. He did float the idea ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Blog
SEC Confirms Expansive View on Whistleblower Protections
The SEC has published fresh guidance on who qualifies for whistleblower protections under the Dodd-Frank Act, essentially confirming the view that a person is not required to report misconduct to the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower to qualify for the expanded anti-retaliation protections under the law. Compliance officers should welcome ...
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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 ...
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Blog
Why Obsess Over CEO Pay? Well, Why Wouldn’t We?
Image: While we all await the SEC’s final CEO pay ratio disclosure rule this week, let’s remember the ethical subtext beneath all this: CEO pay is still too large for most people’s liking, and income inequality is too. Until companies learn how to solve those challenges internally as a governance ...