All Rules & Proposals articles – Page 53
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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Bill to Require SEC Disclosures on Human Trafficking
U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Chris Smith (D-N.J.) have introduced the Business Supply Chain Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act of 2015. The bill would require large public companies to disclose measures to prevent human trafficking, slavery, and child labor in their supply chains as part of annual ...
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Blog
SEC Sets Aug. 5 Date for Considering Final Pay Ratio Rule
The wait is over. On Aug. 5, the Securities and Exchange Commission will consider whether to adopt a rule requiring public companies to disclose the ratio of the annual total compensation of the chief executive officer to the median of the annual total compensation of the company’s employees. The proposed ...
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Article
Four Years On, Firms Still Struggle With CFPB Compliance
What have we learned in the four years the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been on the beat? For starters, it’s aggressive, returning $10 billion so far to consumers through enforcement actions. A solid understanding of the CFPB’s compliance program expectations remains elusive, and the mood among firms in the ...
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How Comment Letters Could Shape the Pay Ratio Rule
When the SEC proposed its pay ratio disclosure rule in 2013, it included a list of nearly 60 questions for public comment. The response: 287,547 letters and counting, with plenty of ideas about dealing with foreign workforces, seasonal workers, employee exclusions, and Sarbanes-Oxley certification risks. As the final rule slouches ...
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Blog
How Hard Is Audit Committee Reform? Here’s One Example
Image: The SEC has asked for public comment on possible changes to the disclosures audit committees are required to make, and let’s be honest: for a subject this thorny, the SEC needs all the help it can get. Compliance Week editor Matt Kelly explores one example of reform—communication between audit ...
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Appellate Court Allows Constitutional Challenge to CFPB
A small Texas bank scored a potentially big victory last week when a federal appeals court ruled that it has standing to challenge the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The decision, overturning a 2013 district court ruling, rejected a similar challenge to the Financial Stability Oversight Council and ...
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Blog
World Bank Procurement Framework Approved
The World Bank’s board of directors has approved a new policy governing the procurement of projects financed by the Bank. According to the World Bank, this “once-in-a-generation systematic reform and culture change” will allow it “to better respond to the needs of client countries, while preserving robust procurement standards throughout ...
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Blog
Gallagher Blasts Labor Dept.’s Proposed Fiduciary Rule
Image: Dan Gallagher, a reliably conservative voice at the SEC, is slamming the Labor Department’s proposed fiduciary standard for broker-dealers. The rule means clients who are not high net worth “will be ‘fired’ by their brokers or jettisoned to robo-advisers,” he said. Gallagher also lauded a court decision striking down ...
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Blog
Podcast: The Increasing Demands on Healthcare Compliance
Image: The Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services continue to focus on healthcare fraud and compliance lapses. In response, healthcare associations, including the HHS Office of Inspector General, have collaborated on related guidance. In our latest podcast, we talk to Michael Peregrine, a partner with the ...
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Article
Firms Prepare for Heightened AML, Due Diligence Expectations
Expect an even greater focus on anti-money laundering efforts in upcoming examinations by the SEC and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. That was the message from speakers at a “Compliance Outreach Program” the Securities and Exchange Commission hosted for financial firms last week. What’s more: New Treasury Department rules that could ...
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Article
Product Safety Recalls Create New Breed of Compliance Concerns
Image: Automakers, airbag manufacturers, and even ice cream companies have suffered regulatory wrath over product safety concerns and inadequate recall procedures. Those in the crosshairs, especially if the Consumer Product Safety Commission is involved, are finding that their missteps can come with hefty fines and rigid compliance demands. “Companies that ...
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Blog
Fed Hands Big Banks New Risk-Based Capital Surcharges
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve has issued a final rule that establishes risk-based capital surcharges for financial institutions designated as “global systemically important bank holding companies.” JPMorgan was handed the largest surcharge among the nation’s eight largest banks, 4.5 percent of its risk-weighted assets. More inside.
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Blog
Legislation Seeks Curbs on Regulatory 'Revolving Door'
Newly proposed legislation, the Financial Services Conflict of Interest Act addresses the so-called “revolving door” that results when regulators draw talent from the private sector and those officials and staffers ultimately return to regulated entities after leaving an agency. To address perceived conflicts of interest, the bill would require ...
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Employee or Independent Contractor? Labor Department Weighs In
Image: The Labor Department issued new guidance on how companies should distinguish between employees and independent contractors. “The main difference between the new interpretation and the Labor Department’s prior enforcement policy is a greater emphasis on the ‘economic dependence’ of the workers on the business that has engaged their services,” ...
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White: SEC Enforcement Not Targeting Compliance Professionals
Image: The message from SEC Chairman Mary Jo White to compliance officers: They are not the target of enforcement efforts. Speaking to 1,000 compliance officers from financial services firms and broker-dealers at a Commission-sponsored forum, White said, “We do not bring cases based on second guessing compliance officers’ good faith ...
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Blog
Survey: Global Regulations Cost Some Financial Firms $500 Million
More than half of large financial services firms with more than $40 billion in assets expect to invest at least $200 million—and some as much as $500 million—on projects to overhaul how they do business and address global structural reform regulations this year, according to a survey from global consultancy ...