All Rules & Proposals articles – Page 58

  • Blog

    SEC Chairman Weighs in on Waiver Dispute

    2015-03-12T13:45:00Z

    Image: For more than a year, the SEC has been divided over the use of waivers that allow firms to engage in capital-raising activities despite an enforcement action. For the first time, SEC Chairman Mary Jo White has entered the fray. Waivers should not be wielded as an enforcement tool, ...

  • Blog

    Supreme Court Empowers Use of Interpretive Rules

    2015-03-10T11:00:00Z

    Regulators now have greater freedom to interpret established rules without undergoing a public comment process thanks to a decision handed down by the Supreme Court on Monday. With a 9-0 vote, justices agreed that regulatory clarifications and alterations, made through the use of interpretive rules, are not subject to the ...

  • Blog

    Sanctions Imposed on Venezuelan Officials

    2015-03-09T15:45:00Z

    President Barack Obama signed an executive order today imposing sanctions on seven Venezuelan government officials for committing human rights violations, and declared a national emergency with respect to Venezuela. The executive order implements and expands on the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act, signed by the president ...

  • Blog

    OSHA Gives Whistleblowers More Time to Report Retaliation

    2015-03-09T12:00:00Z

    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a final rule that clarifies its procedures for handling whistleblower retaliation complaints. It gives aggrieved employees an extra 90 days to file allegations and allows those complaints to be made orally, not just in writing.

  • Blog

    Big Banks All Pass First Round of Stress Tests

    2015-03-05T17:15:00Z

    It was report card day at the Federal Reserve. On Wednesday, it released the first round of this year’s stress test results for the nation’s 31 largest banks. For the first time since it began mandatory stress tests in 2009, all banks with $50 billion or more in total consolidated ...

  • Blog

    EU Agencies Slow to Implement Whistleblowing Policies

    2015-03-04T12:45:00Z

    Image: Title: O'ReillyDespite a year-old mandate to implement internal whistleblowing rules, only the European Commission and the Court of Auditors have followed through, according to EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly. O’Reilly said, “The public needs to know that the EU institutions welcome whistleblowing and protect whistleblowers against retaliation to make ...

  • Blog

    SEC Nixes Proposed Deadline for Extractive Payments Rule

    2015-03-03T17:30:00Z

    The deadline demanded by Oxfam America for a final rule requiring oil, gas, and mining companies to disclose payments made to foreign governments is “unachievable,” the SEC said in a recent legal brief. The brief is the Commission’s final word in a lawsuit Oxfam America filed in 2014 over delays ...

  • Article

    Canada Gets Serious on Enforcement

    2015-03-03T09:30:00Z

    Canadian securities regulators for the first time are proposing a whistleblower rewards program, modeled after the SEC’s program created by the Dodd-Frank Act. The proposed initiative is the latest move by Canadian authorities toward a U.S.-style enforcement regime—and in some instances an even harsher one. “Canadian enforcement is going to ...

  • Blog

    Human Trafficking Rules Now in Effect for Government Contractors

    2015-03-02T12:15:00Z

    On March 2, new reporting requirements related to human trafficking went into effect for nearly 300,000 government contractors. Those performing work exceeding $500,000 outside the United States must develop and maintain a trafficking compliance plan and certify that, to the best of their knowledge, neither they nor any sub-contractors engage ...

  • Blog

    SEC Pushes Approval of Tick Size Experiment to May

    2015-02-27T13:30:00Z

    Anxious for the SEC to begin its 12-month experiment in altering tick-size requirements? Prepare to wait a bit longer. The Commission has extended its deadline for approving a proposal, to allow some stocks to trade in five-cent increments, from March 7 to May 6. Meanwhile, there is pressure on the ...

  • Blog

    New Guidance on SEC Waivers, Exemptions in the Works

    2015-02-23T13:30:00Z

    Companies seeking waivers that allow them to retain exemptive relief despite an enforcement action may soon get fresh guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission on how that increasingly contentious process will work in the future. Speaking at a conference in Washington D.C., Elizabeth Murphy, an associate director for ...

  • Blog

    SEC Commissioners Vent on Administrative Proceedings, Disclosures

    2015-02-23T11:00:00Z

    Speaking recently at the Practicing Law Foundation’s “SEC Speaks” forum, various SEC commissioners detailed their priorities for 2015. Hot topics included the Commission’s reliance on in-house administrative proceedings, a disclosure regime that hasn’t kept pace with technological advancements, and the challenge of creating a more diverse workforce at the Commission.

  • Blog

    Who Is the Most Systemic of Them All? JP Morgan

    2015-02-18T13:00:00Z

    Which large U.S. bank would cause the most collateral damage if it were to fail? JP Morgan, according to a new report from the Treasury Department. The report tried to quantify just how much systemic risk exists in banks designated as “Systemically Important Financial Institutions,” and JP Morgan topped the ...

  • Article

    ABA Seeks Clarity for Corporate Monitors

    2015-02-18T12:15:00Z

    Image: The American Bar Association is mulling new standards for corporate monitors that effectively could make the monitorship process a lot easier, cheaper, and transparent for compliance officers working with them. “The standards go a long way toward facilitating a better relationship between the monitor and the company,” says John ...

  • Blog

    SEC Commissioners Irate Over Comment Letter Glitch

    2015-02-11T13:00:00Z

    SEC Commissioners Daniel Gallagher and Michael Piwowar fired off a testy complaint Wednesday about “a significant failure” of the SEC’s rulemaking process, complaining that SEC staff missed “an extensive comment letter” opposing a recently adopted rule on swaps trading. The oversight should force a reopening of the comment period, they ...

  • Blog

    EU Firms Face New AML Rules, Beneficial Ownership Registry

    2015-02-11T13:00:00Z

    Image: Title: SargentiniThe European Union is pressing forward with its overhaul of anti-money laundering rules to clamp down on tax evasion and the financing of terrorism. The Council of the European Union signed off on the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, tightening due diligence and reporting requirements, creating registers of beneficial ...

  • Article

    Why Boilerplate Battles Continue to Rage

    2015-02-10T11:45:00Z

    Image: Again and again, with both guidance and comment letters, the SEC has urged companies to avoid using “boilerplate” language in disclosures—and companies never seem to embrace the message. “There is an extraordinary amount of boilerplate disclosure across topics and across industries,” says Jean Rogers, head of the Sustainability Accounting ...

  • Blog

    SEC Seeks New Disclosures When Directors Hedge Securities

    2015-02-09T12:30:00Z

    A rule proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday would require companies to disclose policies that allow directors and employees to hedge securities awarded as part of a compensation package. The intent is to inform shareholders if executives are permitted to purchase financial instruments that allow them to ...

  • Article

    Planning Ahead to Manage M&A Due Diligence

    2015-02-03T11:45:00Z

    Image: Lots of mergers look great on paper. In the real world, however, integrating corporate IT systems can not only be a headache for the IT department; core business functions can be compromised—including financial reporting or other tasks crucial to effective corporate compliance. “Smart companies are ready to start integrating ...

  • Blog

    Federal Contractors Face Human Trafficking Compliance

    2015-02-02T16:15:00Z

    A new rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation requires that federal contractors doing more than $500,000 in business outside the United States develop a human trafficking compliance plan and certify that, to the best of their knowledge, neither they nor any of their sub-contractors has engaged in forced labor.