All SEC articles – Page 79
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Blog
Citigroup to Pay $15M for Compliance Failures
Citigroup Global Markets today reached a $15 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges that it failed to enforce policies and procedures to prevent and detect securities transactions that could involve the misuse of material, nonpublic information. The SEC also said the firm failed to adopt ...
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Blog
BNY Mellon Settles FCPA Charges for $14.8 Million
The Bank of New York Mellon has agreed to pay $14.8 million to the SEC to settle charges that the bank awarded plum internships to the relatives of Mideast government officials in exchange for business managing those countries’ sovereign wealth funds. “These officials sought, and BNY Mellon agreed to provide, ...
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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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Blog
Edward Jones to Pay $20M for Overcharging Customers in Municipal Bond Sales
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged brokerage firm Edward Jones and the former head of its municipal underwriting desk have agreed to settle charges that they overcharged customers in new municipal bonds sales. It’s the SEC’s first case against an underwriter for pricing-related fraud in the primary market for ...
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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
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
NCR Dodges FCPA Enforcement Action by SEC
NCR, an automated-teller machine company, recently announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission has decided not to recommend an enforcement action against it in connection with a previously disclosed investigation into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The allegations related to the company’s compliance with the FCPA and ...
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Blog
Vantage Drilling Company Self-Reports FCPA Probe
Offshore drilling contractor, Vantage Drilling Company, announced this month in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has launched an internal investigation into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Vantage said it is investigating allegations in connection with an agent's "role in obtaining bribes on ...
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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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Blog
Committee Suggests New Rules for XBRL Filings
A self-appointed committee of XBRL advocates has developed guidance and rules that will help preparers roll out better quality XBRL filings. The Securities and Exchange Commission requires that companies provide data in XBRL, but has done little beyond occasional public remarks for companies to improve the quality of their XBRL ...
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Blog
FCPA Actions Down, Declinations Up
The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission resolved eight Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions so far in 2015—the lowest mid-year total in a decade, according to recent analysis from law firm Miller & Chevalier. “This slow-down seems to be attributable, in part, to a greater emphasis on declinations ...
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Blog
SEC Issues Another Big Whistleblower Award
The SEC has awarded more than $3 million to a company insider whose information helped the SEC crack a complex fraud case—the third-highest award to date under the SEC’s whistleblower program. Since its inception in 2011, the program has paid more than $50 million to 18 whistleblowers, including a more ...
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Blog
Mid-Year Look at Corporate Compliance in 2015
Image: Six months ago Compliance Week Editor Matt Kelly picked six events to watch in corporate compliance for 2015: political risk, Republican activism, confusion over revenue recognition, and more. With the year half over—and in the interests of holding people accountable, including Compliance Week editors—now seems a good time to ...
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Blog
SEC Poses Long List of Possible Audit Committee Disclosures
Only a day after audit regulators have proposed a new method for extracting from audit firms the names of engagement partners on each public company audit, the SEC blew open the discussion with a long list of its own questions about whether audit committees should provide that and many more ...
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Blog
SEC Slaps Deloitte for Auditor Independence Violations
The SEC has charged Deloitte & Touche with violating auditor independence rules after it failed to notice a consulting affiliate had a business relationship with an audit client. Deloitte says it discovered the violation and reported it after the firm put in place enhanced independence measures. Deloitte will settle charges ...
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Blog
PCAOB Revisits Naming Engagement Partner, Audit Quality Metrics
Audit regulators are trying again to propose a rule that would give investors more information about who is working behind the curtain when an audit firm files its final report on a company’s financial statements.
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Article
Advisers Still Feel Unease Over CCO Liability Risk
Image: The conversation about personal liability for compliance officers is buzzing again, thanks to a hornet’s nest SEC Commissioner Daniel Gallagher stirred up with a complaint about recent sanctions against two CCOs. “We’re hearing similar concerns among CCOs at investment adviser firms—and not just from CCOs, but also from senior ...
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Blog
Consortium, Filing Agencies Form XBRL Quality Initiative
If the Securities and Exchange Commission is dragging its heels on enforcing the quality of data gathered through XBRL, then the market will do what it can to enhance quality on its own.
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Blog
SEC Rebukes Investment Advisory Firm for Ignoring CCO Pleas
A bit of good news amid the discussion of personal liability for chief compliance officers: The SEC has delivered a one-year suspension to an investment advisory firm’s former president on the grounds that he consistently ignored the chief compliance officer’s request for resources, which led to the firm’s compliance failures. ...
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Blog
Two South African Companies Dodge FCPA Charges
The Securities and Exchange Commission this month closed two separate investigations into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act without bringing any enforcement actions. Each investigation involved alleged bribery payments made by South African companies. Details inside.