All SEC articles – Page 81
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Blog
Novartis to pay $25 million in FCPA case
Switzerland pharmaceutical giant Novartis yesterday reached a $25 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for violating the books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act concerning its operations in China.
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Blog
Former Goldman compliance employee settles SEC insider trading case
A former Goldman Sachs compliance employee settled his case with the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve insider trading charges filed against him last year. Judge Valerie Caproni of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York last week entered a final judgment against defendant Yue Han, ...
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Blog
VimpelCom and the conscious indifference of a board under the FCPA
Image: The joint Justice Dept., SEC settlement with telecom giant VimpelCom resolving a longstanding FCPA violation will cost the company more than $795 million, say reports. But there’s a bright side, says CW Columnist Tom Fox. The multiple bribery schemes seem to have been supported by top management and will ...
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Blog
SEC approves PCAOB budget; Doty promises new proposals soon
Image: With majority support from the SEC—all two of them, that is—the PCAOB has finalized its 2016 budget with a 12-percent increase in fees charged to public companies to support it. Only SEC Chair Mary Jo White and Commissioner Kara Stein supported the PCAOB’s $257.7 million budget for the current ...
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Blog
SEC Charges Magnum Hunter with faulty evaluations of internal controls
Oil and gas producer Magnum Hunter Resources and several individuals settled charges this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission for deficient evaluation of the company’s internal controls over financial reporting, and failures to maintain internal control over financial reporting.
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Blog
Are anti-bribery experts focusing on the wrong numbers?
To be sure, enforcement data is an important tool for companies to understand their anti-bribery regulatory risks. But relying solely on U.S. enforcement statistics reveals only part of the increasingly complex and multi-layered regulatory landscape that multinationals are facing today. Inside, a look at what can be accomplished when the ...
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BlogHow Qualcomm’s FCPA blunder involved rank incompetency
Hiring the son or daughter of a government official to secure a lucrative business contract is clearly out of bounds. But hiring somebody who was specifically rejected from an interview process as being unfit for the job in question, a scenario recently played out at Qualcomm and its China-based operations ...
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Blog
Nortek FCPA investigation costs reach $2.3 million
Nortek, a maker of home security and thermostat systems, said this week in a securities filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has incurred $2.3 million in legal and other professional services costs relating to potential improper payments made by its Chinese manufacturing unit.
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Blog
Qualcomm to pay SEC $7.5 million for hiring practices
Digital telecommunications maker Qualcomm this week reached a $7.5 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by hiring relatives of Chinese government officials. These officials were in positions to decide whether to select Qualcomm’s mobile technology products amid ...
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BlogSEC advises caution on revenue recognition policies
While international regulators have finished up with revenue recognition, the SEC continues to advise companies to scrutinize U.S. regulators’ impending work on the standard. FASB has scheduled three meetings for the Transition Resource Group, which will be airing and discussing any implementation questions it has received. According to Deputy Chief ...
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Blog
Another bank under FCPA scrutiny for its hiring practices
Financial services providers face unique corruption risks when seeking to win business in international markets. This includes a traditional form of back-scratching: the hiring of children or other close family members of prominent foreign officials. Only now the SEC has made it clear that such practices can and will invite ...
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Blog
SEC seeks comment on rule requiring naming engagement partners
The SEC is gathering comment on recent PCAOB rules that require audit firms to complete a new filing providing the name of engagement partners on public company audit engagements. PCAOB rules are subject to SEC approval before they can become final, which is why the Commission wants to hear remarks ...
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Blog
SEC probing hiring practices of HSBC and many other banks
London-based HSBC said in an earnings release last week that it is one of several banks being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its hiring practices in Asia. Hiring a family member or friend of a government official violates the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act if the intent ...
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Blog
FASB, SEC offer new insights on XBRL
The Financial Accounting Standards Board has made some changes to the Development Taxonomy for any early adopters of FASB’s new standard on the recognition and measurement of financial instruments, adding elements that companies can use in submitting their financial statements in XBRL. The newest guide is the latest in a ...
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Blog
PTC to pay $28 million in FCPA case
Two China subsidiaries of computer software company PTC this week reached a combined $28 million settlement—a $14.5 million criminal penalty to the Department of Justice, and $13.6 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest to the Securities and Exchange Commission—to resolve an investigation of potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices ...
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Blog
Monsanto settles $80 million accounting charges with SEC
Image: Without admitting or denying wrongdoing, Monsanto Co. has agreed to an $80 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over charges that it failed to properly report millions of dollars in rebates related to its Roundup weedkiller product line. “This type of conduct, which fails to recognize expenses ...
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Article
The new VIE evaluation process is here, but what does it really change?
Image: With yet another change in the guidance on when a company needs to consolidate a particular entity onto its balance sheet, all public companies need to walk through a new evaluation process in the first quarter, even if it doesn’t change the outcome. “It is a thicket,” says Adam ...
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BlogSciClone to Pay SEC $12.8 Million in FCPA Case
SciClone Pharmaceuticals announced that it has entered into a $12.8 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve an investigation of potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act with respect to its China operations. SciClone further said that the Department of Justice has also completed its related ...
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Blog
Barclays, Credit Suisse to Pay $150 Million for Dark Pool Violations
The Securities and Exchange Commission last month announced that Barclays Capital and Credit Suisse Securities have agreed to settle separate cases for violating federal securities laws while operating alternative trading systems known as dark pools and Credit Suisse’s Light Pool. Both firms collectively will pay more than $150 million to ...
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Blog
SEC Charges SAP With FCPA Violations
Germany-based software manufacturer SAP has agreed to give up $3.7 million in sales profits in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act when procuring business in Panama.