All SEC articles – Page 84
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Blog
PCAOB Defends Regulatory Approach Amid Persistent Problems
PCAOB Chairman Jim Doty said recently he will meet with the U.S. Chamber of Congress if participants will discuss their own direct experiences with complaints outlined in the Chamber’s 19-page letter calling for a new inspections approach. “Hearsay is not helpful. We want to know where preparers really have been ...
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Article
As Startups Grow, Many Start Needing Compliance Sooner
Once upon a time, start-up companies—whether toiling away in a garage somewhere or moving their way up in the world—rarely even considered a compliance program; that was something they would only need in the future. Now many find that the future comes mighty fast these days. Inside, a closer look ...
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Blog
Doty Projects Year-End Completion of Engagement Partner ID
Image: More than a decade after regulators began mulling how to give some transparency to investors around who actually performs public company audits, PCAOB Chairman James Doty said he is hopeful that the board is on track to “get this done by the end of the year.” Doty recently said ...
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Blog
Blood Is Not Thicker Than FCPA Risk
The SEC has now taken its first enforcement action in a “princeling” case, fining BNY Mellon for offering plum internships to the relatives of foreign officials to win business with their countries’ sovereign wealth funds. Inside, columnist Tom Fox looks at the case (which is probably the first of several) ...
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Blog
FASB Explains Changes to 2016 GAAP Taxonomy
FASB has issued notes explaining the changes to the proposed 2016 XBRL taxonomy, including simplifying the income statement and the presentation of debt issuance costs, among other changes. “While some of these changes may impact a significant number of filers, the feedback received from constituents was to eliminate inconsistencies and ...
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Article
How Bad Is SEC Politicking? Pretty Bad
Image: That the SEC endures its share of politics is not exactly news—but the amount of politics, and the sheer partisan in-fighting at the agency? That’s rising. Split votes are more common, published dissents from commissioners more frequent. “Sometimes when I see what’s going on now, I’m sorry I ever ...
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Blog
Audit Fee Data Reveals New Departure from Non-Audit Services
According to a recent Audit Analytics study of fees paid in 2014 by 2,300 accelerated filers, 80.3 percent were focused on the integrated financial statement internal control audit; fees for non-audit services dipped to 19.7 percent of the total bill from the audit firm, a drop from 20 percent during ...
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Blog
Study Shows Better Audit Reports Lead to Better Audits
Expanded audit reports and audit committee reports have led to better audits in the United Kingdom, according to new research, perhaps because expanded reporting has given auditors more leverage over financial statement assertions. The authors of the study said the new U.K. reporting requirements led to better-quality audits, as measured ...
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Article
More Questions, and Evidence, on Undisclosed Control Weaknesses
Image: Fresh data from the PCAOB is raising awkward questions about whether companies and audit firms really are disclosing all the weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires. PCAOB board member Jeanette Franzel presented the data in a recent speech that should prompt some soul-searching ...
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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
SEC Action Suggests Focus on Valuations, Experts Say
A new study from valuation firm NERA Consulting suggests that the SEC is renewing its interest in pursuing valuation-related accounting issues. The findings are based on an enforcement action against Miller Energy Resources and certain officers for inflating oil property values. “Reporting entities are well advised to make full disclosures ...
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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 ...