All SEC articles – Page 84
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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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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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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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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.
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Blog
SEC Charges CCO of SFX With Compliance Failures
The Securities and Exchange Commission last week brought fraud charges against the former president of SFX Financial Advisory Management Enterprises for stealing client funds. The firm and its chief compliance officer separately agreed to settle charges that they were responsible for related compliance failures and other violations. Details inside.
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Blog
Big 4 Make Big Gains in Consulting Services, Report Says
Image: According to a new report from Source Information Services, Big 4 accounting firms outperformed the U.S. market in 2014, growing 12.8 percent to $17.5 billion in revenue compared with 2.4 percent growth for the economy overall. The U.S. market for consulting grew 9 percent in 2014 to more than ...
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Blog
Poll Portends Big Changes in Executive Pay Disclosure
A recent poll by Towers Watson hints at big changes to come in disclosure of executive compensation, in the wake of the SEC’s proposed pay-for-performance rules. One-third of poll respondents said they expect to change their compensation disclosure significantly; 55 percent said they expect to provide additional information and analysis ...
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Blog
Gallagher Uncorks on SEC Action Against CCOs
Image: SEC Commissioner Dan Gallagher, often a contrarian voice at the agency, spoke up again last week to denounce recent enforcement actions against compliance officers at investment advisory firms. Gallagher panned the SEC rule that dictates how investment advisers establish compliance procedures, and he railed that “the Commission seems to ...
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Blog
SEC Might Explore Auditor Tenure for Audit Committee Disclosure
Image: When the SEC issues its audit committee discussion paper, it likely will explore more on the audit firm’s tenure and naming engagement partners. As the PCAOB has tried to get consensus on these themes, the board has heard pushback that the disclosure is better placed in audit committee reports, ...
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Article
SEC Rule on Pay-for-Performance Triggers Criticism on TSR Metric
Image: The SEC’s proposed pay-for-performance rule would require companies to disclose the relationship between executive compensation and Total Shareholder Return. A simple and effective metric? Not everyone thinks so. “At first blush it’s intuitive: executives should win as shareholders win,” says Barry Sullivan of compensation consulting firm Semler Brossy. The ...
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Blog
SEC Commissioners Want New Rules for Transfer Agents
In an increasingly rare display of unity among members of the Securities and Exchange Commission, they say that the Commission needs to dust off decades-old rules for transfer agents. New requirements could include requiring agents to be appropriately insured, properly disclosing conflicts of interest; and being subjected to more robust ...