All Compliance Week articles in Web Issue – Page 597
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Article
Compliance lessons in the healthcare sector
When enforcement actions against healthcare or life sciences companies arise, many choose to settle their cases prior to litigation, often resulting in a corporate integrity agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. By carefully scrutinizing these agreements, compliance and audit teams in the healthcare ...
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Article
Failure is not an option
Image: As one of the world’s eight designated Systemically Important Financial Markets Utilities, the Options Clearing Corporation has what some might charitably describe as a heightened compliance profile. But thanks to the work of Chief Compliance Officer Richard Wallace and an enterprise-wide effort to build a world-league compliance program, the ...
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Blog
SEC Inspector General report finds no evidence of ALJ bias
In a recently-issued report, the SEC's Office of Inspector General concluded that there was no evidence to support allegations of bias on the part of Administrative Law Judges in the SEC's administrative proceedings. The allegation had surfaced in a May 2015 article in The Wall Street Journal.
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Article
Mitigating auditor liability
Image: Audit committee and external auditors who fail to reasonably carry out their responsibilities increasingly are finding themselves in the crosshairs of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “Over the past few years, the staff has really put a lot of focus into financial reporting and auditing enforcement matters. That means ...
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ArticleNASDAQ rule could tug on the ‘golden leash’ of activist directors
So-called “golden leash” arrangements occur when activist shareholders—typically hedge funds—pay a director or board nominee in connection with their service. Calling them “one area where investors may not have complete information,” NASDAQ submitted a rule proposal to the SEC that would require listed companies to disclose these arrangements. A more ...
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Article
SEC, CFTC ‘milestones’ resolve issues with cross-border swaps deals
Consider it regulatory kismet. Independently, on Feb. 10, the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission finalized long-lingering rules and agreements needed to resolve concerns with the international marketplace for derivatives deals. The SEC’s new rules cover foreign swaps dealers who maintain trading desks in the United States, closing a perceived ...
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Blog
European Commission concedes one-year MiFID II extension
The European Commission has proposed a one-year extension to the implementation date of its revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, better known as MiFID II, a comprehensive slate of unified regulations across member states for securities markets and investment firms. The new date will be Jan. 3, 2018. The delay ...
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Blog
House advances controversial slate of SEC rule changes
A legislative package, recently passed by the House of Representatives, is drawing fire from Democrats and the White House. The bills, bundled as the Capital Markets Improvement Act of 2016, include changes to current SEC rules pertaining to company-issued employee stock, broker-dealer research reports, M&A brokers, and the use of ...
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Blog
General Cable sets aside $28 million for bribery case
General Cable said last week in an earnings release that it has set aside an estimated charge of $28 million that it believes the Securities and Exchange Commission likely will disgorge from profits derived from sales tainted by improper payments made in several countries. As previously disclosed, General Cable said ...
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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
IIA calls for bold moves in latest "Pulse" report
Internal audit leaders are becoming alarmed with their latest survey results that suggest the internal audit profession is not moving as nimbly as they’d like to address emerging business risks. A report from the Institute of Internal Auditors says 89 percent of organizations polled see prevention and education as the ...
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Blog
€30 million for cup of tea? Good work if you can get it
FCPA blogger Tom Fox looks at an unfolding scandal that involves a murdered Mongolian paramour, a contract for submarines, embattled Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razik, middleman Abdul Razak Baginda, and the most lucrative cup of tea in recent memory.
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Blog
Morgan Stanley hit with $2.6 billion penalty
The Justice Department yesterday announced that Morgan Stanley will pay a $2.6 billion penalty to resolve claims related to Morgan Stanley’s marketing, sale and issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities. This settlement constitutes the largest component resolutions with Morgan Stanley entered by members of the RMBS Working Group, which have ...
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Blog
SciClone Settles with the SEC on FCPA Enforcement Action
Title: SciClone Settles with the SEC As SciClone Pharmaceuticals settles with the SEC for FCPA violations committed by a Chinese subsidiary, Tom Fox considers how the finer points of granting favors to government officials merits greater compliance scrutiny.
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Blog
SFO Director David Green’s term extended for two more years
David Green, director of the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office, has had his contract extended by two years, through April 2018. Green is credited with leading a change in the SFO’s approach to prosecuting cases and delivering the first U.K. deferred prosecution agreement and the first convictions under the Bribery Act ...
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Blog
NopSec Unified VRM 4.0 simplifies security threat remediation
NopSec, a provider of vulnerability risk management and remediation workflow solutions, this week unveiled Unified VRM 4.0 to help organizations take a more proactive approach to vulnerability management and, more importantly, remediation. The latest enhancements further close the gap between detection and remediation by empowering security teams with faster, easier ...
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Blog
SBM Offshore: Justice Department reopens bribery probe
Dutch oil and gas company SBM Offshore announced this week that the U.S. Department of Justice has re-opened its past bribery investigation of the company concerning allegations of improper payments made to sales agents and foreign government officials in Equatorial Guinea, Angola, and Brazil.
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Blog
Oversight Systems: automated transaction monitoring for FCPA compliance risk
Oversight Systems, an operational expense analysis company, this week launched its new automated transaction monitoring solution for Accounts Payable FCPA/Anti-bribery and Corruption Risk.
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Blog
Justice Department: companies will have to certify investigation disclosures
The Department of Justice’s Fraud Section has confirmed that it is working on developing a new policy whereby settling companies will soon have certify that they have, in fact, disclosed fully all information about individuals involved in wrongdoing before finalizing a settlement agreement. The new policy in the making signals ...