All Compliance Week articles in Web Issue – Page 655
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Blog
Compliance Convergence: the Consequences of an Export Control Failure
When a Hellfire missile intended to be shipped from Germany to the United States accidentally ends up in Cuba, more than a few eyebrows raised over it, especially since such sensitive cargo was handled by multiple shipping companies that never seemed to check the manifest or wonder why one of ...
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Article
Bad News for Banks: More Regulatory Risk Is Coming, With a Political Twist
Banks can look forward to a 2016 with additional regulatory risk, with rules layered upon rules, heightened capital requirements, and cyber-security casting an ever-darkening shadow. Even political risk is a reason for concern; With a presidential race underway, calls for breaking up big banks, and reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act, are ...
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Blog
Why All the Fuss Over Culture?
We hear a great deal about corporate culture and its relevance to such matters as internal control, risk management, whether to pursue a merger or acquisition, and the effect on regulators’ investigations and enforcement actions. It seems we can’t get away from hearing about it, and we begin to wonder ...
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The SEC’s Newly Proclaimed Search Warrant Authority
The Securities and Exchange Commission has broad subpoena powers that this dedicated corps of highly credentialed professionals—inspired by a noble sense of mission, and rich with a long history of investor advocacy—tries to use in the best way possible. But when it comes to issuing subpoenas for electronic storage devices, ...
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Article
New Accounting Standard Provides a Host of Potential Changes for Financial Reporting
Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-01 is here, and its impact on how to classify and measure financial instruments will mean different things to different companies, especially when it comes to setting valuation. But with a lack of universal impact, this update will require everyone to take a look at their ...
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Article
Systemic Cases Dominate EEOC Enforcement
Image: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission achieved record enforcement results in 2015 and shows no signs of letting up this year. The good news is that employers now have a leg up in defending EEOC claims where they had little to no leverage before. “The EEOC’s focus on systemic investigations ...
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Blog
EZCORP Names Chief Accounting Officer Amid Financial Restatements
EZCORP has appointed David McGuire as deputy chief financial officer and chief accounting officer, effective as of Jan. 11. The hiring of McGuire comes two months after the payday lender and pawn shop operator announced that it has filed its amended and past due periodic reports with the Securities and ...
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Article
Mitigating Cyber-Threats From the Inside Out
As attacks on corporate networks become more common, companies are getting more adept at protecting their most valuable assets against cyber-threats outside the company, but it’s the insider threats that continue to elude many. Inside, we walk through the difficult part of insider-threat programs: not just creating the program and ...
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Article
SEC Pushed Toward Creating New Board Composition Disclosures
Image: As businesses become more risk-prone and globalized, investors are demanding that fresh blood be infused into boards. So too are legislators with a desire to leverage SEC disclosures as a tool to bolster the ranks of directors and embed cyber-security knowledge. These efforts place a focus on board composition, ...
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Blog
New Report Shows SEC Bringing More, Larger APs Against Public Companies
A new report offers some interesting angles on the SEC's enforcement actions against public companies since 2010. Among other things, the report shows that since FY 2010, SEC enforcement has undergone a "dramatic shift" in its choice of venue for bringing cases against public company defendants, with a significant move ...
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Blog
IASB Releases Final Lease Standard
Image: The IASB has issued its long-awaited accounting standard requiring assets and liabilities associated with leases to be added to corporate balance sheets. Companies that follow International Financial Reporting Standards have until 2019 to adopt the standard. “It’s been a long road getting to this event,” says Sean Torr, a ...
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Blog
Game of War
Image: When it comes to video games, there are violent games, games that are objectionably violent, and then there are games that actually manage to cross an ethical line in the sand. So when CW Editor Bill Coffin’s son asked for a game for Christmas that hit that third category, ...
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Blog
House Passes Regulation-Cutting SCRUB Act
Federal legislation that seeks to eliminate outdated and duplicative regulations was passed in the House of Representatives last week. The Searching for and Cutting Regulations that are Unnecessarily Burdensome (SCRUB) Act, which awaits a Senate vote, would establish a bipartisan commission to review existing federal regulations and identify those that ...
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Blog
SEC Announces 2016 Examination Priorities
The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations has released an overview of its examination priorities for 2016. New areas of focus include liquidity controls, public pension advisers, product promotion, exchange-traded funds, and variable annuities. A continuing focus will be placed on protecting investors in ongoing risk areas such as ...
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Blog
U.K. Printing Company to Pay £2.2 Million in Bribery Case
The Southwark Crown Court in London last week ordered U.K. printing company Smith and Ouzman to pay a total of £2.2 million for making corrupt payments. The sentence and conviction followed a four-year investigation by the U.K. Serious Fraud Office.
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Blog
SEC Settles for Two-Year Bar in Steve Cohen 'Failure to Supervise' Case
The SEC announced today that it has settled its high-profile lawsuit against hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen, founder of SAC Capital. Under the Order resolving the case, Cohen will be prohibited from supervising funds that manage outside money until 2018.
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Blog
Petrobras Cancels Drilling Services Contract With Ensco
U.K.-based Ensco said this week in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that its customer, Brazil state-owned oil and gas company Petrobras, cancelled its contract for a drilling services contract because of alleged irregularities with respect to contracting prior to the company’s acquisition of Pride International in 2011.
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Blog
Dental Practice Software Provider to Pay FTC $250K for Misleading Customers About Encryption
Henry Schein Practice Solutions, a provider of office management software for dental practices, this week agreed to pay $250,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it falsely advertised the level of encryption it provided to protect patient data.
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Blog
PwC’s Cybersecurity Practice Adds New Principal
PwC US has appointed Patrick Hynes as a principal in the advisory cybersecurity practice, focused on cybercrime and breach response. He is based in PwC’s Los Angeles office. Hynes joins PwC with a strong background in cyber-security.