All Compliance Week articles in Web Issue – Page 666
-
Blog
CFTC offers up cyber-security rules, margin requirements
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is seeking to amend existing regulations regarding cyber-security testing and safeguards for the automated systems used by the firms it regulates. New rules would specify testing frequency requirements and require covered firms to have certain tests performed by independent contractors. In a separate matter, it ...
-
Blog
Analyzing Your Risks in the Banking Sector
Image: Now that the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates for the first time in seven years, it’s as good a time as any to worry about risks in the banking system; and thankfully two different regulators—the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the International Organizations of ...
-
Blog
Top Banking Risks Tallied by OCC
Strategic, underwriting, cyber-security, compliance, and interest rate risks sit atop the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s list of supervisory concerns in its Semi-annual Risk Perspective. Banks continue to face strategic challenges to growing revenues to meet target rates of return in a slow-growth, low interest rate environment, the ...
-
Blog
Poll: Lack of Quality Data Poses Due Diligence Challenges
Regulators are increasingly demanding greater evidence of well-developed anti-money laundering compliance programs, processes, and systems and controls, and yet global companies are struggling to keep pace with it all. According to a new webinar poll conducted by Arachnys and Charter, 50 percent of compliance teams said the greatest challenge posed ...
-
Blog
New Tool Allows Traders to Access Historical Book Data
Trillium, a trading technology provider, today announced the launch of its Surveyor app for iPhone, the first mobile tool to provide access to depth of book quotes for the U.S. equities markets. “By giving everyone access to this free Big Data research and analytics tool, Trillium is bringing more transparency ...
-
Blog
European Watchdog Urges Vatican to Toughen Up on Financial Crimes
The Council of Europe’s Moneyval Committee is calling on the Vatican to step up its anti-money laundering enforcement actions. Although the Vatican has finally revamped its regulations to address terrorist financing and money laundering, there’s still a lot of work needed to detect and prevent suspicious transactions, the regulator said.
-
Blog
PCAOB’s Top Inspector Shares Plans for 2016
Image: When audit inspectors begin work on 2015 financial statements, they will be looking closely at the audit of internal controls, accounting estimates, misstatement risks. Those are the key themes from the 2014 financial statement inspections, said Helen Munter, director of inspections for the PCAOB. “Audit committees might wish to ...
-
Blog
PCAOB’s Top Inspector Shares Plans for 2016
Image: When audit inspectors begin work on 2015 financial statements, they will be looking closely at the audit of internal controls, accounting estimates, misstatement risks. Those are the key themes from the 2014 financial statement inspections, said Helen Munter, director of inspections for the PCAOB. “Audit committees might wish to ...
-
Blog
U.K. Parliament Scraps ‘Burden of Proof’ for Bankers
It’s official—bankers won’t have to worry about being held accountable for misconduct on their watch. Earlier this week, the U.K. Parliament’s Treasury Committee made a last-minute change to abandon the “burden of proof” rule for bankers. In other words, while bankers will have to fulfill their statutory duty of responsibility, ...
-
Blog
FIFA and Its Banks: Twin Sons of a Different Genus?
Image: Numerous banks, such as BNP Paribas, HSBC, and Standard Chartered, are in talks with the Justice Department about what they knew in connection with the FIFA investigation. In their effort to thwart Swiss secrecy laws, U.S. investigators are trying for more unrestricted access to information in FIFA-concerned bank accounts. ...
-
Blog
Accenture Acquires Beacon Consulting Group
Accenture, a global professional services company, has acquired Beacon Consulting Group, a consulting firm for the North American asset management community. This acquisition significantly expands Accenture’s asset management consulting capabilities and enhances its ability to help global investment managers, institutional investors, and asset servicers gain an edge in increasingly competitive ...
-
Article
The ‘Shalt Nots’ of GRC Implementations
There is no shortage of vendors and products in the governance, risk, and compliance software space. Choosing the wrong one can be disastrous. Just as problematic, however, is pairing a poor implementation strategy with even the best of solutions. Missteps can lead to employee revolts, cost overruns, delays, and ineffective ...
-
Article
OSHA Enforcement Trends to Watch in 2016
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is raising the stakes for companies that fail to provide safe workplaces. One development affecting CCOs in the coming year would dramatically increase penalties and emphasize who qualifies as an “employer.” “Every employer should be terrified of OSHA right now,” says Valerie Butera of ...
-
Article
Is the FAST Act Really Just the JOBS Act 1.5?
Amid speculation of when, or if, Congress would get around to a JOBS Act 2.0—a sequel to a 2012 package of securities law reforms—some of those items surprisingly appeared in a new spending bill for transportation infrastructure. Tucked into the bill are a variety of requirements for the SEC regarding ...
-
Blog
PCAOB Adopts Form to Name Engagement Partner, Others in Audit
Finally achieving the path of least resistance after multiple prior attempts, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has approved a rule requiring audit firms to identify engagement partners and others outside the firm who contribute to public company audits.
-
Article
Lessons From the SFO’s First Deferred-Prosecution Agreement
The U.K. Serious Fraud Office struck its first-ever deferred-prosecution agreement with Standard Bank in November, giving companies some much-needed guidance on how to disclose misconduct. The SFO’s decision to use DPAs is part of a larger undertaking to put a quick end to corporate criminal cases and encourage cooperation between ...
-
Article
For Internal Audit, Is Emerging Technology More Trouble Than It’s Worth?
Image: IT audit is challenged not only by persistent talent shortages and rapid changes in technology, but also by concerns about reporting lines that raise questions about independence and the frequency of risk assessments. “Changes in security remain top of mind,” says Robert Stroud, immediate past president of ISACA and ...
-
Blog
Report Card on This Year, and Governance Predictions for 2016
As one year closes and another begins, so does the cycle of talk on what corporate governance issues will challenge Corporate America in 2016. Inside, columnist Richard Steinberg reviews what he thought the big issues of 2015 would be (cyber-risk, shareholder proxy access, CEO succession, etc.), and how those subjects—and ...
-
Blog
Monitoring Gifting Policies During the Holiday Season
The holiday season is always a good time to remind employees about gifts and hospitality rules. The general messages are clear: Follow the rules; use good judgment; seek help if you aren’t sure what to do; and never do something that doesn’t feel right. This week, columnist Jose Tabuena suggests ...