All Compliance Week articles in Web Issue – Page 681
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Blog
CFTC Makes it Official: Bitcoin is a Commodity
Bitcoin, the controversial virtual currency vexing financial regulators, is now officially a commodity—at least in the eyes of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. On Thursday, with the CFTC’s first ever enforcement action against an unregistered Bitcoin options trading platform, the agency designated the virtual currency, and potentially others like it, ...
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Blog
Socialware Unveils Social Access Control Solution
Socialware, a provider of social media risk management solutions for the enterprise, has announced the availability of its Social Access Control solution. Complementing Socialware’s existing solutions for regulated users in financial services, Social Access Control gives firms in any industry the ability to place controls around which social network features ...
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Blog
New Tipalti W-8 Solution Fully Integrates With Global Payments
Tipalti, a global payments management platform provider, has fully integrated the first-ever intelligent Form W-8 collection solution into its platform. The solution helps U.S. companies automate the accounts payable process by both paying suppliers who are nonresidents, foreign alien or entities while ensuring W-8 tax form compliance. Details inside.
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Blog
Anadarko Elects New Board Member; Promotes CCO
Anadarko Petroleum has elected Sean Gourley to serve as an independent director of the company, effective as of Sept. 15. Additionally, the company has promoted its chief compliance officer. Details inside.
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Blog
FINRA Pitches Safe Harbor For Firms Flagging Investor Exploitation
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Board of Governors has advanced proposed rulemaking that would allow the firms it oversees to place a temporary hold on a disbursement of funds or securities if it has a reasonable belief that financial exploitation is occurring. The rule would provide firms with a safe ...
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Blog
Hercules Technology Growth Capital Names Chief Compliance Officer
Hercules Technology Growth Capital, a specialty finance company, has appointed Melanie Grace as general counsel and chief compliance officer. Grace will oversee Hercules’ legal and compliance functions and serve as corporate secretary. She will report directly to Chief Financial Officer Mark Harris. Details inside.
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Blog
Institute of Business Ethics Appoints New Trustees
The Institute of Business Ethics this week announced that it has appointed four new trustees to join the Trustee board, chaired by Edward Bickham. The new trustees replace recent retirees, as well as augmenting the skills and experience of the Trustee board. Details inside.
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Blog
Analogic Proposes $1.6 Million FCPA Settlement
Analogic, an airport security and medical-imaging technology provider, said in a quarterly filing this week that it has proposed a $1.6 million settlement to the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case.The potential sanctions concern certain questionable transactions involving Analogic’s Danish subsidiary BK Medical and ...
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Blog
SEC Calls for Attention to Credit Impairment Rules
Image: With a new standard expected before the end of the year to change the way financial institutions account for credit impairments, the SEC will be looking for strong processes and controls around critical judgments. Recently, SEC Chief Accountant James Schnurr told accountants at a conference to get ready to ...
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Blog
GM to Pay $900 Million to Resolve Criminal Charges in Product Safety Case
General Motors today agreed to a $900 million forfeiture to resolve criminal charges for wire fraud and for concealing information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concerning safety defects in its vehicles. The automaker also entered into a deferred prosecution agreement under which it admitted that it failed to ...
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Blog
Yates Memo: More Change Coming in FCPA Enforcement
Two weeks ago, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement took a formal turn when the Justice Department released the Yates Memo, which formalized the department’s new focus on prosecuting individuals under the FCPA. In the same week, there was a much less reported event that could have equally large effect on ...
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Blog
Mentor Graphics Appoints Chief Accounting Officer
Mentor Graphics, a provider of electronic hardware and software design solutions, has appointed Richard Trebing to vice president of finance and chief accounting officer. Details inside.
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Blog
Black Stone Minerals Names Chief Accounting Officer
Black Stone Minerals, an owner of oil and natural gas mineral interests in the United States, has appointed Dawn Smajstrla as chief accounting officer. Details inside.
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Blog
SEC Tells Money Market Funds to Ditch Credit Ratings
The Securities and Exchange Commission has removed credit rating references from its rules governing money market funds, substituting a new risk-based asessmet of the securities they hold. The Dodd-Frank Act required all federal agencies to remove references to, or requirements involving, credit ratings issued by nationally recognized statistical rating organizations. ...
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Blog
Doty Supporters Tell SEC: Let PCAOB Chair Stay Seated
Image: In response to SEC Chair Mary Jo White’s recent remarks that the SEC might replace Jim Doty as chairman of the PCAOB, nearly 30 individuals with heavy credentials in financial reporting from numerous policymaking groups fired off a letter to White, stumping for Doty’s reappointment. They credit Doty with ...
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Blog
Swiss Authorities to Unveil New ‘Lex-FIFA’ Anti-Corruption Reform
A new draft anti-corruption law in Switzerland, named after scandal-ridden football organization FIFA, will treat bribery as a criminal offence and allow Swiss authorities to launch corruption probes against the country’s international sporting federations without tip-offs from inside the organization in question. Some members of Swiss Parliament argue that the ...
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Blog
BoE: More ‘Debate’ Around Tougher Capital Rules Needed
Image: The Bank of England’s chief economist, Andy Haldane, is calling for debate around whether financial institutions should set aside more capital to help them weather any potential losses. “[Capital requirements] will be 10x higher than pre-crisis. Should they be higher still? Right question for tomorrow. We need that debate,” ...
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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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Resource
GRC Illustrated: Learning Lessons for Principled Performance
Principled performance is all about being able to reliably achieve objectives while addressing uncertainty and acting with integrity. That dictates setting objectives and strategies, based on a full understanding of the external and internal contexts within which our organization operates and responding to them appropriately. We must ask:What might happen ...
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Article
Internal Investigations Just Got a Lot More Complicated
Image: Compliance officers should brace themselves after Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates’ speech last week calling for more prosecution of individuals involved in corporate misconduct—the implications for internal investigations are huge. Inside we have the full analysis of how this policy shift, which sharply splits company and executive interests, will ...