All Compliance Week articles in Web Issue – Page 727
-
Resource
e-Book: The Evolving Role of Internal Audit
Corporations have seen an explosion in the number, type, and complexity of risks facing them today. Internal auditors are crucial players helping companies to manage those risks, which means the complexity of their role has exploded in the last decade, too. This e-Book, produced by Compliance Week in cooperation with ...
-
Blog
PCAOB Routs Nevada Firm Where Beckstead Landed
The PCAOB has thrown the book at a small Nevada audit firm for a long list of audit violations, including a suspension for Brad Beckstead, former partner with Beckstead and Watts. Beckstead challenged audit inspections and the existence of the PCAOB before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has created uncertainty ...
-
News Brief
SEC Brings First Action on Whistleblower ‘Pre-taliation’
The SEC has filed its first enforcement action against a company for what the agency has previously labeled “pre-taliation”—using confidentiality agreements or other agreements to potentially stifle the whistleblowing process. The company in question was KBR, which will pay $130,000 in penalties. See inside for more details.
-
Blog
Council of Institutional Investors Elects New Board, Names New Chair
The Council of Institutional Investors this week elected a new board of directors and named Michael McCauley, senior officer of investment programs and governance at the Florida State Board of Administration, as chair of the board. Details inside.
-
Blog
Accounting-Related Class-Action Lawsuits Jump in 2014
Image: A Cornerstone Research report says securities class-action filings involving allegations of accounting improprieties jumped sharply from 47 in 2013 to 69 in 2014. Senior adviser Laura Simmons said Cornerstone expected the SEC’s increased focus on financial reporting issues might lead to an increase in class actions with these issues. ...
-
Blog
Pension Funds Ask SEC for Board Diversity Rule
A coalition of state treasurers and pension funds has petitioned the SEC for new disclosure requirements on board diversity. They want a new rule that adds gender, racial, and ethnic diversity data to current disclosures dictated by Regulation S-K, which only requires companies to identify the minimum skills, experiences, and ...
-
Resource
Are CAE and audit committee priorities in sync?
The results are in—and the 2015 Governance, Risk and Compliance Survey suggests there are competing priorities between chief audit executives (CAEs) and audit committees.There’s a disconnect between audit committee members and CAEs when prioritizing audit risks. Audit committee members rate financial and compliance highly, while CAEs focus on compliance and ...
-
Blog
EU Antitrust Regulators Focus on e-Commerce
Image: The European Union is looking into the possible breach of antitrust laws in e-commerce practices. The inquiry may lead to enforcement actions against companies that restrict online sales and “abuse” their dominant position in the market. Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust chief, said that although the investigation will produce ...
-
Blog
FASB Votes for One-Year Deferral on Revenue Recognition
Image: FASB will propose a one-year delay in the effective date of its new revenue recognition standard, while allowing adoption of the original effective date for companies ready to move forward. FASB member Daryl Buck, though initially skeptical of a delay, said, “It would be very difficult to expect [media ...
-
Blog
Bank of England and ECB Reach Deal on Financial Stability
The Bank of England and the European Central Bank have ended a four-year saga over the City of London’s clearinghouses, which required that these offices be near the Eurozone so they can be easily monitored in the event of an emergency. Under the agreement the BoE will provide the ECB ...
-
Blog
Century Aluminum Appoints Chief Accounting Officer
Century Aluminum, a producer of primary aluminum, has hired Stephen Heyroth as controller and chief accounting officer.
-
Blog
Sustainability Group Issues Standards for Resource Transformation Sector
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board issued its latest set of standards, this time for companies in the resource transformation sector to help them improve disclosure of environmental, social, and governance risks. The standards represent the seventh set in a planned industry-focused series of sustainability standards. Details inside.
-
Blog
Setting Objectives for Risk Avoidance, Value Creation
One criticism of the Three Lines of Defense model is that it dwells too much on risk mitigation, and too little on risk opportunity. If you connect the Three Lines model to the COSO framework for internal control, however, a more elegant appreciation of risk management emerges. Inside, columnist Jose ...
-
Blog
TD Bank Names Head of Enterprise Risk Management
TD Bank has promoted Tom Longstroth to head of enterprise risk management. Details inside.
-
Blog
CFTC Gives CCOs Extra 30 Days to File Annual Reports
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission will give compliance officers an additional 30 days to file the annual reports required of swap dealers and major swap participants. The reports—which include an assessment of compliance resources and challenges—were initially due within 60 days of the fiscal year’s end. More inside.
-
Blog
SEC in the Movies: The Other Guys, Wall Street, Fletch ... What Else?
Recently, as my kids were watching Will Ferrell's movie, The Other Guys (2010), I learned that the film includes a scene in which Ferrell and his police partner, Mark Wahlberg, make a visit to the SEC to turn evidence over to a investigator. In the clip below, Ferrell tells the ...
-
Blog
Netflix Appoints Two New Board Members
Netflix, an Internet television network, has appointed Anne Sweeney, recently co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney-ABC Television at the Walt Disney Co., and Brad Smith, general counsel, legal and corporate affairs at Microsoft, to its board of directors. Details inside.
-
Blog
Newell Rubbermaid Appoints General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Newell Rubbermaid this week appointed Bradford Turner as general counsel and corporate secretary, effective April 1. He will serve on the company's executive leadership team and will report directly to Newell Rubbermaid President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Polk. Details inside.
-
Article
Managing the Risky Business of Loyalty Programs
As the regulatory focus on data security expands, companies that offer customer loyalty programs should review them for red flags. How the data is stored, protected, and segmented is ripe for scrutiny, experts warn. Poorly designed loyalty programs could run afoul of antitrust laws, torpedo a merger, violate HIPAA, or ...
-
Article
Conflict Minerals, Year 2: The Auditing Challenge
Few companies so far have addressed the audit requirement in the SEC’s Conflict Minerals Rule, although that will likely change as the June deadline for your second year’s filings approaches.