Five years ago, the Dodd-Frank Act imposed new rules governing everything from derivatives trades and mortgage lending to disclosures about executive compensation and conflict mineral usage. Have all those requirements really helped companies master a stronger ethical culture? Inside, we look at what steps some companies have taken to promote a culture of compliance, and which outside stakeholders are lobbying the most for still more.
Alix Stuart
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
What’s the Auditor’s Role in Investigating Financial Fraud?
In theory, auditors are a formidable opponent to corporate criminals seeking to cover up their misdeeds. Armed with professional skepticism and the authority to interrogate data and employees, both internal and external auditors could reasonably be expected to be on the forefront of uncovering illegal activity. Sketchy accounts payable journal entries, for example, could be […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Antitrust Enforcement Goes Global
Multinationals that engage in anti-competitive behavior are playing a dangerous game. Not only are U.S. and European regulators cracking down with record fines this year, but authorities in other countries are entering the antitrust arena too. Like many regulatory enforcement areas, Cartel-busting is going global. Antitrust enforcement activity is now increasing in some of the […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
The Dodd-Frank Act: Where Are We Now?
A year ago, Chesapeake Energy announced that its famously wealthy founding CEO, Aubrey McClendon, was retiring. What it didn’t mention in the announcement was that Chesapeake had received one of the most negative shareholder votes on executive compensation in the short history of say-on-pay in the United States. Only 20 percent of shareholders supported the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Meet the Enforcers of Health Reform Regulation
The Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, comes with a few carrots and lots of sticks to push companies to provide health coverage, pay penalties if they don’t, improve current plans, and pay new fees and taxes to fund research and other initiatives. And who, exactly, will be wielding those sticks? The cast of regulators […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Fuzzy Math: Calculating the Compliance Costs
Most companies expect healthcare reform—a.k.a. Obamacare—to escalate costs; the question these days is just how much those increases could be. So far, it’s a difficult question to answer. The costs associated with the Affordable Care Act have come in trickles rather than torrents: expanded eligibility for dependents one year, changes to Medicare Part D another, […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Companies Putting More Thought Into Developing Core Values
To kick off the current football season, Brigham Young University football coach Bronco Mendenhall made a bold move. In place of players’ last names, he had the team’s core values—tradition, spirit, and honor—emblazoned on the back of the team jerseys. The goal: “to make them very visible for anyone who wants to know about our […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
How the SEC Is Using Analytics to Spot Reporting Problems
That continuous monitoring program you’re working on? Well the Securities and Exchange Commission is working on one too. Imagine this: Your company submits its Form 10-K to the SEC and, instead of languishing in a database somewhere, it is immediately analyzed for risky accruals, accounting policies, and disclosures. All of the data gets instantly compared […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Lawsuit Exposes Gaps in Loss Contingency Disclosures
When a Judge in Mexico ruled against Yahoo with a massive $2.7 billion judgment, the Internet company may have lost more than the case; it also lost some credibility on its financial reporting. Yahoo announced in late November that it was facing the massive penalty as a result of lawsuit in Mexico it lost against […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Are New Political Giving Disclosure Rules in the Offing?
While the final figures are still being tallied, the 2012 election cycle is certain to go down as the most expensive ever. The Center for Responsive Politics estimates the total cost at $6 billion. That figure includes the typical largess of business executives and wealthy insiders, but a bigger piece of the pie is now […]
