The Securities and Exchange Commission approved two more rule proposals under the Dodd-Frank Act on Wednesday: one requiring financial firms to retain at least 5 percent credit risk in the asset-backed securities they issue, the other to impose new independence standards for boards’ compensation committees. Credit Risk Retention Given that the proposed rule “contemplates few […]
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Renault Investigation Continues to Seize Up
The espionage scandal at the French automaker that has captivated the corporate governance world for three months already, just got even more unhinged. Newly released tapes of a company meeting show that Renault knew allegations against its employees could have been shady—but that it went ahead and fired them anyway. First, Renault fired three employees […]
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SEC’s Aguilar Calls for More Regulatory Enforcement
Luis Aguilar, one of five commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission, called for regulators to unite to defend the “fundamentals of regulation,” including enforcement, against an attack “on multiple fronts”—from underfunding of the SEC to industry efforts to claw back or delay implementation of Dodd-Frank Act provisions. “It is clear that understanding the principles […]
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Debate Heats Up Over CEO Pay Ratio Disclosure
Few elements of the Dodd-Frank Act create as much dread, say compliance officers, as the requirement that companies calculate and disclose the ratio of CEO compensation to median employee pay. The Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to implement the provision, and companies still hope legislators will kill it. Opponents of the measure say the […]
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SEC, Other Agencies Prepare Rule on Asset-Backed Securities
Six agencies announced today in a joint release that they are considering proposing a rule this week to implement a section of the Dodd-Frank provision that requires issuers keep an economic interest in the securities they transfer. Specifically, section 941 of Dodd-Frank mandates that “any securitizer to retain an economic interest in a portion of […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
OECD Raises Concerns Over Germany’s Anti-Bribery Controls
Germany, the country whose engineering giant Siemens AG paid over $1.6 billion to U.S. and German regulators for a huge bribery scheme, got some recognition from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Developments’s peer-review monitoring group for its crackdown efforts—in addition to a host of recommendations for improvement. The agency’s working group on bribery—this time […]
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SEC Adds Disclosure, Credit Risk Items to Agenda
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced it will consider two items on its Dodd-Frank Act rulemaking agenda next week, including new listing standards and disclosure rules for national securities exchanges like Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange regarding the compensation advisers of listed companies. The Commission will consider proposing a rule to implement Section 952, […]
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SEC May Shorten 13D Reporting Deadline
One of Wall Street’s heavy-hitting law firms is calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission to propose new rules that would make it harder for activist investors to remain in the shadows as they buy up large holdings of stock in companies. So far, the SEC appears to be listening. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Libyan Sanctions Give Banks Compliance Headaches
When President Obama called for banks to freeze assets held by the government of Libya last month, more than $32 billion was uncovered in U.S. banks. These economic sanctions create an instant compliance headache for banks that suddenly find themselves holding funds for a regime that has been targeted for using brutal force against a populist uprising. There are […]
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Oil, Gas, and Mineral Developers Debate Disclosure
Comment letters on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed rule, published on December 23, 2010, to require “resource extraction issuers” to disclose to the Federal government payments made to foreign governments under the Dodd-Frank Act, have revealed different corporate worries. Section 1504 of Dodd-Frank adds Section 13(q) to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, […]