Movie studio Lions Gate Entertainment has agreed to pay a $7.5 million fine to settle charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it failed to fully and accurately disclose to investors a key aspect of its effort to thwart a hostile takeover bid by activist investor Carl Icahn. As part of the settlement, the […]
Joe Mont
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC Plans Stress Tests, Liquidity Demands for Clearing Agencies
The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed new rules to enhance its oversight of clearing agencies deemed to be systemically important—meaning that their insolvency could drag down the entire financial system—by the Financial Stability Oversight Council. Included in the proposal are capital requirements, liquidity standards, and ongoing stress tests similar to those conducted at the […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Texas Becomes First State to Halt a Bitcoin Investment Deal
With the first ever Bitcoin-related intervention by a state securities regulator, Texas officials this week issued an emergency cease and desist order against an oil and gas exploration company that accepted the virtual currency from investors. Balanced Energy, located in a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, and its president, Kirk Johnson, solicited investments at the Texas Bitcoin […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
Auditor Tenure, Internal Controls Could Be Hot Shareholder Topics
With another proxy season fast-approaching, a backdrop of mixed economic data should give shareholders plenty to discuss, says the accounting and consulting firm BDO USA. It compiled a list of topics that corporate management and boards of directors should be prepared to address at 2014 annual meetings. M&A Opportunities Comcast’s $45 billion acquisition of Time […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Some Aren’t Waiting for Final Rules on Pay Ratio Disclosures
A deceptively simple-sounding demand of the Dodd-Frank Act—disclose in the annual proxy statement the ratio of CEO pay to that of the median employee– is causing considerable headaches for compliance officers and company executives. Although the Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to release the final rules, compensation advisers are telling clients to start now […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Resolving an Impasse, CFTC and FERC Begin Sharing Data
A longstanding inter-agency squabble may finally be put to rest with an announcement that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission have started sharing market data. The initial transmission of market data, under a recently-adopted Memorandum of Understanding, was announced on March 5. Also revealed was the creation of a staff-level Interagency […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
FERC Orders Power Companies to Assess Physical Security
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is demanding heightened security standards needed to protect the nation’s electrical grid. On March 7, it directed the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a non-profit entity that sets standards for bulk power suppliers, to develop reliability standards, address the risk of physical security threats, and safeguard confidential information. “Because the […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Final Stress Test Guidance Issued for Medium-Sized Banks
Bank regulators have issued final guidance detailing their expectations for required stress tests conducted by medium-sized financial companies. The guidance from the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency applies to banks with total consolidated assets of between $10 billion and $50 billion. In October […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
FINRA May Ease Requirements for Corporate Financing Brokers
Firms that advise companies and private equity funds, but don’t maintain customer accounts, could soon escape their current regulatory limbo. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is soliciting public comments on a proposed rule set that eases the regulatory burden and registration requirements for firms that meet a new definition of “limited corporate financing broker.” Some […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
CFTC Issues Cyber-Security, Customer Data Guidelines
New guidance from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission outlines the data security practices it expects from firms it oversees and the third parties they contract with. The staff advisory, from the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight, outlines data privacy security safeguards for futures commission merchants, commodity trading advisers, commodity pool operators, introducing brokers, […]
