When the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed rulemaking on the Volcker rule provision of the Dodd-Frank Act, it attached nearly 400 questions asking stakeholders for their views on how the rule might be implemented and how other details might be resolved. Feedback poured in, with nearly 19,000 comment letters including everything from letters in support […]
Joe Mont
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
OCC Could Reduce Number of On-Site Examiners at Big Banks
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is rethinking its strategy for how it supervises Wall Street banks and deploys the examiners who work on-site at those institutions. If the plan moves forward, the number of examiners at big banks would be reduced, with top experts reassigned to industry-wide risk reviews. As quoted in […]
Posted inUncategorized
SEC Petitions Appeals Court for Another Conflict Minerals Review
Citing a similar judicial review underway over the constitutionality of country-of-origin meat labeling rules, the Securities and Exchange Commission has petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for yet another judicial hearing to settle the lingering question of whether certain conflict minerals disclosures are constitutional. The latest legal gambit comes as conflict […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
OCC Moves on New Risk Standards for Banks and their Directors
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that establishes standards for the risk governance frameworks at national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches of foreign banks, with consolidated assets of $50 billion or more. It requires boards to oversee the framework’s implementation, challenge management when needed, […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
Intel Announces Executive Compensation Overhaul
In a letter to shareholders this week, and a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Intel announced an overhaul of its executive compensation practices. “Our goal is for executive compensation to be well aligned with stockholders’ interests, and the company is firm in its commitment to using executive compensation programs that are equitable and […]
Posted inEthics & Culture
Ethics Survey Finds Historically Low Rate of Workplace Misdeeds
Workplace misconduct is at an historic low, having steadily and significantly declined since 2007. That’s the encouraging news from a new survey released by the Ethics Resource Center. The center’s National Business Ethics Survey, conducted every two years, found that 41 percent of more than 6,400 workers surveyed said they have observed misconduct on the […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
New FinCEN Guidance Clarifies Corporate Bitcoin Requirements
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has issued new guidance, in the form of two administrative rulings it made public, on whether certain activities by individuals and companies that are related to virtual currencies, notably Bitcoin, trigger the Bank Secrecy Act’s definition of a money services businesses or money transmitter, subjecting them to registration, […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
As CFPB Ramps Up, Non-Banks Face New Compliance Requirements
Across the nation many businesses, large and small, are discovering they will have to maintain compliance programs and internal audit protocols for the first time that resemble the sophisticated systems in place at large banks, thanks to examination plans from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a controversial agency brought to life by the Dodd-Frank Act. […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Fed May Reign in Bank Holdings of Commodities
What do the Deepwater Horizon explosion, Hurricane Katrina, and the tsunami that hit Japan in 2011 have in common? Those disasters serve as the backdrop to potential new restrictions on commodity holdings by banks. The problem, according to the Federal Reserve, is that catastrophes involving environmentally sensitive commodities—including oil, natural gas, coal, and agricultural products—can […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC’s Five-Year Plan Cites New Technolgy, Compliance Outreach
Improving its current disclosure regime, a renewed focus on compliance outreach, and integrating the latest technology are among the initiatives highlighted by the Securities and Exchange Commission in its newly published Draft Strategic Plan, an outline of strategic goals through 2018. The plan was prepared in accordance with the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act, […]
