Food and agriculture giant Cargill, has agreed to settle U.S. Department of Labor allegations of hiring discrimination at a Kansas-based subsidiary. It will pay $2.2 million in back wages and interest to nearly 3,000 applicants who were unfairly rejected for production jobs at facilities in several states. The charges stem from an investigation into hiring […]
Joe Mont
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Target Data Breach Already Costing Credit Unions $30 Million
Credit unions have lost upwards of $30 million dollars due to the Target data breach and the price tag will likely rise, says the Credit Union National Association. The figure comes from an ongoing survey of its members launched shortly after the retail giant announced that a hacker exploit compromised customer credit and debit cards. […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
How Court Could Shape a New Conflict Minerals Rule
A legal challenge to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Conflict Mineral Rule, which will require companies to disclose the use of certain metals throughout its supply chain, is heating up, and it could succeed in changing the final version of the rules. A federal appeals court heard oral arguments from plaintiffs challenging the rule, including […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
CFTC Looks to Overhaul How It Monitors Swaps Transaction Data
Amid concerns its data collection and analysis abilities lag far behind an ambitious regulatory agenda, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will embark on a comprehensive review of how it monitors swap market recordkeeping and reporting. CFTC Acting Chairman Mark Wetjen announced the creation of an interdivisional staff working group to review its handling of swaps […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Approved Budget Bill Slashes $25 million from SEC Reserve Fund
The $1 trillion 2014 Omnibus Appropriations bill approved last week by both the House and Senate offers modest budget increases for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission, but raids the latter’s reserve fund by $25 million and earmarks $44 million for economic analysis. The Omnibus bill, which apportions government-wide discretionary funding, […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC Issues New Form SD for Conflict Minerals Disclosures
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday released its long-awaited Form SD, a specialized disclosure form for reporting conflict mineral rule compliance and, once it re-proposes a rule vacated by a successful legal challenge, payments made by oil, gas, and mining companies to governments. The conflict minerals rule, also in the midst of a legal […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Heightened Governance and Risk Standards Proposed for Big Banks
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has proposed new requirements for improving governance and risk management standards at big banks. Following the financial crisis, the OCC developed a set of “heightened expectations” to strengthen these specific areas and enhance its supervision. The proposed guidelines detail the minimum standards for the design and implementation […]
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Survey: Not Much Pay-Ratio Support Among Directors, Institutional Investors
While agreeing the U.S. executive pay model has improved over the past five years, corporate directors and institutional investors remain sharply divided over several key aspects, including the impact of say-on-pay voting, according to a new survey from by Towers Watson and Alliance Advisors, a proxy solicitation firm. One area of agreement: neither group thinks the […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Regulators Tinker With Volcker Rule to Help Community Banks
With the first major alteration to the Volcker rule, community banks will receive sought-after relief from a prohibition on certain types of debt securities. On Tuesday night, five federal agencies approved an interim final rule that allows them to retain their interests in collateralized debt obligations backed by trust preferred securities. A trust-preferred security, with […]
