Banking and securities industry trade groups are urging government officials to extend deadlines for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, a U.S. effort to crackdown on overseas tax cheats. In a letter to the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, American Bankers Association, Clearing House Association and the […]
Joe Mont
Posted inUncategorized
FDA Adopts New Food Safety Regulations to Fight Terrorism
Federal Regulators are opening a new front in the War on Terror: food and beverage companies. The Food and Drug Administration is taking its first steps toward crafting new food safety regulations that include a focus on the threat posed by terrorists and the “intentional adulteration” of food sources. Earlier this month it submitted a […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Feds Are Using FIRREA to Pursue Bank Fraud; Are Non-Banks Next?
The Department of Justice has repurposed a 24-year-old law, which it is using to bring civil cases against big banks for misdeeds that led to the financial crisis. Now, non-banks could be next. Congress enacted the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act in 1989 as a tool to pursue banks responsible for the savings […]
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SEC Disclosure Reform: Welcome, but Not Easy
For as long as there have been disclosure requirements, companies have complained that some elements of reporting cost too much, are too difficult to assemble, or offer a poor or confusing view into the true nature of the company. Meanwhile, investors and analysts argue that they aren’t always as useful or timely as they could […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Survey: Global Growth Put At Risk by $1.2 Trillion Cost of Regulation
The estimated cost of regulatory compliance for companies in the U.S., Europe, and Asia is set to pass the $1 trillion mark this year, according to a report from international law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner. That cost could stifle innovation and prompt companies to relocate some or all of their operations, it says. BLP’s “The […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Senator Says CFTC Vacancies May Not Be Filled Until 2014
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission will likely have just two commissioners as it heads into 2014. As reported by Reuters and other Washington-based news sources on Wednesday, Senate Agriculture Chairman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) told reporters her committee probably won’t vote on nominations to replace departed and outgoing commissioners until next year. That would leave the […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
JPMorgan Hit With Record-Breaking $13 Billion Settlement
Calling it the largest settlement with a single entity in American history, the Justice Department on Tuesday announced a $13 billion settlement with banking giant JPMorgan to resolve claims related to its packaging, marketing, sale, and issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities. The settlement also pertains to securities sold by Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual prior […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
OCC Issues Guidance for Banks in Tornado-Ravaged Midwest
As it did in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy last year, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is urging the banks it oversees to adjust their operations following deadly tornadoes that ravaged the Midwest this week. On Monday, the OCC reminded banks of 2012 guidance on natural disasters and stressed that adjusting terms […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
DOJ Official Warns of Consequences For Inadequate Compliance
Compliance officers are “fundamental to protecting the security of our financial institutions,” but too often those institutions are guilty of treating the function or afterthought. That was the blunt assessment offered by Deputy Attorney General James Cole during a speech at the Money Laundering Enforcement Conference in Washington, D.C. on Monday. “Compliance officers are critical […]
Posted inUncategorized
Volcker Rule Opponents Make Eleventh-Hour Pitch for Changes
Federal regulators hope to begin reviewing a final version of the Volcker Rule—the Dodd-Frank Act requirement that would put prohibitions on proprietary trading by banks—any day now and issue it to the public in mid-December, but don’t hold your breath. As it begins to look like regulators from a group of agencies responsible for completing […]
