There was a time when companies, faced with allegations of wrongdoing, conducted an under-the-radar internal investigation, quietly dispensed punishments to those it deemed responsible, and kept the whole process hidden from the public and regulators’ view. Those days are largely over. Companies are rethinking the balance between secrecy and transparency when it comes to internal […]
Joe Mont
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC Lauds Three Whistleblowers, But They Must Wait for Their Bounty
The Securities and Exchange Commission this week rewarded three whistleblowers for their assistance in bringing an enforcement action against a “sham hedge fund.” The case marks the second time the Commission has awarded a whistleblower bounty since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act. An SEC order issued on June 12, allots each of three whistleblowers […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
House Bill Would Align SEC and CFTC’s Cross-Border Swaps Rules
Depending on who you talk to, a bill passed in the House of Representatives this week will either harmonize derivatives rulemaking that is inefficiently split between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or unravel the Dodd-Frank Act’s efforts to disallow cross-border practices used to sneak trades past U.S. oversight. H.R. 1256, […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Hired Guns: Outsourced Regulation Comes Under Fire
Some federal regulators are outsourcing parts of their oversight duties. Over the years, regulators, including the SEC, Federal Reserve, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, have paid out millions of dollars to private consultants, offloading work that agencies either don’t have the internal resources or expertise to complete or don’t want to. […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Critics Say CFPB Investigation Tactics Are Overly Broad, Expensive
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is attracting criticism for launching investigations that are overly broad and give companies too little time to respond. In theory, the CFPB’s civil investigative demand (CID) authority should hew closely to similar efforts long-deployed by other agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. In practice, […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC Advances Two Alternatives for Money Market Fund Reforms
Delayed for nearly a year, new regulations governing the $3 trillion marketplace for money market mutual funds are finally imminent. With a unanimous 5-0 vote on Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission advanced two alternatives for amending rules that govern money market mutual funds to a 90-day public comment period. The rule proposal seeks comments […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
SIFI Plan Casts AIG, Prudential, and GE Capital as ‘Too-Big-to-Fail’
In a long-anticipated move, the Treasury Department and Financial Stability Oversight Council have notified three non-bank financial companies that they may be designated as “systemically important” and singled out for increased regulatory scrutiny because their size and scope make insolvency a threat to the broader financial marketplace. Although not publicly named, American International Group, Prudential […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Internal Investigations Require Strategy, Not Just Detective Work
Columbo probably wouldn’t cut it as a compliance officer in charge of internal investigations. Far from the drama-filled detective work portrayed in movies and television, those tasked with conducting corporate internal investigations deal more with rigorous discovery protocols than third act plot twists. Three former prosecutors, now serving in compliance-related positions, addressed the challenges of […]
Posted inTechnology
Retooling the Compliance Function for Modern Technology Risks
It sounds simple enough on paper: As new risks emerge, the compliance function adapts to address them. In an age of rapidly evolving technology, however, that approach can leave organizations a step behind. At the Compliance Week 2013 annual conference last month in Washington D.C., a panel of experts weighed in on approaches for retooling […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
New Guidance From SEC Covers Common Conflict Minerals Questions
With a year to go until the first disclosure reports on the use of “conflict minerals” are due on May 31, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission has issued fresh guidance. In August 2012, the Commission issued a final rule specifying how companies must report the use of certain minerals—including tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold—mined […]
