It’s rare that guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission on disclosure gets companies excited, but a recent notice from the agency that companies may now use social media sites to release material information has caused quite a stir. That doesn’t mean, however, that companies are rushing to release earnings over Facebook or Twitter. “Companies […]
Joe Mont
Posted inFrom the Archive
Tying Pay to Compliance: Will Walmart’s Plan Work?
Lots of companies talk about making compliance and ethics a priority. Walmart is putting its money where its mouth is. The retail giant announced last month that it will soon begin basing a portion of compensation for top executives, including CEO Michael Duke, on the company’s ability to meet compliance goals. If top executives don’t […]
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Appeals Court Ruling Could Drag Out Conflict Minerals Lawsuit
Companies that have delayed getting to work on newly required disclosures of their use of conflict minerals mined in the Congo, hoping that a legal challenge would offer relief, may way want to reassess that strategy. A decision in an unrelated lawsuit may signal that a legal resolution will take much longer than anticipated. Although […]
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SEC Advances New Cross-Border Swaps Rules, Revisits Delayed Ones
Amid pushback from overseas regulators and financial entities, the Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed new rules for cross-border, over-the-counter security-based swap transactions, an effort that aims to avoid overlapping and contradictory regulations. The nearly 1,000-page proposal, approved by a unanimous vote on Wednesday, will now undergo a public comment process. Under Title VII of the […]
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FTC Issues Guidance for Amended Children’s Privacy Rules
The Federal Trade Commission, in advance of new and amended privacy rules that go into effect on July 1, has issued a list of Frequently Asked Questions. The guidance deals with changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which is intended to give parents control over what information is collected from their young […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Are All NLRB Rulings Since Early Last Year Invalid?
It’s often said that uncertainty is the biggest enemy of business, and when it comes to employee and labor matters, uncertainty rules the day. Companies and others have contested the validity of decisions made by the National Labor Relations Board, the chief regulator and investigator of unfair labor practices, since January of 2012, due to […]
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Shop Talk: The Benefits and Risks of BYOD
Reach into your pocket, and the odds are good you’ll find a smartphone pulling in work-related e-mails, along with attached documents such as next quarter’s budget, a spreadsheet of customer contacts, or plans for the next generation of products. THE PANELISTS The following executives participated in the April 16, 2013, roundtable on BYOD and enterprise […]
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Appeals Court Dismisses Oil Industry Lawsuit Against SEC
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday dismissed an oil industry lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission that sought to overturn rulemaking requiring companies to disclose payments made to governments for oil, gas and mineral extraction rights. The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel was issued on Friday […]
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Brown-Vitter Bill Boosts Big Bank Capital Reserves to 15 Percent
Buzzed about in banking circles for weeks, senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and David Vitter (R-LA) and Brown have finally unveiled legislation they claim would end “too big to fail” policies. It subjects some of the largest banks to a 15 percent capital reserve and pushes the U.S. to move beyond the international banking accord known […]
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European Parliament Approves Banking Reforms, Curbs Bonuses
The European Parliament last week voted to approve new reforms intended to improve the resiliency of financial institutions by requiring greater, higher quality capital reserves and discouraging risk-taking by limiting banker bonuses. The approval of the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD4), in large part, aligns European banks with measures contained in the Basel III international banking […]
