Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, was once a five-time champion on “Jeopardy,” the name of which aptly describes the shaky status of his continued leadership at the agency. On March 12, Cordray and Mary Jo White, President Barack Obama’s nomination to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, will be grilled by […]
Joe Mont
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Shareholder Activists Push for Human Rights Committees
Board-level committees are proliferating, with boards at many companies considering adding a dedicated risk committee or a technology committee. Now investors are pushing some boards to add yet another group—a human rights committee. Shareholders have targeted companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Apple, and Goldman Sachs, with resolutions that call for the creation of a board-level human rights […]
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Is the JOBS Act a Bust?
It happens all the time. The exciting coming attraction for a movie creates high expectations for a thrilling blockbuster, but when it finally comes out, it doesn’t live up to the hype. The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, better known as the JOBS Act, may be following just such a fate. Billed by Congress as […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Occupy the SEC Sues Regulators Over Volcker Rule Delay
Occupy the SEC, an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street protests, is suing financial regulators over their delay issuing the final rulemaking needed to implement the Volcker Rule. Mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, the rule would ban proprietary trading by federally insured commercial banks. A deluge of comment letters, and the difficulty crafting language that […]
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Globally, Compliance Teams Juggle Regulatory and Board Demands
Around the world, compliance professionals continue to struggle with the pace and breadth of evolving regulations and, more than ever, need the support of the Board of Directors to deliver effective risk management. So says a new survey conducted by Thomson Reuters of more than 800 compliance practitioners at financial services firms in 62 countries. […]
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Regulators and Prosecutors Gird for Sequester Cuts
Although many of the deepest federal budget cuts under “sequestration” are still likely at least a month away, and the first round of sequester won’t actually hit until just before midnight, the fallout has already begun. Earlier today, Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat and ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
First Batch of Say-on-Pay Failures Emerge from Annual Meetings
Thus far, 2013 isn’t off to a great start for companies looking for say-on-pay support from shareholders. On Jan. 25, Nuance Communications, a company best known for its voice recognition software, failed to get much recognition from shareholders for its executive compensation program. In the non-binding advisory vote 95,866,327 were in favor (41 percent), 135,827,081 […]
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Dodd-Frank Act Poses Threat to SEC’s Independence, Gallagher Says
Concerned that the Securities and Exchange Commission is in danger of losing its traditional independence, Commissioner Daniel Gallagher is blaming the Dodd-Frank Act and creation of the Financial Stability Oversight Council for the threat. During a speech last week at the Practising Law Institute’s annual “The SEC Speaks” conference, Gallagher began by offering a historical […]
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SEC Roundtables Will Tackle Ratings Agencies, Fixed Income Market
The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced two upcoming roundtables, one focused on assigned credit ratings, the other on ways to improve the transparency and efficiency of fixed income markets. The fixed income roundtable on April 16 will focus on the corporate bond and municipal securities markets, which were the subject of a Commission report […]
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SEC’s Paredes Sounds Call for Scaled-Back Disclosure Regime
Has the time come for regulators to rethink and re-imagine the disclosures demanded of public companies? Count Troy Paredes, a commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission, among those who say it has. During his presentation at “The SEC Speaks,” an annual conference where the Commission’s senior staff addresses past efforts and forthcoming initiatives, he […]
