Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market are now first in the world to face a government mandate to report their greenhouse gas emissions—a compliance demand activists would like to see go global. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was expected to make the government’s announcement on June 20 at the +20 sustainability conference […]
Joe Mont
Posted inFrom the Archive
OCC Revises Lending Limit Rule to Include Derivatives
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has amended its lending limit rule by defining derivative transactions, repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements and securities financing transactions as loans. As part of the Dodd-Frank Act’s efforts to regulate over-the-counter derivatives markets, it requires that, as of July 21, the statutory definition of loans and […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Financial Reporting Update
As potentially game-changing new rules emerge from the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission, companies are struggling to stay ahead of the curve and craft plans to implement the new rules and numerous modifications. As such, much of a panel discussion dedicated to SEC regulatory updates at Compliance Week 2012 in […]
Posted inEthics & Culture
State of Compliance 2012
The good news for compliance programs is that many are finally getting the added resources they need to get the job done. The challenge, however, is how to best leverage staff and technology to keep pace with the regulatory onslaught they face and the increasingly complex, specialized issues they must handle. Those insights were among […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC Releases FAQ for new Form PF Requirements
The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a collection of “frequently asked questions” regarding the new Form PF required of registered investment advisers that manage $150 million or more in assets attributable to private funds. The document seeks to clarify the categorization of hedge funds, liquidity funds and private equity funds as it pertains to […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC Names Head of New Office of Credit Ratings
A new agency tasked with overseeing credit rating agencies will be headed by a former Morgan Stanley executive, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Friday. The SEC’s Office of Credit Ratings, created by the Dodd-Frank Act, is responsible for overseeing the nine registered Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (NRSROs). Required among these responsibilities is […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Agencies Seek Comment on Basel III Capital Rules
Three agencies—the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency—have jointly announced a final market risk capital rule and opened the comment period on three Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRs) that would revise and replace current capital rules to align them with […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
JOBS Act Spurs Small Banks to Deregister
A growing number of community banks are taking advantage of the JOBS Act to deregister their publicly held stock with the SEC. A provision of the JOBS Act, signed into law in April, increases the current 500-shareholder threshold for SEC registration to 2,000 for financial institutions. The legislation also raises the deregistration threshold for financial […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Regulators Provide Details on SEC, CFTC Whistleblower Programs
Even an army of regulators may not wield the power of a single employee willing to drop a dime. With the rationale that investigators need the helping hand of internal informants, the Dodd-Frank Act beefed up anti-retaliation protections for whistleblowers and sweetened the deal with a bounty of between 10 and 30 percent for information […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
When It Comes to Making Disclosure Decisions, Be Prepared
Borrowing from the time-tested motto of Boy Scouts everywhere, companies need to “be prepared” as they approach potential questions from regulators and the perpetual debate over what to disclose, how to disclose it, and when. Last week, at the Compliance Week 2012 annual conference, a panel tackled the tricky topic of disclosure and decisions that […]
