Karen Kroll

In order to adjust for inflation, and as part of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday announced that it was raising two of the thresholds that determine whether an investment adviser can charge performance fees. Under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940, an investment adviser generally can’t accept compensation based on […]

The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance posted a half dozen updates to its Financial Reporting Manual on July 1. The updates covered the following: Combining entities with different fiscal year ends: The updated version includes a change from the term “Form S-4″ to the term “Form 8-K or registration statement.”  According to the update, if […]

Facebook currently boasts 700 million users, Twitter 200 million, and LinkedIn 100 million. Chances are your employees frequent at least one of these social media sites from time to time. And chances are compliance departments aren’t quite clear on what their oversight role can be when employees post something that mentions their employer. Fear that […]

On Thursday, July 7, the SEC will host a roundtable on IFRS in the United States. A week earlier, the Commission announced the roundtable’s agenda and participants. Panel one will discuss investors’ current understanding and knowledge of IFRS, as well as the education needed to understand the changes in accounting standards. Among the participants are […]

On Thursday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued new guidance that outlined its expectations of national banks that are handling foreclosures. The announcement also stated that the banks are expected to assess their practices in this area, to ensure they’re meeting the OCC’s criteria. Among the practices the OCC expects to banks […]

Earlier this month, the SEC approved a rule proposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) that will require some operations personnel to register and pass a qualifying exam. FINRA, an independent regulator for securities firms doing business within the U.S., oversees about 4,540 brokerage firms. The SEC noted that while FINRA’s registration requirements historically […]

Board members are giving themselves raises at many companies, recent studies show, but compensation experts don’t expect a backlash from shareholders—at least not yet. Pay packages for board directors at mid-market companies rose by an average of 7 percent in 2010, according to an analysis of 600 mid-market companies by accounting firm BDO. The increase, […]

Shareholder activism is having an impact, according to a new report by Governance Metrics International (GMI). One area seeing significant change is takeover defenses. In 2002, more than half of companies had “poison pills” to thwart potential takeovers; that compares to 16 percent today. As a result, fewer shareholders voted on this issue in 2011 […]