Last week’s dramatic shift in power in Washington—with Democrats regaining both chambers of Congress—could change the tone of debate on corporate-governance issues and has renewed hopes that Congress might relax aspects of Sarbanes-Oxley. But Beltway-watchers who spoke with Compliance Week say they aren’t anticipating wholesale legislative changes on SOX or other compliance matters. Phan “I […]
Martinek Paul J.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Voicemail, Audio: Subject To e-Discovery
Thanks to the growing use of unified messaging systems and upcoming changing to federal electric discovery rules, companies should brace themselves not only for new burdens of email and electronic records retention, but for heightened obligations to manage and retrieve voicemail messages and other audio files as well. Hicks “I expect that very few companies […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
e-Discovery 101: All The FAQs, And Answers
What is electronic discovery? Discovery is the aspect of litigation in which opposing parties exchange information that may be relevant to any claims or defenses that have been asserted. This exchange of information typically occurs long before any trial. Historically, discovery was limited to paper documents. But, with the advent of computers and other electronic […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Settlement Puts GC On Compliance Hot Seat
A recent settlement forestalling criminal prosecution over allegations of market timing by a subsidiary of Prudential Financial has introduced a new twist to enforcement actions: placing responsibility for monitoring compliance with the settlement directly on the shoulders of the company’s general counsel. Typically, the Department of Justice insists that in return for entering into a […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Court Blocks Hedge Fund’s Move For Access
Delaware corporations may have an easier time defeating requests from hedge funds and others to crack open their books prior to litigation, thanks to a recent decision from the Delaware Chancery Court. Section 220 of Delaware’s corporate code allows shareholders to demand access to books and records if there is a “proper purpose.” Hedge funds […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Lawsuits Hit Cos. For Poor 401(k) Oversight
A series of lawsuits filed recently against seven large companies and their 401(k) retirement-plan overseers has underscored the care that a sometimes-overlooked corner of the compliance realm needs while monitoring the fees paid in connection with plan investments. Duffie The lawsuits, according to Traywick Duffie of the law firm Hunton & Williams, “are tracking what […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
State Bar Group Takes Aim At Thompson Memo
Lawyers in Michigan have opened a new front in the battle against Department of Justice demands that companies waive their attorney-client and work-product privileges to get credit for being cooperative, with a first-of-its-kind ethical rule to prohibit government attorneys in that state from demanding such waivers. Samuel Damren, a Detroit lawyer who chairs the State […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Sorting Out E-Discovery’s New Ambiguity
The new electronic discovery rules set to take effect Dec. 1 in federal court are meant to clarify the obligations of parties to turn over emails and other electronically stored records—but ambiguity in some of the terminology assures that disputes will continue over when old information will have to be retrieved and what kind of […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Hewlett-Packard: The ‘How Not To’ Guide
Hewlett-Packard built a legendary reputation in Silicon Valley for its kinder, gentler “HP Way” of conducting itself—but as anyone reading the headlines these days can see, how HP conducts investigations may be a different story. The computer manufacturing giant’s ham-handed probe into media leaks holds lessons on how to conduct such investigations, and what oversight […]
Posted inEthics & Culture
Courts Raise Specter Of ‘Collective’ Scienter
In a potentially ominous development for corporations, a handful of decisions by federal judges in New York have strayed from the traditional rule that a company can’t be found to have had fraudulent intent—known in the law as scienter—unless the individual making a false or misleading material statement actually had such an intent. Under a […]
