Public companies now have some helpful guidance on implementing the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new say-on-pay, say-on-frequency and golden parachute rules courtesy of the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance. Corp Fin staffers posted seven new Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations on Feb. 11. Three of the CDIs relate to Exchange Act […]
Melissa Klein Aguilar
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC Investigation Takes a Broader View of Insider Information
Is the Securities and Exchange Commission redefining what constitutes insider trading? Many think it is. The SEC is focusing its latest string of insider-trading investigations on technology employees who moonlight as consultants in expert networks and the hedge funds and analyst they provide with tips. The charges have caught some companies off guard and mean […]
Posted inUncategorized
Debate On Derivatives Regulation Heats Up
As lawmakers hash out the details of new rules governing the over-the-counter derivatives market, business groups are stepping up their fight for an exemption from expected margin requirements for firms known as end-users. Survey data released this week estimates that a 3 percent margin requirement on OTC derivatives could cut capital spending among corporate end-users, […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Bank Incentive Pay Proposal Out For Comment
Efforts to further reform pay practices at financial firms moved ahead this week. The board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. voted to float a Dodd-Frank Act mandated rule proposal aimed at curbing incentive pay at the largest financial firms for public comment. Among other things, the proposal would require the largest firms—those with $50 […]
Posted inEthics & Culture
Takeaway From Facebook Settlement: More Complaints, Scrutiny
Employers should expect more scrutiny of policies that address employee use of social media following the settlement of a closely watched case that involved an employee who was fired following the posting of negative remarks about her boss on Facebook. American Medical Response of Connecticut, Inc., reached a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
More Charges in Expert Network Insider-Trading Scheme
Another sharp compliance reminder on insider trading from the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission: It’s not only illegal for employees to sell confidential information about their companies to traders, it’s also equally illegal to buy it and trade on it. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the New […]
Posted inUncategorized
SEC’s Schapiro on Rulemaking Agenda, Budget Woes
Despite its budget woes, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rulemaking frenzy will maintain its frenetic pace in the months ahead, according to recent remarks by its chairman. While the Commission’s rulemaking agenda was busy before the July passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, the new law has thrown it into overdrive, as detailed in a Feb.4 […]
Posted inUncategorized
Senate Passes 1099 Repeal Amendment
Businesses may get the relief they’re seeking from an onerous tax reporting provision that was tucked into the healthcare reform law. The Senate, in an 81-17 vote on Feb. 3, approved an amendment offered by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) to repeal a provision that would require businesses to file an IRS Form 1099 for each […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Compliance Community to DoJ: More Info Please
Members of the compliance and ethics profession are pushing the U.S Department of Justice to provide more information about when and how it gives credit to organizations for ethics and compliance programs in its enforcement actions. The DoJ “could significantly help ethics and compliance officers by initiating a specific, coordinated effort to gather E&C-related information […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Final Say-on-Pay Rules Include Delay for Small Companies
The Securities and Exchange Commission issued final rules to implement mandatory say-on-pay votes for public companies. The 152-page adopting release varies somewhat from the proposed rules, including a two-year delay for smaller reporting companies. In a three-to-two vote at a Jan. 25 open meeting, the SEC adopted rules to implement Section 951 of the Dodd-Frank […]