All public companies will face at least some compliance and financial reporting consequences from healthcare reform. Those actually in the business of healthcare will face quite a bit more. Healthcare reform’s two laws (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act) unleash a slew of rules and regulations […]
Melissa Klein Aguilar
Posted inRisk Management
Survey Shows More Work to Be Done on Comp Risk
Compensation committees may have more work to do to fully understand the level of risk in their organizations’ pay plans, according to findings of a recent survey by compensation consultancy Pearl Meyer & Partners. While 60 percent of the 630 directors and employees polled say they’re confident that their compensation committees fully understand the level […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC CFTC Form Joint Advisory Committee
As part of a series of steps to harmonize their regulatory approaches, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have formed a joint advisory committee comprised of market practitioners, former regulators, and academics to address emerging regulatory issues. The establishment of the Joint CFTC-SEC Advisory Committee on Emerging Regulatory Issues was one […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC Investor Advisory Committee to Meet May 17
Environmental, social, and governance disclosure issues, fiduciary duty as it relates to investment advisers and registered broker-dealers, investor education, and money market funds are among the items on the agenda for next week, when a committee created to offer input on investor concerns to the Securities and Exchange Commission holds its next public meeting. The […]
Posted inUncategorized
Bracing for New Compliance World of Healthcare Reform
Only time will tell whether the healthcare reform laws passed by Congress this spring will be the salvation Democrats promise or the nightmare Republicans predict. One consequence, however, has already become clear: Enforcement of anti-fraud laws will increase dramatically. Any business receiving government money for healthcare—hospitals, doctors, nursing homes, medical-device makers, health insurers, suppliers to […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
M&A Deals Uncertain in Face of Revised Merger Guidelines
Federal trade regulators are finally getting around to their long-promised review of the anti-trust regulations they use when evaluating the competitive effects of so-called “horizontal mergers” between two business rivals. The Horizontal Merger Guidelines, as they are known, are used by the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department to determine whether such deals pass […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Senators File Amendment to SOX 404(b) Exemption
Gear up for more fighting on SOX 404: An amendment to Senate financial reform bill would exempt companies with less than $150 million in public float from Sarbanes-Oxley’s outside auditor attestation requirement, which would include some companies already complying with the provision. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), chair of the […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Horizontal Merger Guidelines Comment Period Extended
Those planning to offer their two cents on the proposed changes to the Horizontal Merger Guidelines got more time to do so. In response to requests by some organizations, the Federal Trade Commission has extended the deadline for public comment on the proposed revisions to the joint FTC/Department of Justice Guidelines through June 4. The […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Some Cos. Moving to Get Ahead of Regulatory Reform
As members of Congress continue to hash out the details of legislation to overhaul U.S. financial regulation in response to the economic crisis, at least some U.S. businesses are taking steps to get ahead of the slew of regulatory activities and proposals coming out of Washington D.C., according to a new survey. In a survey […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Current, Former SEC Officials to Testify Before FCIC
Current and former Securities and Exchange Commission officials are among those scheduled to testify this week before the panel investigating the causes of the financial crisis. SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz, former Commissioners Christopher Cox and William Donaldson, and former Trading & Markets Division Director Erik Sirri are slated to testify on SEC regulation […]
