Call it the calamity that wasn’t. The controversial rule change to effectively end the long-standing practice of allowing brokerage firms to vote certain retail shares in uncontested director elections hasn’t had the disastrous effects many expected. So far, the highly anticipated amendment of New York Stock Exchange Rule 452 hasn’t resulted in an explosion of […]
Melissa Klein Aguilar
Posted inUncategorized
New HSR Thresholds Take Effect Feb. 24
Revised thresholds requiring companies to report proposed mergers and transactions to federal antitrust authorities take effect next month. Under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, companies are required to notify the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice if the value of a transaction exceeds the filing thresholds and wait a specified period before closing the transaction. The […]
Posted inUncategorized
Comments Extended on Three Dodd-Frank Proposals
The Securities and Exchange Commission has extended the comment period for three of the proposing releases on amendments to implement the specialized disclosure provisions under Section of the Dodd-Frank Act. The comment period on the proposing releases for amendments to implement Sections 1502, 1503 and 1504 of the Act, which were scheduled to end Jan. […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Amid Bickering, FCIC Issues Final Report On Crisis
The panel created by Congress to investigate the causes of the financial crisis that devastated the capital markets in 2008 has issued its final report, concluding that the crisis was avoidable, with plenty of blame to go around. Widespread failures in financial regulation, breakdowns in corporate governance, excessive borrowing and risk by households and Wall […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
The Latest SOP Frequency Update
Recommendations for triennial say-on-pay votes continue to be the trend among companies that have filed their proxies so far. The big question is whether that trend will hold with some smaller companies out of the picture and companies starting to report vote outcomes. Among 178 total proxies filed as of Jan. 26, 56 percent of […]
Posted inUncategorized
Final Say-on-Pay Rules Include Delay for Small Companies
Final rules to implement mandatory say-on-pay votes for all public companies have arrived, with some important changes companies ought to take into account, including a two-year delay for smaller reporting companies. In a three to two vote at a Jan. 25 open meeting, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules to implement Section 951 of […]
Posted inUncategorized
Oil, Gas, and Mining Disclosure Proposal Raises Questions
A controversial Dodd-Frank Act disclosure mandate aims to promote transparency in government payments by oil, gas, and mining companies, but it’s far from clear how the rules will operate. The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a proposal in December that would require public companies that engage in the commercial development of oil, natural gas, or […]
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Tips for the Next Wave of XBRL Filers
It’s 2011. Do you know where your interactive data is? If you’re one of the thousands of companies that have to submit their first financial reports tagged in XBRL to this summer, you ought to be preparing for that task now. For those who need a reminder, a Securities and Exchange Commission rule that took […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC Adopts Process For Handling Proposed Rule Changes
The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted new rules of practice detailing how it determines whether to approve proposed rule changes submitted by self-regulatory organizations or by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The rules, required under Section 916 of the Dodd-Frank Act, outline the process the SEC will use when it decides to hold hearings […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
A Conversation With Britain’s Top Fraud Investigator
As part of our occasional series of conversations with compliance executives and others influential in the corporate governance world, Compliance Week caught up with Richard Alderman, director of the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office, to talk about the new Bribery Act coming into effect in April, the broad new powers it provides to U.K. prosecutors, […]