The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published its examiners’ handbook on its Website on Oct. 13 to show financial companies the processes and procedures involved during an investigation by the bureau’s employees. The manual provides detailed information on how examiners determine if consumer financial products and services providers are complying with consumer protection laws and methods […]
Reese Darragh
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Volcker Rule Proposal Includes New Compliance Requirements
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp issued its proposal on the Volcker rule, a requirement of the Dodd-Frank Act. As expected, the rule would put restrictions in place on trading by financial firms for their own account. The proposal also calls for several new compliance practices for trading arms of banks. In a meeting held yesterday, […]
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IRS Offers Employers a Worker Classification Do-Over
A new program from the Internal Revenue Service and stepped up enforcement activity by the Department of Labor is putting renewed focus on how employers classify their workers. The temptation to put the independent contractor label on those who are really employees is always there, says Rosemary Gousman, managing partner at law firm Fisher & […]
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Leaked Volcker Rule Proposal Reveals Compliance Requirement
A draft of the proposal on the Volcker rule, set to be unveiled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation this week, was leaked on the Internet. According to the draft, the rule will restrict FDIC members from profiting through proprietary trading, as expected, and would also require banks to bulk up compliance programs and record-keeping […]
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More Companies Turning to Performance-Based Shares
The use of performance-based equity in a CEO compensation packages has gained popularity over the last five years, as shareholders are increasingly demanding that companies provide compensation that attempts to link pay and performance, says Equilar, an executive compensation data firm. A study of S&P 1500 companies by Equilar revealed that shareholders no longer feel […]
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More Shareholders Planning to Vote No on Pay in 2012
Shareholders will be more willing to vote down executive compensation plans during say-on-pay votes next year, says Robin Ferracone, chairman of executive compensation consulting firm Farient Advisors.They will also pursue by-law changes at many companies to allow shareholders to directly nominate board candidates, she predicts. “Last year, they [institutional investors] said they’d give companies the […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Say-On-Pay Shareholder Lawsuits Moving Forward
First, there was say-on-pay; now there is sue-on-pay. Companies that lost say-on-pay votes last proxy season are now becoming targets for shareholder derivative lawsuits that accuse the boards of those companies of violating their duties by approving pay packages for top executives that were not in the best interest of the company. Shareholders filed lawsuits […]
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What Triggers a Selective SEC Filing Review?
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance is constantly on the lookout for financial filings that aren’t up to snuff. Financial statements with missing or unclear disclosures, insufficient detail, or conflicting data could attract the staff’s attention. In certain circumstances, the division will launch a review of a company’s filings. But just what […]
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CEO Benefits and Perks Continue to Decline
Gone are the days when top executives received oodles of goodies from their companies, including tax gross-ups and personal use of the corporate jet. Fortune 100 companies are chopping most of the perquisites they previously offered to chief executive officers and other senior management, a trend that remains for the fifth straight year since 2005. […]
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SEC Finds Flaws in Rating Agencies’ Compliance
Rating agencies are still failing to follow ratings methodologies and procedures and are weak in making timely and accurate disclosures, said the Securities and Exchange Commission in a report released today. That observation was made following the mandatory annual oversight examinations of nationally recognized statistical ratings organizations required under the Dodd-Frank Act. “This report demonstrates […]