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The last year since I left the Securities and Exchange Commission has been a real eye-opener for me in lots of ways. Among the surprises that I’ve encountered are a number of widely held beliefs about the SEC staff that are simply incorrect. This has been reinforced during the past few months, as I’ve read […]

As companies head into this year’s annual meeting season and get down to business preparing their annual reports on Form 10-K, executive compensation is once again the critical issue they’ll need to focus on. While there aren’t a slew of new disclosure rules to contend with this year, observers say the stakes are higher, since […]

An advisory group charged with recommending ways to improve financial reporting has drawn up several initial proposals it plans to submit to the Securities and Exchange Commission, from ending industry-specific guidance to a phased-in timetable for requiring companies to submit financial statements using XBRL technology. Those were only a few of the proposals included in […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission has decided it will consider requests from foreign private issuers that want to start filing their financial statements without reconciliation to U.S. accounting principles immediately, before a new rule allowing as much formally takes effect later this year. In December, the SEC adopted a rule to accept filings from FPIs […]

As companies gear up for the 2008 proxy season, they’ll need to beware of several rule amendments that take effect in coming weeks. One notable change taking effect this month is the controversial amendment to federal proxy rules that effectively lets companies block shareholder efforts to put director nominations in the proxy statement. The amendment […]

The magic number for 2008 could be 2011. That year is already emerging as a possible target date to let U.S. companies start filing financial statements using International Financial Reporting Standards. China, India, Canada, and other nations all plan to adopt IFRS in 2011, so while the Securities and Exchange Commission begins debating whether to […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an online tool that lets investors quickly and easily compare compensation packages for executives at some of the largest companies in the United States, in yet another effort to demonstrate the usefulness of XBRL. The Executive Compensation Reader, available at www.sec.gov/xbrl, allows investors to search for a company […]

Government auditors have again rapped the Securities and Exchange Commission on its regulatory knuckles, saying the agency should modernize its technology to improve its oversight of stock exchanges and other self-regulatory organizations. The Government Accountability Office issued a report last month saying that even as SROs refer more inquiries to the SEC for possible investigation, […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved another suite of rule changes to help small companies get faster, easier access to capital. At an open meeting on Dec. 10, the Commission adopted amendments to expand eligibility requirements of Form S-3 and Form F-3. That will allow some companies that don’t meet current public float requirements […]

The new federal contracting rule that requires all companies doing business with the federal government to have an effective ethics and compliance program in place hasn’t even started yet, and already there is clamoring to change it. Federal Acquisition Rule Subpart 3.10, which will come into effect on Dec. 24, compels companies with government contracts […]