All transparency articles
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Blog
Defense requires auditors to disclose disciplinary actions
Audit firms are only days away from facing a U.S. Defense requirement to provide information on disciplinary proceedings as a condition of winning audit contracts.
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Blog
SEC enforcements against accountants taper, report says
SEC enforcement actions against accountants have tapered off the past few years, according to a new analysis, while PCAOB actions jumped and remained high.
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SEC amends rules to improve municipal securities reporting
The SEC has adopted amendments intended to enhance transparency in the municipal securities market. The amendments focus on material financial obligations that could effect liquidity, creditworthiness, and existing security holders’ rights.
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Blog
24 attorneys general push for shell company transparency
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has led a bipartisan group of 24 attorneys general to urge leadership of the House Financial Services Committee to advance legislation improving transparency of shell corporations by requiring them to disclose who controls and profits from their activities.
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Russia’s largest companies lag in transparency efforts
Turns out, the financial disclosure practices of Russia’s largest companies by revenue are pretty dismal. But what best practices can we learn from that? You might be surprised.
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Article
Complying with transparency: the Oxfam lesson
As U.K. charity organization Oxfam deals with its own sexual misconduct scandal, it illustrates the need for organizational transparency.
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Blog
Do partners suffer bad inspection results? Not really, study says
New academic research suggests audit firms may be shielding low-performing partners from client scrutiny by remaining coy about PCAOB inspection results.
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New transparency rolls out in Form AP audit filings
Here’s a call to attention for audit committees. Audit regulators are rolling out a powerful new gift that will help you assess the quality of your external audit.
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U.S. multinationals meet new IRS transparency rule with open arms
You’d think that U.S. multinational companies might not welcome new IRS regulations, but here's one companies can live with. In lieu of potentially multiple filing requirements in countries where they have entities, companies are accepting new country-by-country transparency rules in the United States and preparing to comply. Tammy Whitehouse has ...
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Anti-Corruption Summit puts spotlight on transparency
London hosted the first ever international Anti-Corruption Summit last month to champion the fight against corruption on a global scale, with many countries committing to specific action plans. Jaclyn Jaeger analyzes what this all means for companies.
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Blog
SEC seeks comment on rule requiring naming engagement partners
The SEC is gathering comment on recent PCAOB rules that require audit firms to complete a new filing providing the name of engagement partners on public company audit engagements. PCAOB rules are subject to SEC approval before they can become final, which is why the Commission wants to hear remarks ...
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Blog
2015 Interactive Timeline: A Year of Transparency
Whether it was the Swiss leaks scandal, the European Parliament’s formal adoption of the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, or a movement to require multinational corporations to publicly report financial information on a country-by-country basis, 2015 was a year in which transparency became a watchword across Europe. Take a look at ...
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CFPB Critics Focus Fight on Data Collection
Fights over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are often focused on critics’ perceived lack of accountability and transparency. In recent weeks, those battles have doubled down on concerns about how the agency collects, protects, and uses data on consumers and financial institutions. CFPB foes say it is collecting more information ...
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SEC Enforcement Trends to Watch in 2016
Image: A legal analysis of SEC enforcement brought in 2015, along with recent speeches given by SEC enforcement staff, provide a pretty clear roadmap of where the enforcement staff will continue to focus its top priorities in 2016. “Making sure you are addressing those issues in your compliance programs is ...
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Blog
PCAOB Adopts Form to Name Engagement Partner, Others in Audit
Finally achieving the path of least resistance after multiple prior attempts, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has approved a rule requiring audit firms to identify engagement partners and others outside the firm who contribute to public company audits.
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Blog
Report: Telecom Companies Must Do More to Stop Corruption
The world’s largest telecommunications companies do not disclose enough information on how they organize themselves and even less on each country where they do business, according to a report from Transparency International. The report analyzed the 35 largest telecom companies, ranking them on the measures they take to prevent corruption, ...
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Blog
Clawbacks, Other Reforms Drive Better Pay Disclosure
A new study from Deloitte finds that FTSE 100 companies have dramatically improved their disclosures around executive pay in recent years, probably in no small part due to new clawback provisions and other governance requirements adopted lately. (New regulations on pay disclosure were rolled out last year, such as a ...
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Blog
A Focus on Transparency—of Auditing
Expect lots of talk about transparency into auditing this fall. The SEC and PCAOB both have proposals to expand the disclosure to investors of how audits work, and what roles audit firms and audit committees play. Substantive changes are almost certainly coming, columnist Scott Taub says, so it’s time to ...
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Article
Refresher Course on Discipline of Good Investigations
Image: The damage wrought by inept internal investigations can go well beyond wasted time and money; they can cause civil litigation, enforcement risk, and bad publicity. This week we have a refresher on principles for good internal investigations, something every compliance officer must know how to do well. “Ninety percent ...