All Compliance Week articles in Web Issue – Page 692
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Article
Comment Letter Conversations Get a Bit Easier
Those awkward conversations you have with SEC staff when they comment on your periodic filings? They’re getting easier. The number of comment letter conversations has fallen 50 percent in the last five years, suggesting overall improvement in financial reporting. “Obviously internal controls have gotten better at companies, and that certainly ...
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Taxing Times Ahead on Revenue Standard
Among the many issues companies must address as they adopt the new revenue recognition standard, tax consequences are gaining more attention. The IRS is seeking comment on how burdensome tax reporting might become, and the standard’s fundamental shift in recognizing revenue could make the burden quite heavy. “There’s a lot ...
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Blog
‘Outsider Trading’ Crackdown Announced
The Justice Department and SEC both announced high-profile cases on Tuesday against a large group of hackers and traders. Over a five-year period, the group allegedly carried out a scheme that involved hacking more than 150,000 confidential press releases from the computer networks of Marketwired, PR Newswire Association, and Business ...
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Article
SEC Pushes New Limits on Cyber-Security, Securities Fraud
Another byproduct of life in the cyber-security age: The SEC is redefining insider trading to focus more on improper trading, even if you are a thief mining a company for inside information without actually working there. The misconduct—called, yes, “outsider trading”—seems to be an SEC-enforceable offense so far, and it ...
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Blog
On the Death of Cecil the Lion and the FCPA
By now most everyone knows that in July, U.S. citizen and big game hunter Walter Palmer traveled to Zimbabwe and then shot and killed Cecil the Lion, a protected animal. What does that have to do with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act? Quite a lot, columnist Tom Fox notes. This ...
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Blog
Eastern Bank Taps Former CFPB Deputy Director as CCO
Eastern Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Boston, announced this week that it has appointed Steven Antonakes as chief compliance officer. Antonakes most recently served as Deputy Director and the Associate Director for Supervision, Enforcement, and Fair Lending at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Details inside.
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Blog
FASB Proposes Fixes to Narrow Hedge Accounting Issues
FASB is proposing some changes to hedge accounting rules to help companies apply the rules consistently. One proposed update would try to resolve varied approaches around a four-step decision sequence to determine whether certain instruments should be treated as embedded derivatives; another addresses questions about whether a change in counterparty ...
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Blog
Flying Into Uncontrollable Regulatory Trouble
Image: At a theoretical level, effective compliance programs are fairly straightforward: Risky activity is found; control is implemented; regulatory compliance is achieved. In practice … well, compliance officers may have tougher times ahead. This week, Editor Matt Kelly takes the example of the humble unmanned drone and looks at a ...
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Blog
Former Wells Fargo Compliance Officer Wins SEC Case
A former compliance officer of Wells Fargo Advisors who faced an enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission last year for allegedly altering a document before it was provided to the SEC during an investigation has won dismissal of her case. “Wells Fargo clearly had much deeper and more ...
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Blog
NCR Dodges FCPA Enforcement Action by SEC
NCR, an automated-teller machine company, recently announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission has decided not to recommend an enforcement action against it in connection with a previously disclosed investigation into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The allegations related to the company’s compliance with the FCPA and ...
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Blog
Vantage Drilling Company Self-Reports FCPA Probe
Offshore drilling contractor, Vantage Drilling Company, announced this month in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has launched an internal investigation into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Vantage said it is investigating allegations in connection with an agent's "role in obtaining bribes on ...
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Blog
CAQ Names Senior Director of Professional Practice
The Center for Audit Quality has hired Catherine Nance as senior director of Professional Practice. In her new role, Nance will lead the CAQ’s regulatory and public policy initiatives and activities. Details inside.
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Blog
Standard Chartered Beefs Up Efforts to Combat Financial Crime
London-based Standard Chartered today announced a trio of appointments as the banking giant continues to beef up its efforts to combat financial crime following multiple enforcement actions by U.S. enforcement authorities in 2012. One of those appointments includes a new head of sanctions compliance. Details inside.
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Blog
Standard Chartered Names Group Chief Risk Officer
Standard Chartered Bank has appointed Mark Smith as its new group chief risk officer, based in London. Pam Walkden will continue as interim group chief risk officer until Smith joins the bank in January 2016. Details inside.
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Blog
Prudential Names Chief Risk Officer
Prudential has appointed Penny James as group chief risk officer and as an executive director on the Prudential board, effective Sept. 1. She succeeds John Foley, who had taken on the additional role of group chief risk officer in June on an interim basis, following the departure of Pierre-Olivier Bouée. ...
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Blog
VNA Homecare Appoints Corporate Compliance Officer
VNA Homecare has appointed Dawn Richey as corporate compliance officer. She previously served as manager of Emergency Preparedness at Crouse Hospital. Details inside.
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Blog
Piwowar Jabs Again at Pay Ratio Rule
Image: SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar has taken the rare step of publishing a second statement opposing the newly adopted pay ratio disclosure rule (not to be confused with his first statement of outrage last week). The length and tone of the statement add fuel to the theory that his criticisms ...
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Blog
New OCC Task Force on Banking Innovation
Image: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is pulling together a team to consider the regulatory implications of advances in banking technology. “We’re still early in the process, so I can’t tell you exactly where we’ll end up,” OCC director Tom Curry said. He did float the idea ...
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Blog
Beware the 'SEC Impersonator' Scams Targeting Your Money
You might not think that fraudsters impersonating the SEC would be a significant or ongoing problem but the volume of the SEC's "Investor Alerts" on this topic would seem to suggest otherwise.
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Blog
SEC Alleges Accounting Fraud at Miller Energy Resources
The Securities and Exchange Commission is alleging that the former chief financial officer and current chief operating officer of Miller Energy Resources, an oil and natural gas production company, inflated values of oil and gas properties, resulting in fraudulent financial reports for the Tennessee-based company. The audit team leader ...