Month: August 2022

California Flag

California Lawmakers Pass Pay Transparency Bill

Legislation passed by California lawmakers on Aug. 31 would require employers in the state with 15 or more employees to disclose their hourly pay or salary range for all job postings. Governor Gavin Newsom has until Sept. 30 to approve or veto the bill, S.B. 1161, which passed by a Read More

China Audit Access

PCAOB Reaches Landmark Deal with China on Audit Access

The top U.S. audit regulator has signed an agreement with China that marks the first step toward gaining access to complete inspections and investigations of public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board inspects and investigates public accounting firms in more than Read More

Pay equity ratings

SEC Adopts Final Pay Versus Performance Disclosure Rule

It’s been twelve years in the making, but last week the Securities and Exchange Commission finally adopted a rule mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 that will require companies to disclose the relationship between executive pay and the financial performance of the company. The SEC first proposed amendments to Read More

SEC: Granite Construction To Pay $12M Over Financial Reporting Fraud

Granite Construction will pay $12 million in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over financial reporting fraud charges after one of its former executives manipulated the company’s financial performance, the SEC announced. According to the SEC’s complaint, filed Aug. 25 in federal district court in the Northern District Read More

Climate change and SEC

Activists Petition EPA To Crack Down On Fossil-Fueled Heating Appliances

Manufacturers of fossil-fueled heating appliances—such as gas furnaces and water heaters—may be the next industry that will have to commit to reducing its nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. On Aug. 23, more than two dozen environmental, consumer-protection, and public-health organizations formally petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to initiate rulemaking Read More

cybersecurity phone image

Sephora To Pay $1.2M for CCPA Violations In Industrywide Enforcement Sweep

Sephora, a French multinational retail company, must pay $1.2 million in penalties and implement several compliance measures under a proposed settlement with the Office of the California Attorney General (AG) to resolve alleged violations of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The California AG’s proposed settlement with Sephora is part Read More

Whistle

Four California Healthcare Providers To Pay $70.7M In False Claims Act Settlements

A California county organized health system (COHS) and three California healthcare providers have agreed to pay a total of $70.7 million in three separate settlements over alleged violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) and the California False Claims Act (CFCA) concerning the submission of false claims to California’s Medicaid Read More

Money Laundering

U.K. Financial Conduct Authority Fines Citigroup $15M For Trade Monitoring Failures

Citigroup Global Markets has agreed to pay more than 12.5 million pounds ($15 million) in a settlement with the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) resulting from a failure to properly detect market abuse activities. Introduced in 2016, the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) created requirements to monitor for insider dealing, unlawful Read More

Boston Scientific Discloses FCPA Investigation

Medical-device maker Boston Scientific disclosed in a recent regulatory filing that it’s currently under investigation concerning alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. “In March 2022, the company received a whistleblower letter alleging Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations in Vietnam,” Boston Scientific stated in an Aug. 4 quarterly filing. Read More

financial reporting

Federal Reserve Board Publishes Final Guidance For Evaluating Access Requests

The Federal Reserve Board on Aug. 15 published final guidance for evaluating access requests to Federal Reserve Banks accounts and payment services. According to the Federal Reserve Board’s guidance, institutions offering new types of financial products or with novel charters—such as cryptocurrency firms— have grown in recent years, and many Read More