Author: Joseph McCafferty

Pay equity ratings

Facebook, Disney, and Walmart Earn an ‘F’ on Pay Equity Practices

A new report gives some companies a failing grade for racial and gender pay equity and their efforts to disclose and act on such pay disparity. Goldman Sachs, Facebook, Disney, Oracle, and Walmart were among the companies that received an “F” for their public pay equity disclosures and practices. Of Read More

Dept of Justice false claims act

Justice Department False Claims Act Settlements Topped $5.6 Billion in 2021

The Justice Department obtained more than $5.6 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving the False Claims Act during the 2021 fiscal year. It was the second largest annual total in the history of cases of fraud and false claims against the U.S. government under the law, and Read More

SEC seal

SEC to Revisit Dodd-Frank Rules on Executive Compensation Disclosure

The Securities and Exchange Commission is revisiting Dodd-Frank Act era rules that require companies to disclose more information about how their executive pay lines up with the company’s financial performance. This week the agency proposed new rules that is said would better reflect Congress’ intent to shed light on corporate Read More

Rocket Launch

FTC Sues to Block Lockheed’s Purchase of Rocket Engine Company

The Federal Trade Commission has sued to block Lockheed Martin’s $4.4 billion proposed deal to buy Aerojet Rocketdyne, the last independent U.S. supplier of missile propulsion systems. The move could signal an emboldened FTC that could look to provide greater scrutiny on deals it considers potentially harmful to competition. Aerojet Read More

Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse Unit Fined $9 Million for Compliance Failures

Securities industry regulator FINRA has hit Credit Suisse Securities with a $9 million fine for failing to comply with rules requiring firms to disclose potential conflicts of interest when issuing research reports and for violating the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Customer Protection Rule. As part of the settlement, FINRA also Read More

PWC investigation

U.K. Audit Watchdog Expands Investigation into PwC over Babcock Audits

The United Kingdom’s Financial Reporting Council has expanded its investigation into audits conducted by Big Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers of Babcock International Group to include the fiscal years 2019 and 2020. The FRC was already investigating the accounting firm’s audits of the U.K. defense contractor in 2018 and 2017, after spot Read More

fines against banks declined in 2021

Report: Enforcement Fines to Financial Firms Declined by Half in 2021

A new report finds that regulatory enforcement actions against financial institutions and their employees totaled $5.4 billion for non-compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and data privacy regulations last year, in comparison to $10.6 billion in 2020, a decline of just under 50 percent. The report, issued by Fenergo, which provides Read More

SEC Making New Push to Adopt Tabled Compensation Clawback Rule

The Securities and Exchange Commission appears to be making a new effort to pass clawback rules that would require executives to pay back compensation that was obtained by hitting incentive goals that were later found to be false or inaccurate. The rule was included in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Read More

U.S. Treasury Building

Treasury Releases Long-Awaited Plan for Future Use of Sanctions

The U.S. Treasury Department released the results of a broad review of its use of economic and financial sanctions and issued five recommendations to “preserve and enhance their effectiveness” in supporting national security going forward. “Sanctions are a fundamentally important tool to advance our national security interests,” said Deputy Secretary Read More