Amec Foster Wheeler Limited agreed on Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice to pay a total of more than $43 million related to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The British-based oil and gas services company, owned by John Wood Group PLC, entered Read More
The New York City Bar Association proposed a new framework it hopes will influence decisions by regulators to charge chief compliance officers in certain criminal and civil cases. The move is an attempt to quell growing concerns from enforcement actions that hold financial sector CCOs individually liable for the actions Read More
The Securities and Exchange Commission has released its 2021 “Agency Rule List” to give companies an idea of the regulations in its pipeline and when they can expect them to move forward. The list includes a schedule of proposed and final rules on such topics such as climate change disclosures, Read More
A new study finds that more financial firms are outsourcing all or part of their compliance functions, while others are growing compliance budgets and staff levels more slowly. Meanwhile, a large majority expect regulators to continue to pile on new regulations during the rest of the year. The study, 2021 Read More
Investors and regulators are pushing for more comprehensive and uniform reporting on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts. Some organizations are even tying incentive compensation metrics to ESG goals. In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission said it would be looking more closely at ESG disclosures and also announced the creation of Read More
The recent hack of the Colonial Pipeline, which has crippled the transmission of fuel in the Southeast United States, serves as a stark and alarming reminder to all businesses of the vulnerability of information systems to security breaches, hacks, and ransomware attacks. Over the last several years, most businesses have Read More
The building blocks of reliable, comparable and relevant environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information begin with a foundation of quality reporting by company management. Now companies have a new resource to improve ESG reporting. The American Institute of CPAs and Center for Audit Quality teamed up to provide audit practitioners Read More
The Securities and Exchange Commission voted this week to adopt amendments that will modernize, simplify, and enhance certain financial disclosures, including the Management’s Discussion and Analysis requirement. The changes are intended to enhance the focus of financial disclosures on material information for the benefit of investors, while simplifying compliance efforts Read More
New guidance from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to its Division of Enforcement staff outlines factors to consider when evaluating companies’ compliance programs during enforcement investigations. The guidance reflects a principles-based approach that avoids prescribing specific guidelines for compliance program structures. The CFTC aims to encourage companies to Read More
