The Securities and Exchange Commission today issued a report cautioning credit rating agencies about deceptive ratings conduct and the importance of sufficient internal controls over the policies, procedures, and methodologies the firms use to determine credit ratings. The report says that because of uncertainty regarding a jurisdictional nexus between the... Read More
In a comment letter recently sent to the SEC, one firm describes how in a span of just 10 days it had already “filed several whistle-blower complaints with the SEC, pursuant to the new statute, involving major Wall Street firms, which filings appear to implicate hundreds of millions of dollars,... Read More
An article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal provides a good, short overview of the issues and differing viewpoints surrounding the SEC’s upcoming broker-dealer fiduciary duty rulemaking. As the article correctly points out, registered investment advisers have long been held to a fiduciary standard vis-a-vis their clients. The brokerage industry has generally resisted... Read More
Steve Quinlivan and Jill Radloff will speak at a seminar sponsored by Minnesota CLE titled “New Wall Street Reform Act.” Steve is chair of the seminar. The date of the event is September 28, 2010. Course information can be found here.
The Dodd-Frank Act contains a number of provisions designed to improve the independence and operations of Compensation Committees. But in doing so, has Congress made it more difficult – if not impossible – for a company’s regular outside law firm to assist its Comp Committee? The Act provides that a... Read More
Bloomberg is reporting the SEC is in a rift over clawback policies. “The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is divided over when to seize pay from executives who unwittingly benefit from accounting fraud, a rift that has triggered internal disagreements over cases, according to people with direct knowledge of the... Read More
The Dodd-Frank Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act both have provisions for whistleblowers. Public companies need to be familiar with all of these provisions. The Dodd-Frank Act provides that if a “whistleblower” provides “original information” in certain judicial or administrative actions, the whistleblower may be entitled to as much as 10... Read More
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) was signed into law by President Obama on July 21, 2010. Referred to by many as the most sweeping financial reform legislation since the 1930s, the Dodd-Frank Act is likely to have a significant impact across the spectrum of... Read More