The Center for Audit Quality and Audit Analytics recently released their 2016 Audit Committee Transparency Barometer. The report is based on a review of proxy statements filed through the end of June 2016 by companies in the...more
Last week, the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) issued a Risk Alert regarding examinations of investment adviser and broker-dealer registrants' compliance with key whistleblower provisions...more
As the Obama administration winds down, the number of administration officials leaving the government will increase dramatically. The traditional exodus that accompanies the end of a presidential administration creates...more
Speaking at the American Law Institute’s Conference on Accountants’ Liability in September, Andrew Ceresney, Director of the Division of Enforcement of the Securities and Exchange Commission, reviewed in detail the SEC’s...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to pursue enforcement actions against companies for whistleblower-related violations. The latest in a recent string of settled orders, which include the SEC's first case...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced settlements with two companies for using severance agreements that allegedly violated Rule 21F-17. [Order Instituting Cease-And-Desist Proceedings, In the Matter...more
Recently, a group of prominent corporate executives, including Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon, as well as investment managers and institutional investors, issued a set of “Commonsense Principles of Corporate Governance.”...more
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced settlements with two companies for using severance agreements that allegedly violated Rule 21F-17. Rule 21F-17 provides that “[n]o person may take any action...more
As has been widely reported, in recent months the Securities and Exchange Commission has raised concerns about the use of non-GAAP measures by public reporting companies, through public speeches, revised compliance guidance...more
Since 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission, under the direction of Chair Mary Jo White, has undertaken a “Disclosure Effectiveness Initiative” aimed at improving the content and presentation of disclosures by...more
On May 11, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board unanimously agreed to repropose a revised auditing standard governing the contents and form of the audit report delivered by registered public accounting firms in their...more
On May 17, 2016, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance escalated the SEC’s efforts to curb perceived misuse of non-GAAP financial measures with the issuance of a revised set of Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations...more
5/26/2016
/ C&DIs ,
Earnings Reports ,
EBITDA ,
Financial Reporting ,
Form 8-K ,
GAAP ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation G ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On May 9, the Securities and Exchange Commission, as expected, issued an order approving the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s rules requiring that accounting firms disclose in a new PCAOB form the names of audit...more
Consistent with its current focus on internal control over financial reporting (ICFR), the Securities and Exchange Commission recently sanctioned a company and individuals for failing to adequately evaluate and audit the...more
3/26/2016
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Audit Committee ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Internal Controls ,
PCAOB ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sanctions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Speaking at the Directors Forum in San Diego recently, SEC Enforcement Director Andrew Ceresney reviewed the SEC’s historical and current enforcement activity in the area of issuer reporting and disclosure, as well as the...more
As part of its annual budget process for 2016, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board reviewed the priorities set forth in its 2015-2019 Strategic Plan.
Commenting on the adoption of its $257.7 million budget for...more
In a December 9 address at the 2015 AICPA National Conference on SEC and PCAOB Developments, SEC Chair Mary Jo White discussed the “heavy demands” placed on audit committees. In particular, she suggested that new,...more
Culminating a process begun in 2009, and that encompassed a concept release and three separate rule proposals, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has adopted new auditor transparency rules. The rules will require...more
In recent remarks at the 34th Annual Current Financial Reporting Issues Conference hosted by Financial Executives International, SEC Commissioner Michael S. Piwowar discussed the status of International Financial Reporting...more
The Center for Audit Quality and Audit Analytics recently released their 2015 Audit Committee Transparency Barometer. The report is based on a review of proxy statements filed through the end of June 2015 by companies in the...more
In its fourth annual report on enhanced audit committee reporting to shareholders, Ernst & Young reports that “the previously observed trend of Fortune 100 companies going beyond minimum disclosure requirements and providing...more
On July 1, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued its long-anticipated concept release on Possible Revisions to Audit Committee Disclosures. The concept release notes the important function of the public company...more
Highlights -
- As mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed rules requiring national securities exchanges to require listed companies to develop, implement and disclose policies...more
7/16/2015
/ Clawbacks ,
Corporate Governance ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial Reporting ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Listing Standards ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Section 10D ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stock Exchange ,
Total Shareholder Return (TSR)
At an open meeting on June 30, 2015, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board unanimously voted to publish a supplemental request for comment on potential rules to require the disclosure of certain audit participants on...more
As part of its audit committee outreach efforts, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has established a webpage called "Audit Committee Dialogue" focusing on recurrent areas of concern identified by the PCAOB over...more