Posts by Matt Kelly
Zoom and FTC Enforcement to Come
A few weeks ago the Federal Trade Commission took an enforcement action against Zoom Technologies for misleading statements Zoom made about the security of its videoconferencing services. The case wasn’t too exciting except for a dissenting statement from one of the Democratic FTC commissioners — which read like a foreshadowing of cybersecurity enforcement in the…
Read MoreMore Misadventures in Leadership
Who knew, compliance officers, that we could spend Thanksgiving weekend musing over yet another example of tone-deaf leadership and the damage it can do to corporate culture? Yet we can do precisely that thanks to Michael Hancock, mayor of Denver. Those of you in Colorado may already know the story. Hancock, like every other sensible…
Read MoreApple Exec Indicted on Bribery Charge
A grand jury indicted one of Apple’s top compliance executives on Monday for offering 200 iPads to a local sheriff’s office in exchange for concealed weapons permits. Tom Moyer, currently Apple’s head of global security and chief compliance officer from 2009 to 2018, was indicted in Santa Clara County on one count of bribing an…
Read MoreBank Regulator Props Up Energy Lending
The Trump Administration is trying to push through a rule that would neuter banks’ ability to consider ethics and reputation issues when offering services — a kiss to the oil & gas industry, and one that would undermine banks’ ability to consider social and ethical factors when evaluating business relationships. The Office of the Comptroller…
Read MoreCompliance Jobs Report: Nov. 20
This week the Compliance Jobs Report has new hires at Augusta University, Bittrex, Fanatics, and several community banks, plus a flock of internal promotions. A compliance vendor just raised a boatload of capital, and we have job openings to note in boxes and banking. And our Meme of the Week! As always, thank you to…
Read MoreSEC Warning on Insider Stock Sales
Two top officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission warned this week that companies should pay more heed to the policies they use to govern senior executives’ stock sales, to prevent even the appearance of impropriety when an executive is selling shares. The comments came from Bill Hinman, director of the Division of Corporation Finance,…
Read MoreOECD Praises U.S. on FCPA
You know those progress reports the OECD publishes from time to time about the anti-corruption enforcement among countries around the world? Well, the group just published its latest report on the United States and gave the country generally high marks. That should come as no surprise to compliance officers, who have witnessed the U.S. government’s…
Read MoreMore on Biden, Compliance, and 2021
Today we pivot back to the incoming Biden Administration and what corporate compliance officers should anticipate as we all plan budgets and priorities for 2021. We have more insight now into who might lead important regulatory agencies under President Biden, and into what policy goals or enforcement efforts a Biden Administration would be able to…
Read MoreSEC Charges Wells Fargo Execs
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged two former top executives at Wells Fargo with misleading investors about the bank’s financial performance — the latest chapter in the endless saga of regulators trying to hold Wells Fargo folks accountable for the bank’s disastrously bad behavior. The SEC charged John Stumpf, who had been CEO of…
Read MoreCompliance Jobs Report: Nov. 13
Another big Compliance Jobs Report this week. We have people leaving Etihad Airways, FirstEnergy, Duke University, and elsewhere; promotions at Endo, Citigroup, and Smucker’s, to name a few. New people hired at Ares Management, COPEC, and more. Plus our usual job openings of note and our Meme of the Week. As always, thank you to…
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