Posts Tagged ‘SEC enforcement’
Two Companies, Two Cyber Enforcement Actions
These may be the final days of the Biden Administration, but enforcement in cybersecurity still marches onward: two different regulators just sanctioned two different companies for two different types of cybersecurity failure. Let’s take a look. First is GoDaddy.com, one of the largest web hosting businesses in the world. The Federal Trade Commission spanked GoDaddy…
Read MoreQuestions for Incoming SEC Chairman
Last week President-elect Trump said he will nominate Paul Atkins to be the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Now compliance and audit professionals can start considering how an Atkins-led SEC will shape corporate compliance for the next few years, and there are lots of questions to contemplate here. Start with the biographical…
Read MoreUPS Fined $45M for Bad Goodwill Moves
The Securities and Exchange Commission has fined UPS $45 million for covering up a nearly $500 million goodwill impairment the company should have disclosed in a poorly performing business unit, until the company sprang the bad news on investors more than a year later — an astonishing lapse of internal control for such a large,…
Read MoreSEC Hits Four Cos. on Cyber
The Securities and Exchange Commission sanctioned four companies this week for poor disclosure of cybersecurity incidents they suffered, the latest reminder from the agency that it expects companies to be more forthcoming with investors about the cyber issues they have. The sanctions were announced Tuesday against four companies, all of which made inadequate or misleading…
Read MoreMoog Dinged on FCPA Violations
The Securities and Exchange Commission served up a rather hum-drum FCPA enforcement action last week. While the case certainly isn’t a show-stopper, it does offer compliance professionals a few insights about corporate corruption; so let’s fulfill our due diligence obligations and study it. The company is Moog Inc., maker of motion controls systems for aerospace,…
Read MoreAnother Take on Messaging Apps
For nearly three years now, the Securities and Exchange Commission has fired off one enforcement action after another at the financial services industry for employees’ improper use of messaging apps. Today let’s consider two contrarian voices that raise a fair question: exactly how are firms supposed to satisfy this nearly impossible compliance goal? Those contrarian…
Read MoreLessons From Deere FCPA Sanction
Deere & Co. is paying $10 million to settle one of the more colorful FCPA cases we’ve seen in a while, replete with Thai massage parlors, envelopes of cash, sketchy overseas agents — and even a few lessons about compliance fundamentals from due diligence of acquisitions to program remediation. Let’s take a look. The Securities…
Read MoreK-Cup Disclosures Cost Keurig $1.5M
Well here’s news that will wake up all you sustainability reporting enthusiasts: the Securities and Exchange Commission just fined coffee giant Keurig Dr. Pepper $1.5 million for making misleading disclosures about the recyclability of those little K-cups. The SEC announced the enforcement action Tuesday morning. According to the settlement order, Keurig stated in its annual…
Read MoreAnother Pre-Taliation Sweep!
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s campaign against companies using pre-taliation language in their employment contracts continues, with seven businesses sanctioned this week for making employees sign away their eligibility for whistleblower rewards. In total the companies will pay more than $3 million in penalties. The SEC announced its enforcement action Monday morning. The worst offender,…
Read MoreA Fresh Example of Poor Control Environment
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a Massachusetts company with allowing a poor control environment and weak segregation of duties, which in turn allowed one of the company’s corporate finance directors to inflate his division’s financial performance for years. The company in question is Circor International, a maker of industrial valve systems for the…
Read More