Francine McKenna, of re: The Auditors, put together a great study on how the Fortune 100 are using Web 2.0 for investor relations. There are some. But for the most part, they are not using web 2.0. The Downside: Only 3 use blogs Only 2 use Facebook Only 2 use Twitter. (Although 4 others do, [...]
Archive | August, 2009
New Liability Under the FCPA: Control Person Liability
The SEC charged Nature’s Sunshine Products Inc. with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after its Brazilian subsidiary made cash payments to customs officials to get their products imported into the country. The SEC also included two officers of the company in those charges. That part of the case was fairly standard. What was new [...]
Self-Reporting Corruption in the UK
As part of its renewed efforts to combat overseas corruption, the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office published its new Approach of the Serious Fraud Office to Dealing with Overseas Corruption . Previously, the Serious Fraud Office saw its role as an after-the-event investigator and prosecutor, difficult for a company to engage except in the context [...]
Pension Security Act of 2009 and its Effect on Private Investment Funds
I missed the introduction of the Pension Security Act. Rep Michael Castle introduced the bills in January and it was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor. It’s a short bill, but would have a big effect on the disclosure of investments in private investment funds. The bill revises a section of the Employee [...]
42
In Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 42 is the number from which all meaning could be derived. A group of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings demand to learn the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything from the supercomputer, Deep Thought. It takes Deep Thought 7.5 million years to compute [...]
Radical Transparency
The current buzzword in the markets is “transparency.” Companies want to be more transparent so investors, customers and partners can better understand the company. Some of this came from Enron, whose operations and financial statements were often called “opaque.” With the growing Web 2.0 it is harder to get secrets as anyone with an internet [...]
Social Media Risk & Rewards
On September 21, 2009, in New York City I will be a speaker at Social Media: Risks & Rewards. This comprehensive, dynamic event will explore the inherent challenges of social media and will arm you with the specific tools necessary to protect your company, your intellectual property and your reputation in today’s virtual world. Find [...]
Executive Compensation, Where Everyone is Above Average
It seems like executive compensation consultants come from Lake Wobegon, where “all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.” I think executives should be compensated for out-performing their peers. They shouldn’t be punished for a negative performance due to external forces if they still out-performed [...]
A Flurry of Stories on Mutual Fund Fees
Over the last few days there has been renewed interest in the upcoming Supreme Court case that will should rule on the fees charged by mutual funds. Back in May, I published Supreme Court to Decide on Investment Company Act Case after they agreed to hear Jones v. Harris Associates, L.P. I didn’t expect much [...]
