Corporate Governance
Now It’s the Law
President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act at the Ronald Reagan Building today. The clock starts ticking on the compliance and rule-making deadlines. “The fact is, the financial industry is central to our nation’s ability to grow, prosper, compete, and innovate. There are a lot of banks that understand and… » Read More
Financial Reform Passes the Senate
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) issued the following statement on the passage of the Financial Stability Bill: “I congratulate Senator Dodd on an impressive act of legislative leadership, and I also congratulate Majority Leader Reid for pushing this through. The two bills are very similar, and the House is ready to go… » Read More
The Basics of Corporate Structure
Are you’re looking for some basic understanding of corporate organizations, sprinkled with some pro-business propaganda? I have a video for you. The Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S…. » Read More
Tax on Carried Interest? Maybe Not.
Tucked into the Tax Extenders Act of 2009 (H.R. 4213) was a provision targeted at partnership interests held by partners providing services. H.R. 4213 flew through the legislative process of the House of Representatives. It was introduced on December 7, 2009 and passed by the House on December 9, mostly along party lines. The Carried… » Read More
SEC Historical Society
The Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society has launched a new gallery exploring the SEC during the mid to late 1970s: In the Midst of Revolution: The SEC, 1973-1981. “From 1973 to 1981, the securities industry and the SEC experienced revolutionary change that created enormous upheaval, provided new economic opportunity and made the task of… » Read More
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… » Read More
Investor Relations 2.0 After This Proxy Season
Hopefully your annual meeting of investors or shareholders went better than the annual meeting for Fortis. Shareholders in Ghent, Belgium threw shoes, coins and ballot boxes. (There is even video.) Broc Romanek put together his thoughts on Proxy Season Developments: Ten Signs that Things are Changing Online. First Use of Live Internet Voting Soliciting Shareholder… » Read More
Have a Coke and . . . Alternative Billing
Many have been contemplating and prognosticating the death of the billable hour for lawyers. I found it interesting to see a similar movement in the advertising industry. (I was unaware that the advertising industry also worked on a billable hour model.) A story in the latest issue of The Economist points to a movement to… » Read More
Corporate Blogs and Tweets Must Keep SEC in Mind
Richard Brewer-Hay made it into the Wall Street Journal and even got his photograph included. Who is he? He is part of the next wave of investor relations professionals who are using web 2.0 tools to provide investors with company information. In 2008, Richard started using a blog as part of eBay’s investor relations: eBay… » Read More
Combine Risky Mortgages With a Ponzi Scheme
Of course Scott Adams can find humor in Dilbert by combining the worst pieces of the financial industry collapse: risky mortgage loans, a Ponzi scheme, and misaligned executive… » Read More
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About
Compliance Building is published by Doug Cornelius, focusing on compliance and ethical issues for private equity real estate companies. Read more in About.
