Running drills is important. Experience with adverse circumstances is important so that you and your co-workers know what to do if there is a problem. Drills are especially important for dangerous circumstances. There is a reason that building managers, schools and other institutions run fire drills. If there is an actual fire, you will know … Read more »
Year: 2009
Madoff Hearing at the Senate Banking Committee
I will be covering today’s Senate Hearing (”Oversight of the SEC’s Failure to Identify the Bernard L. Madoff Ponzi Scheme and How to Improve SEC Performance“) along with several guest panelists via the interactive discussion below. Please visit this page today at 2:30 pm to join me, Bruce Carton of Securities Docket, Compliance Week editor … Read more »
The SEC’s Madoff Report
The SEC decided to take a look at how it failed to uncover the Madoff fraud. The SEC’s Inspector General has been running an investigation and compiling information. The SEC Inspector General, H. David Kotz, released a public version of their report on August 31: Investigation of Failure of the SEC to Uncover Bernard Madoff’s … Read more »
KPMG Fraud Survey 2009
KPMG Forensic has released their Fraud Survey 2009. The survey shows that many managers remain concerned about fraud. There are plenty of investigations of fraud that may have helped fuel the financial markets meltdown. Record levels of government spending may usher in record levels of fraud, waste, and abuse. In these difficult economic times, managers … Read more »
Rating Agencies and the First Amendment
Rating agencies have long argued that their ratings of securities are constitutionally protected opinions. Many people have pinned some of the responsibility for the financial markets meltdown on the rating agencies. It sure looks like they gave a fair number of these securities a high rating when they were actually toxic. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank … Read more »
Blink and Compliance
I am a little late to the game when it comes to reading some of Malcolm Gladwell’s books. Last week, while on vacation with the family, I managed to read Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. The book is about rapid cognition, the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. … Read more »
When Work Papers are not Subject to the Attorney-Client Privilege
The recent Textron decision is causing quite a kerfuffle. The court permitted Internal Revenue Service to gain access to documents created by the defense-contracting firm to determine whether the company’s calculation of its tax liabilities would pass muster during a possible IRS audit. Textron was trying to shield the documents under the Work-Product Doctrine. Work-Product … Read more »
In-House Counsel as Whistleblowers under SOX
Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (18 USC §1514A) expressly authorizes any “person” alleging discrimination based on protected conduct to file a complaint with the Secretary of Labor and, thereafter, to bring suit in an appropriate district court. There is no exception for lawyers or in-house counsel. Recently, the Ninth Circuit tackled this issue in … Read more »
Social Networking for the Legal Profession
I just finished reading Social Networking for the Legal Profession by Penny Edwards and Lee Bryant. They were nice enough to send me a copy. Penny and Lee used a few quotes from me, referred to some of my writings and used some of my social networking activity as examples. That poor judgment aside, the book … Read more »
Green Initiatives and Compliance Risks
Organizations or all types and sizes are adopting policies to provide standards for environmental responsibility and sustainability initiatives. But adopting green policies may impose risks on your organization if the policies are not properly followed. Perkins Coie published a piece on these risks and issues: Green Policies – Understanding and Addressing Compliance Risks. False Advertising. … Read more »