Avery Dennison has settled two related Securities and Exchange Commission cases over alleged Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations. In an administrative action, the SEC imposed a cease-and-desist order against the consumer product company and ordered it to pay $318,470 in disgorgement and interest. In a civil case, Avery agreed to pay a $200,000 penalty. Avery … Read more »
2009 Data Breach Investigations Report
285 Million records were compromised in 2008. The Verizon Business RISK Team conducted a study of first hand evidence collected during data breach investigations of 90 confirmed breaches as part of their caseload. This 2008 caseload of more than 285 million records, exceeded the combined total from 2004 to 2007. 2009 Data Breach Investigations Report … Read more »
Ten of the Most Embarrassing Data Breaches
I gathered some notable data breaches in preparation for my presentation on the Massachusetts Data Privacy Law as part of my webinar on Wednesday: Preparing for the strictest privacy law in the nation: MA Privacy Law 201 CMR 17. If you wondered why there are so many state laws on data breaches, just take a … Read more »
Sticking Your Head in the Sand and the FCPA
Prosecutors told the jury during Frederic Bourke’s trial that instead of doing adequate due diligence for his investment, he’d “stuck his head in the sand.” A jury convicted him conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and making false statements to federal investigators. How did the head of a prominent handbag company end up in … Read more »
Regulating Private Investment Funds
Last week the Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a hearing on regulating private investment funds. [You can see an archive of the hearing.] The video shows lots of empty Senator chairs at the hearing. Majority Statement from Senator Jack Reed Minority … Read more »
The HITECH Act
I sat in a webinar on CyberSecurity Law: The Best Offense is a Good Defense sponsored by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. One aspect of the presentation was the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. This created the first federal data breach notification law. It also substantially revised HIPAA regulations regarding privacy … Read more »
SEC Proposes Measures to Curtail “Pay to Play” Practices
At yesterday’s Open Meeting, the SEC voted unanimously to propose measures intended to curtail “pay to play” practices by investment advisers that seek to manage money for state and local governments. In 1999, the SEC considered a proposal to curb adviser pay to play practices modeled on MSRB Rule G37 that applies to underwriters of … Read more »
SEC to Consider Pay to Play Rule for Investment Advisers
At the SEC open meeting on Wednesday July 22, the Commission will consider whether to propose a rule to address “pay to play” practices by investment advisers. The proposal is designed, among other things, to prohibit advisers from seeking to influence the award of advisory contracts by public entities through political contributions to or for … Read more »
Complying with Massachusetts Data Protection Regulations
The current deadline for complying with the Massachusetts Data Privacy Law is January 1, 2010. Since the law protects personal data of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, its reach extends well beyond the state borders. TechTarget recently held a seminar on 201 CMR 17. It is tough law to deal with. Even its … Read more »
The Rise in Financial Crime in America
The Economist is reporting that there were over 730,000 counts of suspected financial wrongoing recorded in America last year. Financial institutions filed nearly 13% more reports of fraud compared with 2007. The number of mortgage frauds rose by 23% to almost 65,000. This poses the classic compliance conundrum: Is there more fraud occurring, or is … Read more »