Harvard Corporate Governance

JUNE 19, 2025

It is unclear what the agency will repropose next year regarding ESG and investment duties for ERISA fiduciaries. CAR 2025-01 appears to reaffirm the agency’s historically neutral approach to investing, which neither endorses nor disapproves of specific investment categories.

Compliance

Global Finance

DECEMBER 27, 2024

Often referred to as dry powder, this cash pile has been accumulating since the last big global mergers-and-acquisitions blowout, in 2021, when volume reached a whopping $5.9 Smaller firms are struggling to compete with the larger players that can better absorb regulatory compliance costs and invest in new technology, he notes.

Equity

Global Finance

MARCH 20, 2025

According to S&P Global Ratings, operational costs for European banks increased by over 4% annually from 2021 to 2023 , emphasizing the need for effective cost management strategies. This must be done by working with risk management and compliance with legal teams in a bank.

Banking

ThomsonReuters

MARCH 3, 2025

Take for instance, the many tax-related changes enacted under The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017; the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in 2020; the Coronavirus Response and Consolidated Appropriations Act in 2021; and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Treasury

Harvard Corporate Governance

DECEMBER 30, 2022

billion in penalties in enforcement actions in 2022, nearly three times the figure in 2021. Increasingly, as part of settlements, the commission has insisted that companies retain an independent compliance consultant who will report back to the staff of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement on compliance-related undertakings.

Compliance

Harvard Corporate Governance

JUNE 6, 2022

In 2021, 59 Fortune 500 companies appointed new General Counsels. In comparison to previously hired Fortune 500 General Counsels, those appointed in 2021 are more likely to: Be female and ethnically diverse. General Counsels appointed in 2021 are more diverse. This post is based on their Russell Reynolds memorandum.

Compliance

Harvard Corporate Governance

APRIL 30, 2022

We also provide our views on where the rules fit into governance, compliance and disclosure more broadly. More recently, with the January 2021 change-over in administration and the resulting shift in rulemaking philosophy, climate disclosure has been an area of increasing SEC focus. A Bit of Background and the Broader Context.

Corporate Finance

Harvard Corporate Governance

APRIL 26, 2022

Fiscal Year 2021 Highlights. In FY 2021, the Division completed 3,040 examinations, which represent a 3% increase from the prior year, and is on par with prepandemic fiscal year 2019. Importance of Compliance Programs. The SEC highlighted some key metrics from the prior fiscal year.

Compliance

Harvard Corporate Governance

JULY 9, 2022

There was substantial movement between 2019 and 2022—no surprise, given the significant upheaval and challenges companies faced in 2020 and 2021. As we wrote in Harvard Business Review in 2020, “Reviewing financial statements, audit activities, and compliance activities are the responsibility of the board, not the mission of the board.

Compliance

ISA

AUGUST 16, 2022

As a reminder, your appraisal reports are written to the current published edition of USPAP, which is the 2020-2021 edition. For those members who last attended USPAP in 2021, you will need to take the 2022-2023 7-Hour Update Course by the end of 2023. Remember that the Update Course is no longer tied to a USPAP manual update.

Appraisal

ThomsonReuters

JANUARY 21, 2021

Department of Labor Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Annual Adjustments for 2021, 86 Fed. The DOL has announced the 2021 annual adjustments to the civil monetary penalties for a wide range of benefit-related violations. EBIA Comment: These penalties cover a wide range of benefit plan compliance failures.

Compliance

Harvard Corporate Governance

NOVEMBER 27, 2022

The vast majority of S&P 500 companies are now tying executive compensation to some form of ESG performance— growing from 66 percent in 2020 to 73 percent in 2021. In somecases, the rationale may be obvious, such as when a company includes compliance-related goals in the wake of a widespread compliance failure.

Compliance

Harvard Corporate Governance

DECEMBER 8, 2022

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its enforcement results for the 2022 fiscal year (October 1, 2021 – September 30, 2022). increase over 2021. billion more than was collected in 2021. We expect compliance.” On November 15, 2022, the U.S. These numbers are still down substantially from pre-Covid years.

Compliance

ThomsonReuters

FEBRUARY 10, 2022

DOL Fact Sheet: FY 2021 MHPAEA Enforcement; Appendix: MHPAEA Guidance Compendium. The DOL has issued a fact sheet summarizing 2021 mental health parity enforcement activity conducted by the DOL and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Fact Sheet. Here are highlights: Investigation Process. Enforcement Actions.

Compliance

ThomsonReuters

FEBRUARY 15, 2021

For businesses and multinationals doing business in or with the UK, Brexit has created an avalanche of trade compliance complications. Toward that end, in May the UK announced its own new tariff regime —the UK Global Tariff (UKGT)—which applies to goods imported into the UK after January 1, 2021. A new tariff regime: The UKGT.

Compliance

Harvard Corporate Governance

AUGUST 14, 2022

Compare that to 47 companies that did the same in all of 2021, the highest number of such deals in more than a decade, according to Dealogic. On the flip side, public companies have found it less and less appealing to be public, with more stringent regulatory compliance and listing requirements.

Private Equity Firm

Harvard Corporate Governance

JUNE 11, 2022

We are focusing on items where the SEC seems to have ventured beyond what investors and other frameworks have called for, or where the SEC seems to have misjudged the challenges of compliance. We would urge the Commission to distinguish between types of commenters.

Compliance

N Contracts

AUGUST 22, 2023

Wh en the DOJ announced its Combatting Redlining Initiative in October 2021, it was the department’s “most aggressive and coordinated” enforcement effort against financial institutions.

Compliance

ThomsonReuters

MARCH 27, 2024

The amount of money that’s not being paid in taxes has almost doubled in recent years, from $39 billion in 2016 to $77 billion in 2021. To address this issue, the IRS is now taking steps to improve non-filer compliance. Holding non-filers accountable hasn’t been as highly prioritized in recent years.

Compliance

Harvard Corporate Governance

MAY 11, 2022

Relative to the Division’s 2021 priorities , which we wrote about here , the Division’s 2022 priorities clearly indicate that the Division is expanding its regulatory scrutiny of ESG-related investing, product development, product offerings and disclosures. In this post, we address the examinations related to ESG investing.

Compliance

Harvard Corporate Governance

JUNE 2, 2022

In our 2021 Annual Corporate Directors Survey, 47% of directors indicated that at least one of their peers should be replaced. Assessments can be used to determine if boards are using their time during meetings on the right topics and whether their agendas are balanced to include strategic, compliance and tactical topics.

Compliance

ThomsonReuters

MAY 27, 2022

Importers need to be aware of the regulations in the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act , which was signed into law in December 2021. While useful, these actions carry a heavy burden on supply chain staff, there’s an increased rate of error, and compliance costs as well as penalties for noncompliance are high.

Compliance

Harvard Corporate Governance

APRIL 23, 2022

identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender” by the end of 2021. Under AB 979, the California Secretary of State must report annually on companies’ compliance with the law and may impose fines of $100,000 for an initial violation and $300,000 for each subsequent violation.

Compliance

Harvard Corporate Governance

OCTOBER 13, 2022

We identified 13 such proposals in the first half of 2022, compared to just four during all of 2021. The majority (53%) requested disclosure reports detailing strategies, use and trend metrics, compliance efforts and similar information about single use plastic and packaging materials.

Compliance

Harvard Corporate Governance

MAY 20, 2022

The SEC, for instance, has enhanced its enforcement capabilities in this area with the formation of a Climate and ESG Task Force in March 2021.

Data Analysis

Harvard Corporate Governance

JUNE 29, 2022

In order to provide an overview for busy in-house counsel and compliance professionals, we summarize below some of the most important SEC enforcement developments from the past month, with links to primary resources. This post is based on their Morrison & Foerster memorandum. 22nd Century Group, Inc. ;

Compliance

ThomsonReuters

MARCH 16, 2023

Below are highlights of both reports: Compliance Report. This report summarizes key HIPAA enforcement activities undertaken by OCR during 2021, including the number of complaints received and the method by which those complaints were resolved. OCR received 34,077 complaints in 2021—25% more than in 2020.

Compliance

Harvard Corporate Governance

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

In order to provide an overview for busy in-house counsel and compliance professionals, we summarize below some of the most important SEC enforcement developments from the past month, which was an active one as the SEC Division of Enforcement closed out its fiscal year. This post is based on their Morrison & Foerster memorandum.

Compliance

Harvard Corporate Governance

APRIL 26, 2022

According to Stanford University’s 2022 AI Index Report , private investment in AI in 2021 totaled approximately $93.5 billion—more than double the previous year. But balanced against this promise are significant business risks.

Compliance

ThomsonReuters

MARCH 11, 2021

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, H.R. ARPA establishes a 100% COBRA premium subsidy for certain assistance eligible individuals (AEIs) during the period beginning on April 1, 2021 (the first day of the first month beginning after the bill is signed by the President), and ending on September 30, 2021. Available at [link].

Compliance

Harvard Corporate Governance

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

While 40% of directors were found to be ESG conscious with some level of knowledge in the space, only 8% of board directors were found to be competent and capable of effective, embodied action, according to a 2021 study of the top 100 public corporations internationally.

Banking

ThomsonReuters

JUNE 30, 2022

CMS: 2021 Compliance Review Program Findings (May 2022); EFT and ERA: Payment Remittance Reassociation Basics (June 2022). The CMS National Standards Group (NSG) has issued a report summarizing updated findings from its administrative simplification compliance review program. Fact Sheet. Contributing Editors: EBIA Staff.

Compliance

ThomsonReuters

MAY 10, 2022

have been reinstated through the passing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law on November 15, 2021. And finally, this situation is exacerbated by a lack of compliance process automation (i.e., Ensure end-to-end compliance. Who is affected by Superfund and what are their challenges? tcortright@kpmg.com ).

Compliance

Audit Board

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

In the latest installment in our Spotlight on Success series, Brittany McKinley, Internal Audit Manager at Elevations Credit Union , shares how she leverages AuditBoard’s simple platform to take an agile approach to maintaining compliance with complex financial services regulations.

Compliance

Audit Board

NOVEMBER 8, 2023

To meet the PCI DSS standards, companies need to understand their unique compliance requirements, their payment applications, payment processing workflows, and the system components and sensitive data that makes up their CDE. Nilson reported that payment card fraud cost a collective $32 billion internationally in 2021.

Compliance

Harvard Corporate Governance

DECEMBER 3, 2022

When we first looked at ESG reporting for biotech companies in 2021, relatively few companies had reported any ESG data. Overall, 29, or approximately 60%, of the subject companies provided ESG disclosure on either platform in 2022, more than double the number providing ESG disclosure on either platform — 11, or approximately 22% — in 2021.

Compliance

Reynolds Holding

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

Since 2021, Gurbir and I frequently discussed, including at conferences like this one, that we would prioritize restoring investor trust and confidence in the financial markets by emphasizing robust enforcement that works to promote a culture of compliance among market participants. [1] After all, compliance has costs.

Compliance