Survey: Many Fear Fraud
Spike in Coming Recession

An exclusive survey from Compliance Week and Deloitte shows many companies expect more fraud in 2009, but don’t necessarily have the internal controls to cope. “We need to prepare for a wave of increased fraud activity, and Corporate America isn’t yet there,” says Michael Spindler of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services. A breakdown of survey results by industry is inside.

Court Narrows FCPA Defense

Bad news for anyone worried about violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: A recent court ruling has made an already tough-to-sell affirmative defense under the anti-bribery statute even harder to use.

Fair-Value Reforms Emerge

At long last, proposals to change fair-value accounting rules are starting to appear—with real implications for Corporate America that run from more disclosure requirements to wholesale changes in regulation of the financial sector.

‘Deemed-Export’ Control Snafus

Foreign nationals can often be a crucial part of your workforce, but they can be a risk for “deemed-export” control violations if they learn sensitive information, even in the normal course of their jobs. Guest Columnist Eric Rudolph, general counsel at Sensata Technologies Corp., offers tips on how to insulate your company from that headache.

The High-Performance GRC System

The latest chapter of the Open Compliance & Ethics Group’s GRC Illustrated series defines what a “high-performance” governance system is, and how to create one even in budget-challenged times. Download our illustration, inside.

Blog of Global Compliance News

Compliance Week is adding a new blog to the news mix this week: Global Glimpses, previously our semimonthly roundup of compliance and governance news overseas. Written by CW London correspondent Neil Baker, the blog starts with news from Europe, Japan, the Middle East, and elsewhere.

Global Attack Continues
on Insider-Trading Cases

Enforcement of insider-trading laws seems to be surging worldwide. In the last two months charges have been filed from Canada to Kenya and even in the historically apathetic Japan. Compliance Week legal Columnist Bruce Carton has more details inside, including an interactive map pinpointing the crackdown.

Pension Rules Fuel Worry

Companies are suddenly fearful they may need to put more cash into their pension plans unless Congress amends the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The law was intended to ensure pensions are adequately funded, but the stock market crash could force companies to put cash into their plans at the worst possible time.

Dude, Where’s My SEC Chairman?

President-elect Barack Obama presented his economic team to the world last week. A new SEC chairman was not part of the picture, and that says a lot. Compliance Week Editor Matt Kelly wonders what that omission might mean for Corporate America and the future of regulation.

SEC Publishes Guidance
to Apply for Bailout Funding

As promised, the SEC has published guidance to help financial institutions accelerate the usual shareholder approval process and participate in the federal financial bailout. The guidance is actually a collection of SEC comment letters, but companies may still find it useful as they prepare proxy filings to issue more securities and apply for federal money.

Rule May Gum Up M&A Pricing

As economic pressures push more companies to merge or acquire their way to survival, a new account rules may soon require them to assign some shelf life to brand names and other intangible assets that may be headed for the shredder. That could complicate efforts to assess the value of an M&A deal.

SEC’s Top Accountant to Depart

SEC Chief Accountant Conrad Hewitt has announced that he will leave the agency at the end of January, the latest in a string of departures as the Bush Administration winds down. More personnel news and gossip can be found in our Scuttlebutt blog.

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