Water Cooler News Links for August 9th, 2010
Today’s news links include: Ousted HP chief reportedly reaches settlement with accuse; Two tobacco firms settle FCPA charges; and 10 Worst Places to Live.
Today’s news links include: Ousted HP chief reportedly reaches settlement with accuse; Two tobacco firms settle FCPA charges; and 10 Worst Places to Live.
Among today’s news links: Obama may review regulations affections businesses; FDA review spotlights heart risk of diabetes pill; and Wall Street hiring in anticipation of economic recovery.
Authors from Miller & Chevalier discuss the implications of Senator Chris Dodd’s recent proposal that establishes a new program to reward whistleblowers who assist the SEC in an investigation of securities violations such as violations of the FCPA.
The IRS is strengthening its stance against wealthy “tax dodgers” by ramping up its efforts to prevent international shielding of income. According to multiple reports today, the IRS has new plans that will help it to “weed out wealthy, international tax cheats with renewed urgency.”
Corporate compliance departments and the Internal Revenue Service are doing more to ensure that the business entertainment taking place at sporting events is tangible, not tangential. The MLB is feeling in the effects as many high-priced tickets go unsold.
UBS AG recently reached a settlement with the Swiss government that will include UBS handing over an “unprecedented amount” of information regarding thousands (5,000+) of U.S. account holders to the IRS and DOJ.
By Dan Hurson – Senior Partner in the Hurson Law Firm, LLP.
Buried deep within the President’s historic new proposals to oversee and regulate the financial markets (“Financial Regulatory Reform, A New Foundation”) is the outline of a provision that garnered no headlines but might well become the most effective new anti-fraud regulation of all: rewarding whistleblowers who disclose fraud cases to the SEC. It is surely the only part of the massive proposal that gives insiders with knowledge of wrongdoing a chance to speak up against and even profit from the types of financial and securities fraud that has infected our financial markets in recent years.
This may be the beginning of the golden age of whistleblowing. Protecting them and making their jobs easier is getting increased attention in Congress. While federal qui tam actions initiated by whistleblowers who report fraud against the government have been around for many years, the concept of rewarding those who report on securities fraud (other than insider trading) is new, and revolutionary.
In today’s GRC news roundup, we link to article regarding the IRS hiring compliance employees, the problem with corruption in china, a report outlining critical ethics risks, and the importance of investing in companies with strong corporate governance.
This week’s Compliance Blog Roundup provides to links to stories about outrage over the collapse of Citigroup, the cost of ethics and compliance officers, warnings from Warren Buffett, and the results of an IRS report on nonprofit hospitals.
UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, has agreed to settle charges of conspiracy to commit fraud against the U.S. and the IRS. UBS will pay $780 million and name names of some of its biggest clients. Raoul Weil of USB was recently declared a fugitive after failing to surrender to U.S. authorities on conspiring to help Americans shield assets from the IRS.
