Apr 15
Investor claims were recently dismissed by a California district court against Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (“Mellanox”) for allegedly providing false or misleading statements related to the company’s prominence in the interconnect market and its prospects for future growth and revenue generation. The Court found that Mellanox had adequately cautioned investors regarding the risks associated with the …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/04/cautionary-language-is-key-in-securities-litigation-dismissal/
Apr 14
Andrew Barton, Director of the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) recently gave a speech entitled “People Handling Other People’s Money”, where he drew on his experience to make assessments of the sources of investor harm. He described how, despite people “trying to do the right thing by their clients, colleagues, owners and…even …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/04/sec-director-speaks-to-root-causes-of-investor-harm/
Apr 09
Economic crime is increasingly plaguing U.S. firms according to a recent survey by PWC. Key findings include: “45% of organizations in the U.S. suffered from some type of fraud in the past two years, more than the global average of 37%. More than half of U.S. organizations that experienced fraud in the last two years reported an …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/04/fraud-on-the-rise/
Apr 07
The European Parliament has adopted new rules regarding the statutory audit of public-interest entities in an effort to “considerably improve audit quality across the European Union and … ensure that auditors are key contributors to economic and financial stability….by strengthening of the independence of statutory auditors, making the audit report more informative, and improving audit supervision …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/04/eu-requires-10-year-auditor-rotation-and-other-efforts-to-improve-audit-quality/
Apr 03
In Lexmark Int’l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc., (U.S., No. 12-873, 3/25/14), the U.S. Supreme Court recently determined that a company can assert a false advertising claim against a non-competitor under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act if it can “show economic or reputational injury flowing directly from the deception wrought by the defendant’s …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/04/non-competitor-can-get-false-advertising-damages/
Apr 02
In a sharply-divided 2-1 vote, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals found that a civil disgorgement amount can exceed the profit that the defendant received. Although the case facts and Opinion directly involved insider trading in an action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the rationale could presumably be applied in other wrongful conduct. …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/04/disgorgement-remedy-potentially-broadened-by-second-circuit/
Apr 01
Historically, loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) that were paid before maturity were subject to interest charges for the full final month in which they were repaid. Not surprisingly, home sellers with closing dates early in the month have long complained about this practice, which increases their transaction costs. In arguing against the …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/04/fha-to-eliminate-phantom-interest-charges-for-future-borrowers/
Mar 29
On March 25, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of the IRS over whether certain severance compensation is subject to payroll taxes. My prior blog post on this Sixth Circuit case is here. The Supreme Court ruled 8-0 to overturn the Sixth Circuit decision. This case would have had huge tax impact had the …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/03/severance-payments-remain-fica-taxable/
Mar 26
A New Jersey man recently entered a guilty plea for his ongoing theft of quarters derived from parking meters. The individual, who had access to the room where the parking meter change was kept, took “handfuls” of change on a regular basis over approximately two years. At the end of the period, the theft had …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/03/quarter-theft-stacks-up/
Mar 25
Protiviti’s 2014 Internal Audit Capabilities and Needs Survey Report queried more than 600 internal audit professionals about the social media risks that threaten their businesses. The five largest are: Financial loss Interrupted business continuity Loss of intellectual property Loss of employee productivity Viruses and malware However, despite this awareness of the risks, many companies are still not adequately …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/03/internal-audits-top-priorities-include-social-media/