“Exploitative” Chinese companies face new battle to list in US Chinese companies looking to list on US exchanges are set to face tougher scrutiny, thanks to moves to protect investors by Senators and a homegrown accounting scandal. On Wednesday (May 20), the US Senate passed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act by unanimous consent. The […]
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The Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) has shelved proposals that would have limited the power of shareholder advisory firms in corporate decision making. The SEC is scrapping a portion of its proposal that would have forced proxy advisers to submit their voting recommendations to companies for checking before distributing them to investors in advance of […]
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Investors up in arms over SEC climate proposals SEC chairman Jay Clayton has again come under fire for failing to go far enough on climate disclosures, as the regulator pushes to give company bosses yet more control over the information they divulge to investors. SEC commissioner Allison Lee, an experienced securities law practitioner, spoke out […]
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Shortcomings in SEC proposals exposed Minerva Analytics has written a no-holds-barred letter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stressing several major issues with the regulator’s proposed proxy adviser rules. The letter, penned by Minerva CEO Sarah Wilson, makes clear that the rule amendments would have “significant, far-reaching and harmful impacts” on the US […]
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SEC chairman Jay Clayton has faced an extraordinary grilling over the fake investor letters he cited in ‘support’ of the regulator’s proxy advisor rule changes – with a prominent US senator telling him he was “duped”. Clayton was finally forced to answer questions about his part in the fake letter scandal during his testimony before […]
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The chief of UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) has lashed out at the SEC and corporate lobby groups for trying to dampen investor rights. In an opinion piece for the FT this week, chief executive of the PRI Fiona Reynolds strongly criticised what she called “powerful countervailing forces” that were attempting to silence shareholders […]
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A major activist group has launched a petition to fight the SEC’s shareholder proposal rules – already securing nearly two-thirds of the 75,000 target signatories. Credo Action, which represents millions of activists around the globe fighting for progressive change, warned the SEC’s amendments to Rule 14a-8 would silence shareholder activism and protect big corporations from the […]
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A war of words has broken out between investors and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following the regulator’s controversial proposal to amend its proxy voting rules. On 5 November, the SEC proposed new changes to how proxy advisory firms operate – with some criticising the move as a way to limit investors’ ability to hold public companies accountable. Under the proposed changes, proxy advisory firms would […]
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The regulator found PwC had engaged in ‘improper professional conduct’ by performing prohibited non-audit services and breaching the independence rules in connection with 15 SEC-registered audit clients.
PwC partner Brandon Sprankle, who has been with the firm for over 20 years, has also been charged for causing the firm’s independence violations.
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SEC’s Clayton attacks lack of global commitment to combatting corruption The chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a blistering attack on his foreign counterparts for failing to tackle offshore corruption. During his speech at the Economic Club of New York on Monday (9 September), Jay Clayton warned there was a […]
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