Blog

  An administrative proceeding filed against SAC Capital Advisors LP founder Steven A. Cohen by the Securities and Exchange Commission should be put on hold because prosecutions of his former employees aren’t fully resolved, the government told an agency judge.   The SEC filed its case against Cohen last year, alleging he failed to supervise former hedge fund managers Mathew Martoma and Michael Steinberg and ignored indications that they illegally traded stocks based on confidential information. Both men were convicted after separate federal trials in Manhattan.   The federal judge who presided over Steinberg’s case “acknowledged the possibility” that Steinberg’s conviction could be overturned after two other portfolio managers found guilty in a related case appealed their convictions in April. In a letter yesterday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Arlo Devlin-Brown asked Brenda P. Murray,…

  El Consejo de Ministros ha aprobado el Proyecto de Ley por el que se modifica la Ley de Sociedades de Capitalcon el fin de mejorar el gobierno corporativo de las empresas.   El texto fue sometida a trámite de audiencia tras su aprobación por el Gobierno en primera vuelta el pasado diciembre e incorpora las propuestas de modificaciones normativas planteadas por la Comisión de Expertos en materia de Gobierno Corporativo. Esta comisión fue creada por Acuerdo del Consejo de Ministros de 10 de mayo de 2013 con el objetivo de elaborar un estudio sobre las mejores prácticas en materia de gobierno corporativo e impulsar las iniciativas al respecto y desarrolla por la Orden ECC/895/2014, del 21 del mismo mes.   La Comisión publicó sus conclusiones el pasado 14 de octubre e incorporó como anexo una serie de propuestas…

  [JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit rejected [ruling, PDF] on Friday challenges to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) [official website] plan to expand broadband Internet service to rural areas. The FCC's plan is a $4.5 billion program which subsidizes high-speed Internet services in high-cost rural areas. The challengers of the FCC plan included many phone companies such AT&T and Verizon Wireless. It has been reported [New York Times report] that the phone companies fear that the FCC program will reduce profits as calls move from different carriers within low populated areas. Upon review, however, the federal appeals court upon believed that the phone companies arguments were "either unpersuasive or barred from judicial review." FCC spokeswoman Kim Heart stated in regards to the approval of Internet expansion to all Americans, "[w]ith today's across-the-board affirmance…

  La consultora bilbaína Informa consulting, especializada encompliance o cumplimiento normativo, ha liderado la constitución de la primera Asociación de Profesionales de la Consultoría y la Formación en Cumplimiento Normativo, a la que se incorporarán desde el inicio más de 150 profesionales y compañías del sector.   Con la entrada en vigor de nuevas normativas, entre otras, la reforma del Código Penal el próximo mes de junio, la reciente publicación de la circular de control interno de la CNMV o el Reglamento de Prevención del Blanqueo de Capitales, las empresas españolas deberán implantar sistemas dirigidos a garantizar el cumplimiento normativo y la defensa de sus intereses en base a estas normas.   Con un nivel destacado en el sector del Compliance y con oficinas en Bilbao, Madrid, Barcelona y Dubai, en…

  Britons are losing jobs and being prevented from travelling abroad because Interpol is circulating alerts based on sharia-influenced debt offences issued by Gulf states, a legal rights group has claimed.   The international police cooperation agency is circulating red notices – its highest level of criminal alert – based on arrest warrants for unfunded cheques, a complaint that would normally be a civil issue in the UK but is a criminal offence under sharia-compliant national laws.   Interpol is now reviewing its procedures but insists red notices are based on states' national penal codes. Offences must be punishable by six months or more in jail, or a minimum two-year sentence if the person is wanted for prosecution, to meet the threshold of being the subject of a red notice.…

  Free speech zones on public university campuses sound wonderful in the abstract—a special zone just for free speech! But don't be fooled. College's sell the idea of free speech zones like used car salesmen. They make students think that they want the zones, but in reality, students don't want them and they don't need them. And in the end, students realize they've been duped.   Several recent news stories highlight the troubling irony of so-called free speech zones on public university campuses: they are used to stifle speech rather than encourage it. In one story, administrators at the University of Hawaii-Hilo stopped two students from handing out free copies of the US Constitution—the very document that gives us the right to free speech—because the students were standing outside the…

  Na tarde da última terça-feira (20/5), ocorreu o seminário sobre "A Lei Anticorrupção", promovido pela OAB/RJ, por meio da Comissão Especial de Anticorrupção, Compliance e Controle Social dos Gastos Públicos. Na ocasião, o presidente do IIEDE, Fábio Medina Osório palestrou sobre o tema "Infrações administrativas, infrações penais e improbidade administrativa", analisando a perspectiva do princípio do "non bis in idem" e da proporcionalidade, bem assim as garantias constitucionais frente aos múltiplos tentáculos sancionadores do Estado contemporâneo.   Medina Osório apontou riscos à segurança jurídica se não houver diálogos entre os entes federativos na regulamentação da nova Lei: "As autoridades administrativas não podem se omitir", alertou. O presidente também reiterou a necessidade do compliance para minorar os riscos da Lei Anticorrupçâo às empresas que se relacionam com o Poder Público:…

  Chinese police have accused a British executive in drugs maker GlaxoSmithKline's China unit of ordering his salespeople to bribe doctors and hospital officials to use the company's products.   Wednesday's announcement marks the first time a foreign employee in China of British-based GSK has been accused in connection with the bribery allegations against the company.   In a statement carried by the official Xinhua news agency, police in the central city of Changsha said Mark Reilly was accused of pressing his sales team to bribe doctors, hospital officials and health institutions. It said that resulted in "illegal revenue" of billions of yuan.   The statement said Reilly and two Chinese executives also were accused of bribing government officials in Beijing and Shanghai.   In April the GSK whistleblower Jarek…

  The country's most senior judges have blamed cuts in legal aid for a surge in unrepresented claimants, outbreaks of courtroom violence, additional litigation and increased costs.   In a written submission to MPs, the Judicial Executive Board implies that the Ministry of Justice's policies aiming to reduce the legal aid bill may have been counter-productive.   The board comprises the most senior judges in England and Wales, including, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, the Master of the Rolls, Lord Dyson, the president of the Queen's Bench, Sir Brian Leveson, and the president of the family court, Sir James Munby.   Their evidence has been sent to the Commons justice select committee which is looking into the effect of changes introduced by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act 2012.…