Audit, Compliance and Risk Blog

Currently Proposed Changes to U.S. Lease Accounting Rules

Posted by STP Editorial Team on Fri, Nov 08, 2013

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), under their joint Leases Project, propose to substantially revise the existing rules for lease accounting.

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Tags: Business & Legal, Accounting & Tax, Lease Accounting, Accountants, US GAAP, GAAP

SEC Proposes Crowdfunding Rules for Private Securities Offerings

Posted by Jon Elliott on Wed, Nov 06, 2013

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Tags: Corporate Governance, Business & Legal, SEC, JOBS Act

Officially Linked: California and Quebec GHG Cap-and-Trade Programs

Posted by STP Editorial Team on Mon, Nov 04, 2013

In late September 2013, California’s Air Resources Board (ARB) and the government of Quebec signed an agreement to harmonize and integrate their cap-and-trade programs for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. California’s GHG programs under AB 32 will be officially linked with Quebec’s programs beginning January 1, 2014.

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Tags: Business & Legal, California Legislation, Environmental risks, Environmental, Greenhouse Gas, ghg, climate change, Canadian

Knight Capital Pays $12 Million for SEC Violations

Posted by Viola Funk on Thu, Oct 31, 2013

In the wake of a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation, Knight Capital Americas LLC has agreed to pay a $12 million penalty for violating the SEC’s market access rule. On August 1, 2012, Knight Capital’s automated equity router incorrectly sent 4 million orders into the market in the first 45 minutes of trading while attempting to fill a mere 212 customer orders. Stock prices of nearly 150 companies listed on the NYSE were severely disrupted, and Knight Capital’s stock price collapsed. SEC sleuthing revealed that the glitch was the result of deploying new code in an old, compromised router.

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Tags: Corporate Governance, Business & Legal, SEC

Workplace Bullying and Harassment: New Rules for British Columbia

Posted by Jon Elliott on Mon, Oct 28, 2013

Workers throughout the United States and Canada are protected by occupational health and safety laws, administered by federal, and state or provincial worker safety agencies—such as the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Workers' Compensation Board of British Columbia (WorkSafeBC). Most of these agencies recognize workplace violence as a potential hazard, although regulatory requirements associated with this hazard vary considerably among jurisdictions. Effective November 1, 2013, British Columbia supplements its longstanding workplace violence prevention requirements with requirements for "all reasonable steps to prevent where possible, or otherwise minimize, workplace bullying and harassment." BC provides separate, complementary rules for:

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Tags: Corporate Governance, Business & Legal, Employer Best Practices, Employee Rights, Training, Workplace violence, Canadian

Alert: Upcoming Changes to Requirements for Safety Recalls

Posted by STP Editorial Team on Wed, Oct 23, 2013

Do you know about these changes? Do you know their effective dates? Is your company ready to comply with each and every change? If your answer to any of these is “no”, or you have no idea what this alert is about, you’ll want to see the Federal Register notice that announced and described these changes. A copy can be found here.

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Tags: Business & Legal, Health & Safety, OSHA

Lead Poisoning Prevention Week

Posted by Viola Funk on Mon, Oct 21, 2013

It’s common knowledge now that lead is a systemic poison. Overexposure to it can damage our blood-forming, nervous, urinary and reproductive systems. In the past, lead was commonly added to industrial paints because of its characteristic corrosion resistance and color enhancement. Lead Poisoning Prevention Week takes place from October 20–26. Sponsored by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this year’s event focuses on protecting children from exposure to lead. EPA and partner agencies such as HUD are helping raise awareness among parents of ways to combat lead poisoning, from monitoring children’s consumption of certain types of imported candy to screening those most liable to be exposed to lead in the home.

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Tags: Business & Legal, California Legislation, Environmental risks, Environmental, EPA

OSHA Proposes to Regulate Exposures to Respirable Crystalline Silica

Posted by Jon Elliott on Thu, Oct 17, 2013

The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulates thousands of chemicals, through a variety of regulatory standards.  At the broadest level, employers must evaluate basic information about every potentially hazardous chemical, and provide information to employees in compliance with OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard.  OSHA also provides somewhat-more-tailored requirements for classes of chemicals (such as flammables), and for types of activities that pose chemical hazards (such as welding).  For a small number of especially hazardous chemicals, OSHA provides a detailed standard applicable to a single chemical—examples include asbestos, benzene, and lead.  On September 12, 2013, OSHA published a proposal to establish just such a single chemical standard, for crystalline silica (29 CFR section 1910.1053).

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Tags: Business & Legal, Health & Safety, OSHA, Environmental risks, Environmental, Hazcom, fracking, Oil & Gas

Changes in Hazmat Handling and CMV Driver Reports

Posted by STP Editorial Team on Tue, Oct 15, 2013

Recently, the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a new series of notices concerning hazardous materials handling and driver recordkeeping procedures. CMV drivers and transporters of hazardous materials should be alert to the following:

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Tags: Business & Legal, Health & Safety, Training, Environmental risks, Hazcom, Oil & Gas

SEC Proposes Controversial Pay Ratio Reporting Requirements

Posted by Jon Elliott on Mon, Oct 07, 2013

On September 18 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed to require public companies to calculate and disclose the pay ratio between their principal executive officer (PEO) and other employees:

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Tags: Corporate Governance, Business & Legal, SEC, Accounting & Tax