Scottish Man Accused of Stock Fraud by Tweet

In an alleged case of securities fraud through social media, U.S. authorities have charged a Scottish man with making false statements in tweets about two companies in order to manipulate their stock price for his own benefit.The Securities and Exchange Commission said James Alan Craig posted the...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 6, 2015

Is China Hacker Deal Failing to Protect U.S. Companies?

Despite an agreement by President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China that neither country would condone cyberattacks against companies in the other country, the computer systems of at least seven U.S. companies have been subject to “intrusions from actors … affiliated with the Chinese govern...

By David Katz • Oct. 22, 2015

Electronic Payments 10 Times Cheaper Than Checks

Using paper checks to make payments is considerably more expensive for businesses than some electronic payment methods, according to a new survey.The Association for Finance Professionals said in its inaugural 2015 Payments Cost Benchmarking Survey that the estimated median cost of a check transa...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 12, 2015

Three Sources of Big Data to Curb Supply Chain Risk

Although good CFOs never take their eyes off spending, you need to be very careful about trying to wring too much cost out of your supply chain.This is where Big Data analytics can go awry. Many CFOs deploy Big Data analytics to drive out supply chain costs, and often they’re rewarded on that met...

By Jeffrey A. Burchill • Oct. 6, 2015

Special Report: Big Data’s Challenges

After years of treating Big Data almost exclusively as a way to aid marketers and boost revenue, companies are starting to understand the risks of amassing and using overwhelming amounts of information. Yet as they become aware of Big Data’s dark side, they are also finding it a substantial resou...

By David Katz • Oct. 5, 2015

Big Data, Smaller Risk

“Think back to eighth grade, when we had to diagram sentences on the chalk board,” Brian Murrow says, reaching into his past for an analogy to explain how a field of computer science can detect whether call-center employees are bullying customers. Technology used in that field, called “natural la...

By David Katz • Oct. 5, 2015

Big Data and Biometrics: Money Well Spent?

Recent advances in data–storage technology, high resolution imaging, and Big Data analytics have made biometrics a viable option for companies looking for new ways to manage risk, engage with customers, and enhance their customers’ experiences.Biometrics is the practice of using a digital represe...

By Jeffrey Neuburger • Oct. 5, 2015

Whistleblower Showdown Heads to Supreme Court

A recent decision by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York has staged a showdown for the Supreme Court to decide what protections whistleblowers should receive when they report illegal activity internally and an employer retaliates as a result. However the Supreme Court decides, corpora...

By Eric Havian • Sept. 29, 2015

Three Questions for Managing Third-Party Risk

Michele Sullivan In light of increased outsourcing and third-party involvement in day-to-day business operations, financial management functions in all organizations play an important role in third-party risk management programs. A thoughtful approach to better risk management can facilitate redu...

By Michele Sullivan • Sept. 28, 2015

EPA Accuses VW of Cheating on Smog Tests

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has accused Volkswagen of including software in some of its diesel models that enabled them to circumvent EPA emissions standards for certain air pollutants.In a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act issued to Volkswagen on Friday, the regulator said th...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Sept. 21, 2015

Fraud Costing Retailers Bigger Chunk of Sales

Retail fraud losses are on the rise and merchants are spending a lot to try to prevent them, according to a LexisNexis survey.The True Cost of Fraud survey of more than 950 merchants found that retailers lost 1.32% of revenue to fraud in 2015, compared with 0.68% in 2014.While all merchant segmen...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Sept. 18, 2015

Cyber Insurance Market to Triple by 2020

The cyber insurance market will triple in size to $7.5 billion in annual premiums by 2020 but the high cost of coverage and restrictive conditions on policies may restrict growth, according to a new PwC survey.PwC said businesses across all sectors are beginning to recognize the importance of cyb...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 14, 2015

N.Y., Banks Reach Deal Over New IM Service

The New York State Department of Financial Services has reached an agreement with four major banks that addresses the regulator’s concerns over their use of the new Symphony instant-messaging system.Under the agreement, Symphony will retain for seven years a copy of all e-communications sent thro...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 14, 2015

Bankrate Settles SEC’s Accounting Fraud Charges for $15 Million

Bankrate, the online publisher of personal finance information, has agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $15 million to settle accounting fraud charges that include fabricating revenues and avoiding booking certain expenses to meet analyst estimates.The SEC alleged that Bankrate’s...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Sept. 8, 2015

FTC Tackles Meaning of ‘Unfair Competition’

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has issued unprecedented guidance on the section of antitrust law that bans unfair competition, but a dissenting commissioner said the policy statement may only add to “burdens for the business community.”Section 5 of 1914 Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes ...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 14, 2015

Brokerage to Pay Record Fine Over Secret Trading Desk

Brokerage firm Investment Technology Group has agreed to pay an $18 million fine to settle charges it operated a secret trading desk that misused the confidential trading information of clients who subscribed to its “dark pool.”The secret trading operation, known as Project Omega, relied on impro...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 13, 2015

Can Social Media Make Your Company More Ethical?

The Network, a governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) advisory firm, is on a crusade to convince companies that using social media can aid their compliance efforts.Many companies have for years taken advantage of social media for marketing, customer-service, and customer-intelligence purposes. Bu...

By David McCann • Aug. 4, 2015

U.S. Unveils Final Rule on Greenhouse Gases

In what President Barack Obama called “the biggest, most important step we’ve ever taken to combat climate change,” the White House has released its final plan for reducing greenhouse-gas pollution.The retooled version of the administration’s Clean Power Plan, first proposed a year ago, aims to c...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 4, 2015

SEC Charges 34 Defendants With Microcap Fraud

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged 15 individuals and 19 firms with engaging in “pump-and-dump” schemes to manipulate penny stocks that generated about $6.5 million in illicit proceeds.As part of the schemes, the SEC said Tuesday in a civil complaint, Costa Rica-based Moneyli...

By Matthew Heller • July 15, 2015

Chamber Urges Reform of SEC In-House Trials

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday called for reforms of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigative process that would bolster due-process protections for defendants in enforcement actions.Under the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, the SEC has increased its use of administrative trial...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • July 15, 2015

BP Escapes Larger Damages With $18B Settlement

With its historic $18.7 billion settlement of all federal and state claims arising out of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP avoided what could have been significantly larger penalties.A federal judge’s recent rulings putting a potential $13.7 billion price tag on federal Clean Water Act vi...

By Matthew Heller • July 7, 2015

Improved Analytics Revolutionize Catastrophe Planning

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the costliest hurricane on record in the United States with $41 billion in insured losses and more than $100 billion in economic damage, according to industry and government estimates. For many businesses, Katrina’s destruction exceeded t...

By Claude Yoder • July 2, 2015

High Court Rejects Google’s Appeal in Java Case

Oracle has scored a big win in a high-stakes copyright battle with Google as the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review whether Oracle’s Java application programming interfaces are subject to copyright protection.As Bloomberg reports, APIs allow programmers to take advantage of basic functions alr...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 29, 2015

China Uncovers $2.7B in Misused Lottery Funds

Roughly 16.9 billion yuan ($2.72 billion) of China’s lottery funds have been embezzled or misappropriated to buy and build office buildings and hotels, according to China’s National Audit Office.The misused funds accounted for a quarter of all the money raised through the state-run lottery progra...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 26, 2015

U.S. Proposes Tougher Standards for Big Trucks

In its latest initiative to combat climate change, the Obama administration on Friday proposed new standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles that would improve fuel efficiency and cut carbon pollution.The Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration j...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 19, 2015