Block

December 16, 2005 | Law.com

The Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies voted Wednesday to recommend exempting about 80 percent of public companies from �404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a key provision requiring management to test its internal controls and then have an outside auditor attest to the assessment. The committee agreed with the smaller companies that have complained about being excessively burdened by such requirements.

By Donna Block

3 minute read

November 15, 2007 | Legaltech News

Wireless technology developer Qualcomm Inc. plans to acquire Firethorn Holdings LLC, an Atlanta mobile banking technology company. The deal marks a shift in Qualcomm's strategy from mobile phone networking into service-oriented products for financial institutions and payment processors.

By Donna Block

2 minute read

December 23, 2004 | Law.com

By Donna Block

3 minute read

August 01, 2006 | Legaltech News

SanDisk Corp., the world's largest maker of flash memory cards in consumer electronics, agreed to buy Israel-based Msystems Ltd. in a stock deal valued at about $1.55 billion.The deal combines the two premier flash memory pioneers and providers.

By Donna Block

3 minute read

October 28, 2005 | Legaltech News

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, or COSO, issued for public comment Wednesday a draft report that gives small businesses guidance on how to comply with new internal control requirements in a more "cost efficient" and "practical" way. The report's recommendations include broadening the pool of audit committee members, using controls already built into accounting software, leveraging management monitoring and outsourcing some activities.

By Donna Block

2 minute read

September 21, 2004 | Law.com

By Donna Block

3 minute read

June 20, 2006 | Corporate Counsel

No worries. That's what U.S. regulators said in a release meant to appease critics of the possible trans-Atlantic merger of stock exchanges who fear European companies will be forced to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley governance rules. Objections have been mounting from European politicians to the NYSE Group's agreed $10 billion takeover of pan-European bourse Euronext NV. The SEC said that cross-border mergers won't necessarily bring foreign exchanges or companies under the purview of U.S. securities rules.

By Donna Block

3 minute read

October 02, 2006 | New Jersey Law Journal

PSEG's chief executive E. James Ferland holds out the prospect of selling the company's regulated utility Public Service Electric and Gas Co. in order to focus on businesses with fewer bureaucratic tangles, such as energy transmission.

By Donna Block

3 minute read

June 22, 2007 | Law.com

Federal regulators voted Wednesday to ease accounting obligations for foreign companies that trade on U.S. exchanges. The change allows non-U.S. companies to choose between international and U.S. accounting standards when reporting results. Critics of the idea say that giving companies a choice would make it difficult for investors to compare companies' financial results. Proponents of choice say the differences are not so great that investors would not be able to interpret the results of both systems.

By Donna Block

3 minute read

March 17, 2005 | Law.com

In comments with ominous implications for the SEC's proposal to reform the nation's stock markets, a key lawmaker condemned a critical component of its plan as "the worst public policy I have seen proposed for the markets during my entire tenure in Congress." Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., chairman of the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, lashed out against a component of the plan that would extend the so-called trade-through rule to all U.S. equity markets.

By Donna Block

3 minute read