Company settlements with SEC near record pace

Encouraging news for IROs as settlements for financial misstatements and insider trading fall

A total of 114 companies accused of violations by the SEC reached settlements with the government in the first six months of 2011, setting a pace that could make this the second-highest year for corporate settlements since the passage of SOX nine years ago.

The number of company settlements jumped 43 percent in the first half of 2011 from the previous year, while settlements with individuals declined 12 percent to 230, according to NERA Economic Consulting’s biannual SEC Settlements Trends report.

While the make-up has shifted between companies and individuals, the total number of settlements is on track to slightly exceed the 681 reached in 2010.

(As published in InsideInvestorRelations.)

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Court ruling points to new reality in public pension plans

Thinking about public pension funding usually makes people’s teeth hurt, but like sports stadiums and light rail, it’s an issue that won’t go away.

So it’s not surprising that, in the midst of the Great State Budget Impasse, little notice was paid last week  to a Ramsey County District Court ruling upholding the constitutionality of changes the Legislature made to the state’s three major public employee pension systems last year as part of a comprehensive “pension sustainability” reform package.

 (As originally published in MinnPost.com.)

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