Free Republic

Multinational retail giant Walmart has said that the company is expected to incur financial losses in view of ongoing investigation into alleged corruption cases pertaining to its foreign subsidiaries. “...We expect to continue to incur costs (in addition to the $157 million of costs incurred in fiscal 2013) in conducting our on-going review and investigations”, the company said in a filing to US Securities and Exchange Commission. The company claimed that Audit Committee comprising its independent directors (on board) is conducting an internal investigation into, among other things, alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practises Act (“FCPA”) and other alleged...

Two weeks ago, a unanimous Supreme Court rebuffed the Securities and Exchange Commission Gabelli v. SEC. The SEC maintained that its enforcement actions for fines under the Investment Advisers Act weren't subject to the five-year statute of limitations. This wasn't the first time the courts have pushed back a federal agency for overreaching. It won't be the last. But the SEC's audacity prompts a broader policy question: What good is accomplished by imposing monetary penalties on corporations, as the agency attempted to do in Gabelli? The answer is that when such penalties are sought by the government, they probably do...

For the second time in history, federal regulators have accused an American state of securities fraud, finding that Illinois misled investors about the condition of its public pension system from 2005 to 2009. In announcing a settlement with the state on Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Illinois of claiming that it had been properly funding public workers’ retirement plans when it had not. In particular, it cited the period from 2005 to 2009, when Illinois also issued $2.2 billion in bonds. The growing hole in the state pension system put increasing pressure on Illinois’ own finances during that...

<p>The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has frozen the assets of a Swiss trading account that allegedly made a series of "highly suspicious" trades reaping about $1.7 million ahead of the blockbuster sale of H.J. Heinz Co.</p> <p>The regulator's move came one day after Heinz said it was selling itself for $23 billion to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Brazilian private-equity firm 3G Capital in one of the biggest food-industry acquisitions ever.</p>

Goldman Sachs Group Inc is cooperating with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe into insider options trading in H.J. Heinz Co before the food company announced it was being acquired, Goldman said on Friday.

Choice of Mary Jo White to Head SEC Puts Fox In Charge of Hen House POSTED: January 25, 9:00 AM ET Mary Jo White I was shocked when I heard that Mary Jo White, a former U.S. Attorney and a partner for the white-shoe Wall Street defense firm Debevoise and Plimpton, had been named the new head of the SEC. I thought to myself: Couldn't they have found someone who wasn't a key figure in one of the most notorious scandals to hit the SEC in the past two decades? And couldn't they have found someone who isn't a perfect...

SEC names new top lawyer By Bernie Becker - 01/07/13 01:12 PM ET The Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday that Geoffrey Aronow would take over as its general counsel. Aronow, a lawyer in the Washington office of Bingham McCutcheon, has previous government experience, having served as head of the enforcement division at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The SEC's new top lawyer also has counseled clients about issues before the commission and the CFTC, and becomes one of the first top appointments from the SEC's new chairwoman, Elisse Walter. Aronow, for instance, represented the chief financial officer for MF...

Mary Jo White is a poor choice to head the SEC. As a U.S. attorney, she demonstrated a lack of political independence and competence. In the late 90's prosecution of the Teamsters money landering scandal, White won several guilty pleas from low-level has-beens, but gave a pass to prominent union figures who played a key role in the Democratic political campaign of 2000, and every one since. The magnitude of White's dereliction of duty can be seen in who was not prosecuted- Richard Trumka, Andrew Stern and Gerald McEntee. In the 1996 Teamster election, incumbent President Ron Carey narrowly defeated...

Couldn't they have found someone who wasn't a key figure in one of the most notorious scandals to hit the SEC in the past two decades? And couldn't they have found someone who isn't a perfect symbol of the revolving-door culture under which regulators go soft on suspected Wall Street criminals, knowing they have million-dollar jobs waiting for them at hotshot defense firms as long as they play nice with the banks while still in office? I'll leave it to others to chronicle the other highlights and lowlights of Mary Jo White's career, and focus only on the one incident...

BCS Championship Game thread - Alabama (2) at Notre Dame (1) (+9, O/U 40.5), ESPN 830pm EST. Miami Gardens, Fl. Weather, temperature around 73 degrees, chance of showers 10 percent.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Jeremy Pike is a 37-year-old native and resident of Tuscaloosa, Ala. Like all proper fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide, he maintains an abiding hatred of Southeastern Conference rivals Auburn and Tennessee. But there is a third member of his unholy fan trinity, and always has been. "Oh, I hate Notre Dame," Pike said. "I never pull for them." On Nov. 3, Pike and about 50 other Alabama fans were in Louisiana getting ready to watch the Tide play LSU – the most anticipated game of the year. But before the game, they were glued to...

wonder if CNBC will finally cancel the ludicrous Jim "truth" Cramer campaign once this news breaks. We doubt it - ... SEC Charges Financial Media Company and Executives Involved in Accounting Fraud. Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2012 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a digital financial media company and three executives for their roles in an accounting fraud that artificially inflated company revenues and misstated operating income to investors. ... The SEC alleges that TheStreet Inc., which operates the website TheStreet.com, filed false financial reports throughout 2008 by reporting revenue from fraudulent transactions at a subsidiary it had...

POLITICO: In an interview with Aaron David Miller for his book published by Random House, "The Much Too Promised Land," Sen. Chuck Hagel spoke about Israel

Alabama Wins SEC Title, Will Face Notre Dame Next (Beat Georgia 32-28) Alabama running back Eddie Lacy scores on a 41-yard touchdown run as he is chased by Georgia's Shawn Williams during the second quarter. (John David Mercer-USA TODAY Photo / December 1, 2012) Brian Hamilton Tribune reporter6:53 p.m. CST, December 1, 2012 ATLANTA -- Notre Dame, the Tide rolls for thee.Alabama rallied twice in the second half to down Georgia 32-28 in the SEC Championship game at the Georgia Dome on Saturday, all but assuredly earning a shot at the No. 1 Irish in the BCS title tilt on...

TIME (ET) MATCHUP TV 12:00 PM No. 11 Oklahoma at TCU 12:00 PM No. 23 Oklahoma State at Baylor FX 12:00 PM UCF at Tulsa 2:30 PM Nicholls State at No. 15 Oregon State Pac-12 Network 2:30 PM Kansas at West Virginia 3:00 PM Middle Tennessee at Arkansas State 3:00 PM Louisiana-Lafayette at Florida Atlantic 3:30 PM No. 20 Boise State at Nevada 3:30 PM Cincinnati at Connecticut 4:00 PM No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 3 Georgia* CBS 4:00 PM New Mexico State at Texas State 7:00 PM Pittsburgh at South Florida 8:00 PM No. 18 Texas at No. 6...

Insider trading leads the news again, casting a cloud over Steven Cohen's SAC Capital Advisors $14 billion hedge fund. The SEC charged Mathew Martoma, who used to manage a SAC Capital division, with using inside information about tests on an Alzheimer's drug to trade stock of the company working on it. The media love this stuff. I imagine reporters sitting around saying: "The SEC finally will punish greedy Wall Street! These tycoons rig the game -- cheating is how they acquire $14 billion -- and now noble government prosecutors will bring justice." But this is nonsense. Government prosecutors are as...

Notre Dame (1) v USC Thread - 8pm EST ABC TV. If Notre Dame wins they will play for the National Championship, as unfair as that might seem.

Coming into Saturday, Oregon and Kansas State had the inside track to college football’s national championship and the Southeastern Conference’s run of six straight BCS titles was in jeopardy. Then No. 2 K-State got thumped 52-24 by unranked Baylor and top-ranked Oregon fell in overtime to No. 14 Stanford, 17-14. Now the SEC is alive and well. And how’s this for a possible national title game: Alabama vs. Notre Dame.

Pepco’s chief executive, Joseph Rigby, didn’t get a salary increase last year because of “customer reliability issues,” but he still managed to double his overall compensation, regulatory filings show. Thanks mostly to an employment deal and supplemental executive retirement plan, Mr. Rigby’s overall compensation rose to nearly $7.2 million last year, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. With hundreds of thousands of Pepco customers in the District of Columbia and Maryland left without electricity for days in sweltering temperatures after a violent storm Friday, Mr. Rigby’s compensation is likely to get a closer look as questions emerge about the...

The Big 12 and Southeastern Conference are hedging their BCS bets while borrowing an idea from the Rose Bowl. The two conferences announced Friday their football champions will meet in an undetermined bowl game if they are not chosen for the BCS' anticipated four-team playoff format. It is unclear if it will be a reoccurring site.