Apple Leading the Way on Conflict Minerals

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Derryck Coleman

Apple Inc. released its third Conflict Minerals Report yesterday, in which they disclosed reaching a significant milestone. 100% of their 242 identified smelters and refiners are now participating in “independent third party conflict mineral audit programs”. This shows rapid improvement over the … Continue reading →

Raising the Tone: Lessons from the Past

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Olga Usvyatsky

By now you’ve probably heard of the ongoing saga at Valeant (VRX). The beleaguered pharmaceutical company has seen its stock plummet, questions about its accounting practices, harsh criticisms about its business practices, and turmoil among management and the board. A recent … Continue reading →

Conflict Minerals: Corp Fin Taking Notes?

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Olga Usvyatsky

Regulations on “Conflict Minerals”, and the section of the Dodd-Frank Act that gave rise to those rules, have seen a fair amount of controversy over the past two years. In a dramatic move, on August 18, 2015 the US Court of Appeals reaffirmed its … Continue reading →

General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer Departures: A Five Year Review

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Mercedes Erickson

Last year we published a detailed report on public-company CEO and CFO departures. In this post, we look into the departure statistics for another core member of the management team, namely the general counsel or chief legal officer. Although the disclosure requirements are not … Continue reading →

The Misrepresentation of Earnings; by Dichev et al.

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Joey Bonaldi

In a recent article in the Financial Analysts Journal, titled “The Misrepresentation of Earnings,” Ilia Dichev, John Graham, Campbell R. Harvey, and Shiva Rajgopal explore the defining characteristics of earnings quality and the misrepresentation of earnings. As part of their inquiry, … Continue reading →