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Moody's Ratings warned that in 2025, cyber attackers will leverage AI technology and target large enterprises, potentially increasing credit risk. Meanwhile, the Trump administration may relax cyber defense regulations, raising risks for rated debt issuers.

Super Micro Computer announced on Friday that Nasdaq has approved its extension request, allowing the company to postpone the submission deadline for documents such as the fiscal year 2024 10-K and the first quarter fiscal year 2025 10-Q to February 25, 2025. Previously, the company faced delisting risk due to audit issues.

U.S. President-elect Trump announced on Wednesday the nomination of business consultant and cryptocurrency industry lobbyist Paul Atkins to serve as chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Atkins currently serves as CEO of risk consulting firm Patomak Global Partners and co-chair of the Token Alliance at the Chamber of Digital Commerce. He previously served as an SEC commissioner during the presidency of George W. Bush.

Research released Tuesday by The Conference Board shows that the proportion of non-white newly appointed directors at Russell 3000 companies fell from 48% in 2022 to 31% in 2024, with Black directors dropping from 26% to 12%. Despite the decline in diversity among new directors, overall board demographic diversity still set a record. The study was co-sponsored by KPMG and Russell Reynolds.

Macy's disclosed ahead of Black Friday that an accountant responsible for accounting for small delivery expenses deliberately concealed up to $154 million in costs, spanning from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the fiscal quarter ending November 2, 2024. The employee has left the company, and an internal investigation found no other employees were involved. The company delayed its third-quarter earnings report originally scheduled for Tuesday and expects to release results and investigation details by December 11.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined UPS $45 million, alleging that in 2019 it failed to perform goodwill impairment testing on its UPS Freight business, leading to inflated valuations and misleading investors. UPS has agreed to settle without admitting or denying the allegations.

Evolv Technologies CFO Mark Donohue resigned after an investigation into sales practices, with the company disclosing revenue recognition errors and appointing an interim CFO. The investigation also led to the departure of four employees, and the company faces regulatory scrutiny.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler announced he will step down on January 20, 2025, coinciding with President-elect Trump's inauguration day. During his tenure, Gensler drove multiple major rulemakings, including central clearing for Treasury securities, climate risk disclosure, and cybersecurity rules, while also strengthening enforcement, initiating over 2,700 enforcement actions and securing more than $2 billion in penalties and disgorgement returned to investors.

A report released by EY on Monday indicates that audit committees of S&P 500 companies have expanded their oversight to areas including cybersecurity, sustainable development, and artificial intelligence. Since 2021, the proportion of companies listing sustainability as an audit committee responsibility has jumped from 6% to 22%, while the proportion related to cybersecurity has risen from 25% in 2019 to 77%.

Researchers from Stanford University and the University of Chicago note in a new paper that because current merger review thresholds are based on asset value measurements under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), which largely ignore intangible assets, hundreds of transactions each year, particularly in the technology and pharmaceutical sectors, may go unreported to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). The researchers estimate that if intangible assets were taken into account, the number of reported transactions would increase by approximately 263 per year.