Compliance
Phillip Juhan, Chief Financial Officer of Trump Media and Technology Group (parent company of Truth Social), has adopted an SEC Rule 10b5-1 trading plan to sell approximately $13.4 million worth of company stock from this month through December 2025. The plan was filed with the SEC on November 5. Juhan plans to sell 400,000 shares, with Monday's closing price at $33.41. Previously, Juhan sold approximately $1.9 million in stock in August to pay taxes.
A recent paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) indicates that if Trump returns to power, 84% of consumers may no longer believe in the Fed's political independence and instead perceive it as leaning toward the Republican Party. This conclusion is based on a survey of 5,025 consumers and raises concerns about central bank credibility and inflation expectations.
ADM announced on Monday that it will correct newly discovered internal sales accounting errors, restate its fiscal 2023 and first and second quarter 2024 results, and cancel its scheduled Tuesday earnings call. The company lowered its full-year EPS guidance to $4.50-$5.00, and shares closed down 6% at $51.99 that day.
New technologies, cyber threats, and new SEC regulations have intensified the risk environment for CFOs. Anthony Pugliese, CEO of the IIA, suggests that CFOs should establish strategic partnerships with internal audit teams to jointly identify and mitigate risks from disruptive technologies like AI, but should avoid direct reporting relationships to preserve audit independence.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued new rules on Monday requiring public companies to disclose specific expense items in more detail in tabular format in the notes to financial statements. The rule is the final formal step in the multi-year project "Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses" (DISE) and will be effective for annual reporting periods after December 15, 2026.
Recently, Ernst & Young (EY) dismissed dozens of U.S. employees for concurrently attending multiple online training sessions, deemed a 'violation of ethics.' This incident reveals the time and ethical pressures accountants face between client work and continuous professional training. Experts point out that staff shortages and training requirements exacerbate the issue, and EY had previously been fined $100 million by the SEC over a similar scandal.
In September, a Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas increased the verdict against ExxonMobil for benzene exposure causing cancer to $816 million, becoming the latest case in the trend of corporate environmental responsibility litigation. The case stemmed from a gas station mechanic's cancer claim, with the jury finding that ExxonMobil failed to adequately warn of benzene risks. The court denied appeals and added delay damages, emphasizing corporate accountability for neglecting public health. This verdict, alongside green lawsuits against Lululemon and Tyson Foods, shows growing public accountability for corporate environmental impact.
The latest EY survey found that most chief financial officers and other finance executives expect companies in their industry to fall short of sustainability goals, and only 47% of respondents believe their own companies can achieve targets like net zero emissions on schedule. Institutional investors are relatively more optimistic, with 53% saying companies are progressing as planned. The survey covered 2,000 finance executives and 815 institutional investors.
The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) sent a letter on October 21 to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, requesting new tax guidance regarding the upcoming rescheduling of cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III. The AICPA noted that cannabis businesses currently face a conflict between federal illegality and state legality, and that rescheduling will affect the deduction rules under Section 280E. It recommends that the IRS clarify key issues such as the applicability of deductions for the full year and consistency across states.
The SEC disclosed settlements with four companies on Tuesday, accusing them of downplaying the impact of cyberattacks in the 2020 SolarWinds hack and making misleading disclosures. The companies involved—Unisys, Avaya Holdings, Check Point Software Technologies, and Mimecast—all agreed to pay civil penalties.