TheCorporateCounsel.net

October 21, 2011

Yikes! Hacking of Nasdaq’s Board Portal Database Worse Than Thought

Back in February, I blogged about how Nasdaq’s Directors Desk database had been hacked. In this Reuters article, it is reported that an ongoing investigation has found that the hacking was worse than originally reported. Here is an excerpt from that article:

Hackers who infiltrated the Nasdaq’s computer systems last year installed malicious software that allowed them to spy on the directors of publicly held companies, according to two people familiar with an investigation into the matter. The new details showed the cyber attack was more serious than previously thought, as Nasdaq OMX Group had said in February that there was no evidence the hackers accessed customer information.

It was not known what information the hackers might have stolen. The investigation into the attack, involving the FBI and National Security Agency, is ongoing. “God knows exactly what they have done. The long term impact of such attack is still unknown,” said Tom Kellermann, a well-known cyber security expert with years of experience protecting central banks and other high-profile financial institutions from attack.

Smaller Companies: House Financial Services Subcommittee Passes Five Bills

As noted in this press release, the House Financial Services Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee passed five bills recently to ease the regulatory burden on smaller companies. The bills are:

– HR 2167, the Private Company Flexibility and Growth Act, introduced by Rep. David Schweikert
– HR 2940, the Access to Capital for Job Creators Act, introduced by Rep. Kevin McCarthy
– HR 2930, the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act, introduced by Rep. Patrick McHenry
– The Small Company Job Growth and Regulatory Relief Act, introduced by Rep. Stephen Fincher
– HR 1965, introduced by Rep. Jim Himes

Recently, the American Bankers Association posted this Dodd-Frank tracker and calendar.

GOP Candidates Seek to Kill Dodd-Frank (and Even Sarbanes-Oxley in Some Cases)

A member sent this in: Republican presidential candidates have been calling for a repeal of the entire Dodd-Frank Act. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry both have called for repeal, according to The New York Times. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota regularly points out that she introduced the first Dodd-Frank repeal bill this year. Former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah said he would go one step further and repeal the entire Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the NY Times reported.

Meanwhile, this “Globe & Mail” article is entitled “A desperate Obama kicks Sarbanes-Oxley halfway to the curb.”

Senate Legislation Would Expand Unfunded Mandates Reform Act to Bring SEC and CFTC Within Its Embrace

As Jim Hamilton blogged back in August: “Legislation introduced by Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) would strengthen the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 by bringing the SEC, CFTC and other independent federal agencies within its mandate. UMRA was a bipartisan effort to prevent Congress and federal regulators from blindly imposing major economic burdens on the private sector and on state, local and tribal governments without weighing the costs and benefits, said Senator Portman. Signed by President Bill Clinton in 1995, the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was bipartisan legislation that basically says that regulators have to evaluate a regulation’s cost and find less costly alternatives before adopting a major rule.”

– Broc Romanek