FEI Weekly

September 23, 2020

Davos group developing new ESG framework and the truth about diversity in finance.

Davos Group Developing New ESG Framework

Reuters

The report suggests companies disclose both how many metric tonnes of carbon dioxide they emit, and whether they have set targets on greenhouse gas emissions, drawing on separate recommendations from the different standard-setters. The new metrics were developed by the World Economic Forum with input from Bank of America BAC.N and accounting firms Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC.

Sen. Warren Calls for New Unit in Treasury Dept. After FinCEN Report

Buzzfeed

Sen. Elizabeth Warren called on Monday for reforming the government practice of offering banks deferred prosecution agreements instead of real punishments when they are caught abetting money laundering. Warren also called for the creation of a new unit in the US Treasury Department, separate from FinCEN, “to investigate these types of financial crimes.”

The Truth About Diversity in Finance

CNBC

Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf exasperated some Black employees in a Zoom meeting this summer when he reiterated that the bank had trouble reaching diversity goals because there was not enough qualified minority talent.  Senior corporate executives and recruiters said the notion of a shallow minority talent pool is frequently cited as a hurdle to improving diversity but probably reflects insular professional and social networks.

What is the SEC's Error Detection Rate?

Forbes

A research study forthcoming in The Accounting Review measures how effective the SEC is at detecting financial misreporting. Overall, the study calculates the SEC detection rate to be about 34%. That is, for 34% of the restatements that occurred during the sample period, the SEC directly identified the error by asking a related question. In the other 66% of cases, an error existed in the financial statements, but was not identified by the SEC.

5 Top Rated CEOs During the COVID-19 Crisis

Glassdoor

In addition to leveraging CEO approval rating and the senior leadership workplace factor rating during the last five months, Glassdoor also used text analysis to see what employees were specifically saying about COVID-19 and their CEO in reviews. Number one is Mark Aslett of Mercury Systems (Aerospace & Defense). Number two is G. Brint Ryan of Ryan, LLC (Accounting). Three is Michael Weinstein of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (Health Care). Four is Eric S. Yuan of Zoom Video Communications (Tech). Finally, number five is Stanley Middleman of Freedom Mortgage (Finance).