SEC chief pushes reform compromise
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Critics who oppose any change in financial market structures are not helping regulators work more closely with the markets, the top US markets regulator said.
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President Bush stepped up pressure  on Congress on Wednesday to cut a deal to reform U.S. spy  agencies, and sources close to the negotiations said a new  national intelligence director appeared unlikely to get the  full powers sought by the Sept. 11 commission.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will amend its rules on the qualification of independent directors to make it in line with global standards.
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WASHINGTON - Federal regulators on Tuesday proposed a plan to strengthen governance at the nation&#39;s stock exchanges and move them toward separating their self-policing function from their business operations to ensure that they serve investors&#39; interest.
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(InfoWorld) - Technology industry executives are pushing the U.S. Congress to reform the way patents are issued in order to process them more quickly while also making sure they are legitimate. Patent reform was one of the major issues discussed at the Tech Policy Summit Monday in San Jose, California. Patent reform legislation considered, but not passed, in Congress last year is expected to be reintroduced. Among the key provisions sought is the hiring of more patent review specialists by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which one critic at the conference said has a backlog of as many as 1 million applications. Another provision would make it more difficult for so-called patent "trolls" to acquire a patent, claim another company infringed on it and then force the company to pay a settlement in order to keep its business going. Lastly, reform advocates seek an improvement in the quality of patents, pointing to cases where patents are issued for innovations that are not unique. They also propose a post-patent review process. In a speech Monday night at the summit, Deborah Platt Majoras, chairman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, endorsed the idea of post-patent review. "Patents are not a driver of innovation, they are an impediment to innovation," said Mark Lemley, a professor of law at Stanford University Law School, speaking at the summit. "Everyone has an example of silly patents, such as the cat exerciser laser pen," Lemley said, but the problems with the patent law are more serious than that. Often, one company asserts a patent right against another company and forces that company to stop production until the patent issue is resolved. "The patent holdup forces the company to settle for more money than the patent is worth," Lemley said. There are also delays in the process of approving patents. SAP AG, the enterprise software maker, once had to wait 44 months until a patent application was approved, said Tim Crean, chief intellectual property officer and a member of the Coalition for Patent Fairness, an industry group advocating reform. An official of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said the agency is planning to hire 1,200 patent specialists in fiscal year 2008. The patent office receives half of its patent applications electronically and wants to increase that number. Last year it approved 350,000 patents. But some at the summit want Congress toÂ move cautiously on patent reform. A group called the Innovation Alliance was recently formed to protect companies that patent technology but don't manufacture it. Taraneh Maghame, vice president and emerging technologies counsel for Tessera Technologies, said attempts to limit the rights of companies to defend patent rights could harm legitimate patent protection efforts of some companies. Tessera develops chip packaging technology and licenses it to chip manufacturers, such as Intel. "Not all of the tech industry is behind patent reform," Maghame said. Close to 300 people, including tech executives, advocacy groups and government officials, were expected to attend the Tech Policy Summit, which continues Tuesday.
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The U.S. Securities and  Exchange Commission aims to issue guidelines on the appropriate  timing for companies to issue stock options this summer when it  proposes new rules dealing with executive compensation, SEC  Chairman Christopher Cox said on Monday.
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission pushed ahead on Wednesday with reforms of the $7.5-trillion mutual fund industry amid scandals that have shaken fund investors&#39; confidence.
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange  Commission has asked Morgan Stanley  Chief Executive John  Mack to testify regarding what role he may have played in an  insider trading case involving hedge fund Pequot Capital,  Morgan Stanley said on Friday.
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A long-awaited report from a panel with support from Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. is not recommending reopening corporate accountability legislation but urges a broad overhaul of the nation's rules, enforcement policies and litigation system.
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A senior Democratic lawmaker urged  the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday to either  create a more accurate Web site identifying corporations with  investments in &quot;terrorist-financing states&quot; or pull the plug on  it.
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President Bush&#39;s nominee to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency says he is committed to reform and would be a fair and independent spy chief if confirmed by the Senate.
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House Financial Services Committee   Chairman Michael Oxley on Wednesday urged U.S. Treasury   Secretary Henry Paulson to push harder for a Senate compromise   on legislation to reform government-sponsored housing   enterprises, saying time was quickly running out.
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DAVOS, Switzerland  - U.S. financial regulators  need to be ready in case of a crisis in the hedge fund industry  and will amend rules if necessary, the head of the Securities  and Exchange Commission said on Saturday.
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Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William H. Donaldson said yesterday that a controversial proposed rule to give shareholders more power to elect corporate directors has no chance of passing in its current form and will have to be rewritten.
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President Bush said on Thursday he would work to convince Congress of the need for spending cuts, tax cuts and Social Security reform in a bid to reassure financial markets
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Too many business interests are clinging to a failed status quo and resisting necessary governance reforms, the government&#39;s top securities regulator said yesterday.
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The body that decides who will set accounting rules in the United States plans on Tuesday to propose changes aimed at enabling the Financial Accounting Standards Board to act faster.