By Pamela J. Bethel The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Division announced on Nov. 9 that it filed an all-time high 735 actions and collected $2.8 billion in penalties in fiscal year 2011. These included, the SEC said, 15 separate actions involving wrongdoing related to the financial crisis. Seventeen individuals were named in such...
Month: November 2011
Congress Cancels 3% Withholding Tax on Federal Contractors
On November 17, 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives gave federal contractors and subcontractors an early Thanksgiving present. By a unanimous vote of 422-0, legislators passed H.R. 674, repealing a requirement that federal, state and local governments begin withholding three percent of payments to contractors in 2013. The bill has been sent to President Obama...
Labor Dept. Ends Conflict Between New Rule, HUBZone Program
We reported in September that an unexpected conflict had developed between a new Labor Department rule and an existing congressionally mandated requirement that grants preferential treatment to HUBZone contractors —firms servicing Historically Underutilized Business Zones. Based on a current article in the Washington Business Journal, it now appears that the conflict has dissipated. HUBZone contractors are...