Group items tagged

Two U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission employees are under investigation by federal criminal authorities for allegedly using insider information to trade stocks, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday. A report by the SEC's internal watchdog alleges that the two SEC lawyers traded in stock of a large financial services company despite being told by another SEC employee of ongoing investigations of that company, CBS News reported. The SEC inspector general report said one SEC attorney under investigation works in the Office of the SEC's Chief Counsel and has access to a tremendous amount of nonpublic information, CBS News said. An SEC spokesman said: "We take seriously even the suggestion that any SEC employee would engage in insider trading. We note that the inspector general report neither accuses any SEC employee of insider trading nor concludes that any such conduct took place." Calls to the SEC's inspector general and Federal Bureau of Investigation were not immediately returned.

The SEC will charge Angelo Mozilo, former chairman and CEO of Countrywide Financial, with insider trading, according to people familiar with the situation. The SEC will also charge the company's former chief operating officer, David Sambol, and former financial chief, Eric Sieracki, with securities fraud for failing to disclose the firm's relaxed lending standards in its 2006 annual report. The charges, which are expected to be announced by the SEC later today, will not be accompanied by any criminal indictments.

Another example of misuse of company data for personal gain.

Washington insiders say that the Obama administration will be more aggressive with actions to protect consumers online. Two consumer advocacy groups, the Center for Digital Democracy and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, have asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate behavioral targeting practices aimed at mobile phone users. The day the FTC received the request and one week before the Obama administration took office, four marketing and advertising associations announced their intent to create an enhanced set of self-regulatory principles for online behavioral advertising. The American Association of Advertising Agencies, Association of National Advertisers, Direct Marketing Association and Interactive Advertising Bureau are said to be reviewing the areas for self-regulation set forth in the FTC's proposed self-regulatory principles issued in December 2007. As marketers, our boundaries for targeting campaigns continue to widen as technology improves. We collect more information than ever before. This, along with the fear of federal regulation, may create a trend for more marketers to take on a dual role as a privacy professional. The International Association for Privacy Professionals (IAPP, https://www.privacyassociation.org/) provides privacy education and certification for privacy professionals.