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The Morning Risk Report: Competition for Compliance Officers Intensifies Amid Regulatory Pressures
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Good morning. A labor-market squeeze and evolving regulatory pressures are driving demand for compliance officers.
Competition for such talent has heated up in recent months as companies fear they will be short-staffed at a time of rapid growth and increasing regulatory scrutiny, and businesses are luring compliance staff with salary increases, remote-working opportunities and company equity.
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“It’s all hands on deck for corporations to attract the talent,” said Paul C. McDonald, a senior executive director at human resources consulting firm Robert Half International Inc. “They are looking to pay the most they can, and with benefits and in perks the best they can.”
The annual average unemployment rate for compliance officers nationwide dropped to 2.4% in 2021 from 3.5% in 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ current population survey. That compares with an overall national average unemployment rate of 5.3% for 2021, according to BLS. The overall rate was 3.9% in December, according to the jobs report released on Jan. 7.
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From Risk & Compliance Journal
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ZoomInfo Adds Former U.K. Data-Protection Regulator as Compliance Chief
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ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. has hired Simon McDougall as its first chief compliance officer.
Mr. McDougall will be based in London, where the Vancouver, Wash.-based business-intelligence platform provider said it is relocating some of its senior executives to support its continuing expansion efforts in Europe.
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Gary Gensler at the Securities and Exchange Commission headquarters in Washington last October. PHOTO: JUSTIN T. GELLERSON FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler spent his first nine months on the job sketching out ambitious plans to tighten federal regulation of Wall Street.
Now, the clock is ticking for him to implement his agenda.
With Democrats at risk of losing their thin majorities in the House and Senate after November’s midterm elections, the coming months could be critical for Mr. Gensler, whom President Biden tapped last year. If Republicans win either chamber of Congress, they could move to slow Mr. Gensler’s progress.
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China has notified some companies of new rules that would require the country’s biggest internet firms to seek approval for investment deals, a mechanism that is likely to curb domestic technology giants from growing even bigger through acquisitions, according to people familiar with the issue.
The country’s top internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, recently told some companies that it would establish a new mechanism that requires internet companies to obtain formal approval for investment deals if they have 100 million users or more or have posted revenue in the previous year of at least 10 billion yuan, equivalent to $1.57 billion, the people said.
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President Biden said during a wide-ranging news conference wrapping up his first year in office that he likely would have to break up his stalled healthcare, education and climate agenda to get his policies through Congress and threatened Russia with severe sanctions should it invade Ukraine.
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Big technology companies and their critics are ramping up lobbying efforts in Congress this week as a key Senate panel takes up legislation that seeks to blunt the market power of dominant tech platforms.
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The New York attorney general’s office said late Tuesday it uncovered a swath of evidence that former President Donald Trump and his company falsely valued assets to obtain loans, insurance coverage and tax deductions.
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Macau unveiled legislation in full outlining tighter government control over casino operators and restrictions on VIP junket rooms, the biggest overhaul of China’s gambling hub since the former monopoly was opened up two decades ago.
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Higher food prices were among the factors driving an increase in U.K. inflation last month. PHOTO: ANDY RAIN/SHUTTERSTOCK
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Consumer prices in the U.K. rose at the fastest annual rate in nearly three decades last month, strengthening the case for further increases in the Bank of England’s key interest rate as the country’s economy emerges from the Omicron wave.
Meanwhile, Canada’s annual inflation rate edged upward in December to reach a three-decade high, a result that is bound to add pressure on the Bank of Canada to begin raising rates as early as next week.
Related: Procter & Gamble Co. says prices will keep going up.
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Worried about wildfire exposure and frustrated by state regulations, insurers in California have been cutting back on their homeowner businesses. Now, affluent homeowners are feeling more of the pain, as two of the biggest firms offering protection for multimillion-dollar properties end coverage for some customers.
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This year’s Winter Olympics begin Feb. 4 in Beijing.
PHOTO: NG HAN GUAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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A mobile app that is mandatory for all participants in next month’s Winter Olympics in Beijing contains security flaws that could make it easy for a hacker to steal sensitive personal information, cybersecurity researchers in Canada warn.
The China-built app, My 2022, will be used to monitor the health of attendees, as well as facilitate information sharing, leading up to and throughout the 2022 Games. Technicians with Citizen Lab, a human-rights-focused cybersecurity and censorship research group at the University of Toronto, said they found the app failed to authenticate the identity of certain websites, leaving transfers of personal data open to attackers.
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President Biden on Wednesday expanded the National Security Agency’s role in protecting the U.S. government’s most sensitive computer networks, issuing a directive intended to bolster cybersecurity within the Defense Department and intelligence agencies.
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Vishal Garg, CEO of online mortgage lender Better.com, is resuming his duties after taking a break to reflect on his leadership and work with an executive coach, the company said.
PHOTO: JESSE WINTER FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Vishal Garg, the chief executive officer of Better.com who fired 900 workers on a Zoom call, is returning to his job.
In a letter to employees, which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal, the online mortgage lender’s board of directors said Mr. Garg had reflected on his leadership while on break since last month and worked with an executive coach. “We are confident in Vishal and in the changes he is committed to making to provide the type of leadership, focus and vision that Better needs at this pivotal time,” the letter said.
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Starbucks said it will continue to encourage workers to get vaccinated.
PHOTO: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Starbucks Corp. said it will no longer require U.S. workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or undergo weekly testing by next month, after the Supreme Court recently blocked the Biden administration’s mandate for large private employers.
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Foreign investment by businesses around the world rebounded strongly last year to exceed its pre-pandemic total, but little of that U.S.-led surge went toward boosting manufacturing capacity despite the widespread shortages of goods that have helped push inflation to its highest rate in decades.
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United Airlines Holdings Inc. said the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 dented near-term bookings and will slow its recovery, but said the setback is likely to be temporary.
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A newsletter extra on Jan. 19 cited research from Navex Inc. An earlier version of the article incorrectly called the company Navex Global Inc.
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