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103-496: Revenue bonds may be issued to construct or expand upon various revenue-generating entities, including: Generally, any government agency or fund that is run like a business , generating operating revenues and expenses (sometimes known as an enterprise fund ), can issue revenue bonds. An agency that provides a free service, such as a school, can not do so, as their only revenue is tax dollars. The Supreme Court decision of Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. of 1895 initiated

206-783: A stock exchange , or in multiple other ways. Major stock exchanges include the Shanghai Stock Exchange , Singapore Exchange , Hong Kong Stock Exchange , New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ (the US), the London Stock Exchange (UK), the Tokyo Stock Exchange (Japan), and Bombay Stock Exchange (India). Most countries with capital markets have at least one. Businesses that have gone public are subject to regulations concerning their internal governance, such as how executive officers' compensation

309-399: A "process optimization process". It is argued that BPM enables organizations to be more efficient, effective and capable of change than a functionally focused, traditional hierarchical management approach. Most legal jurisdictions specify the forms of ownership that a business can take, creating a body of commercial law applicable to business. The major factors affecting how a business

412-628: A bailout by the Federal Government. The House passed its version of the Financial Services Act of 1999 on July 1, 1999, by a bipartisan vote of 343–86 (Republicans 205–16; Democrats 138–69; Independent 0–1), two months after the Senate had already passed its version of the bill on May 6 by a much narrower 54–44 vote along basically partisan lines (53 Republicans and 1 Democrat in favor; 44 Democrats opposed). When

515-479: A business. Some businesses are subject to ongoing special regulation, for example, public utilities , investment securities, banking, insurance, broadcasting , aviation , and health care providers. Environmental regulations are also very complex and can affect many businesses. When businesses need to raise money (called capital ), they sometimes offer securities for sale. Capital may be raised through private means, by an initial public offering or IPO on

618-462: A commercial/retail bank ultimately drove the banking industry to back the GLBA restrictions. Some restrictions remain to provide some amount of separation between the investment and commercial banking operations of a company. For example, licensed bankers must have separate business cards, e.g., "Personal Banker, Wells Fargo Bank" and "Investment Consultant, Wells Fargo Private Client Services". Much of

721-498: A company-type management system. Many state institutions and enterprises in China and Russia have transformed into joint-stock companies, with part of their shares being listed on public stock markets. Business process management (BPM) is a holistic management approach focused on aligning all aspects of an organization with the wants and needs of clients . BPM attempts to improve processes continuously. It can, therefore, be described as

824-486: A few years earlier, commercial Banks were allowed to pursue investment banking, and before that banks were also allowed to begin stock and insurance brokerage. Insurance underwriting was the only main operation they weren't allowed to do, something rarely done by banks even after the passage of the Act. The Act further enacted three provisions that allow for bank holding companies to engage in physical commodity activities. Prior to

927-770: A house of brands that included Citibank , Smith Barney , Primerica , and Travelers . Because this merger was a violation of the Glass–Steagall Act and the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 , the Federal Reserve gave Citigroup a temporary waiver in September 1998. Less than a year later, GLBA was passed to legalize these types of mergers on a permanent basis. The law also repealed Glass–Steagall's conflict of interest prohibitions "against simultaneous service by any officer, director, or employee of

1030-409: A joint conference committee to work out the differences between the Senate and House versions. Democrats agreed to support the bill after Republicans agreed to strengthen provisions of the anti-redlining Community Reinvestment Act and address certain privacy concerns; the conference committee then finished its work by the beginning of November. On November 4, the final bill resolving the differences

1133-447: A large branch and backshop footprint. Banks have recently tended to buy other banks, such as the 2004 Bank of America and Fleet Boston merger, yet they have had less success integrating with investment and insurance companies. Many banks have expanded into investment banking , but have found it hard to package it with their banking services, without resorting to questionable tie-ins which caused scandals at Smith Barney . Crucial to

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1236-602: A limit of 18% (the minimum usury limit in Texas) or more on all other loans. However, once Wells Fargo fully completed its purchase of Century Bank (a Texas bank with Arkansas branches), Section 731 did away with all usury limits for Arkansas-based banks since Wells Fargo's main bank charter is based in South Dakota , which repealed its usury laws many years ago. Though designed for Arkansas, Section 731 may also apply to Alaska and California whose constitutions provide for

1339-718: A nonprofit authority to issue revenue bonds to build a school district, for example. In recent legislation, the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 , the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board ( Securities Acts Amendments of 1975 ), and now FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ) as of July 30, 2007, the industry overall has consolidated not only in sheer number but by undoing previous legislation such as

1442-407: A privacy notice at the time the consumer relationship is established and annually thereafter. The privacy notice must explain the information collected about the consumer, where that information is shared, how that information is used, and how that information is protected. The notice must also identify the consumer's right to opt out of the information being shared with unaffiliated parties pursuant to

1545-524: A process known as an initial public offering (IPO) means that part of the business will be owned by members of the public. This requires the organization as a distinct entity, to disclose information to the public, and adhering to a tighter set of laws and procedures. Most public entities are corporations that have sold shares, but increasingly there are also public LLC's that sell units (sometimes also called shares), and other more exotic entities as well, such as, for example, real estate investment trusts in

1648-564: A range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech , but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale. Marketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as "the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large." The term developed from

1751-458: A risk analysis on their current processes. The Federal Register features approaches for risk assessments such as evaluating the likelihood of magnitudes of harm that result from threats and errors and safeguards are commensurate with the risks they address. No process is perfect, so this has meant that every financial institution has had to make some effort to comply with the GLBA . In December 2021,

1854-562: A securities firm as an officer, director, or employee of any member bank." The banking industry had been seeking the repeal of the 1933 Glass–Steagall Act since the 1980s, if not earlier. In 1987 the Congressional Research Service prepared a report that explored the cases for and against preserving the Glass–Steagall Act. Respective versions of the Financial Services Act were introduced in

1957-448: A share capital), this will be the shareholders . In a company limited by guarantee, this will be the guarantors. Some offshore jurisdictions have created special forms of offshore company in a bid to attract business for their jurisdictions. Examples include " segregated portfolio companies " and restricted purpose companies. There are, however, many, many sub-categories of types of company that can be formed in various jurisdictions in

2060-534: A wave or series of innovations for the financial services community in both tax-treatment and regulation from government . This specific case, according to a leading investment bank's research, resulted in the "intergovernmental tax immunity doctrine," ultimately leading to "tax-free status." The interest on municipal bonds is generally excludable from gross income for federal income tax purposes (however, capital gains or accruing market discount are not tax exempt); for these purposes, accruing original issue discount

2163-446: A written information security plan that describes how the company is prepared for, and plans to continue to protect its clients' nonpublic personal information. The Safeguards Rule applies to information of any consumer's past or present regarding the financial institution's products or services. The written plan must include: The Safeguards Rule forces financial institutions to take a closer look at how they manage private data and to do

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2266-508: Is "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment ". This may include the negotiation of wages , work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing, and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies. Gramm%E2%80%93Leach%E2%80%93Bliley Act The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act ( GLBA ), also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 , ( Pub. L.   106–102 (text) (PDF) , 113  Stat.   1338 , enacted November 12, 1999 )

2369-469: Is a consumer who has a "customer relationship" with a financial institution. A "customer relationship" is a continuing relationship with a consumer. Examples of establishing a customer relationship: "Special Rule" for Loans: The customer relationship travels with ownership of the servicing rights. Under the GLB , financial institutions must provide their clients a privacy notice that explains what information

2472-589: Is a field that deals with the study of money and investments . It includes the dynamics of assets and liabilities over time under conditions of different degrees of uncertainty and risk. In the context of business and management , finance deals with the problems of ensuring that the firm can safely and profitably carry out its operational and financial objectives; i.e. that it: (1) has sufficient cash flow for ongoing and upcoming operational expenses, and (2) can service both maturing short-term debt repayments, and scheduled long-term debt payments. Finance also deals with

2575-401: Is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessarily separate from the owner and the creditors can hold the owner liable for debts the business has acquired. The taxation system for businesses is different from that of the corporates. A business structure does not allow for corporate tax rates. The proprietor is personally taxed on all income from

2678-479: Is also treated as "interest" which is excludable from gross income for federal income tax purposes. Some municipal bonds are called "specified private activity bonds" and are preference items under the alternative minimum tax. Additionally, corporate taxpayers may need to include interest on otherwise tax exempt municipal bonds in a calculation base for purposes of the alternative minimum tax and other special taxes. For taxpayers who purchase municipal bonds issued in

2781-672: Is an act of the 106th United States Congress (1999–2001). It repealed part of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933 , removing barriers in the market among banking companies, securities companies, and insurance companies that prohibited any one institution from acting as any combination of an investment bank , a commercial bank , and an insurance company . With the passage of the Gramm – Leach – Bliley Act, commercial banks, investment banks, securities firms, and insurance companies were allowed to consolidate. Furthermore, it failed to give to

2884-587: Is an organization of workers who have come together to achieve common goals such as protecting the integrity of its trade, improving safety standards, achieving higher pay and benefits such as health care and retirement, increasing the number of employees an employer assigns to complete the work, and better working conditions . The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members ( rank and file members) and negotiates labor contracts ( collective bargaining ) with employers. The most common purpose of these associations or unions

2987-536: Is considered to be double-barreled. In this case however, they are more like GO bonds, except that, for bankruptcy and security purposes, they have the benefit of the additional security provided by the pledged revenues. An example of double-barreled bonds is water and sewer revenue bonds issued on behalf of a water and sewer enterprise system. Revenue bonds are most often issued to finance a revenue-generating public works project such as, bridges, tunnels, sewer systems, education (e.g. college dorms and/or student loans). In

3090-419: Is crucial for all businesses to succeed as it helps companies adjust to a fast-moving business environment and the increasing demand for jobs. The term "Human Resource" was first coined by John R. Commons in his novel ' The Distribution of Wealth'. HR departments are relatively new as they began developing in the late 20th century. HR departments main goal is to maximize employee productivity and protecting

3193-648: Is determined, and when and how information is disclosed to shareholders and to the public. In the United States, these regulations are primarily implemented and enforced by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other western nations have comparable regulatory bodies. The regulations are implemented and enforced by the China Securities Regulation Commission (CSRC) in China. In Singapore,

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3296-566: Is for those who prefer an administrative role as it involves oversight of the entirety of the company. HRIS involves the storage and organization of employee data including full names, addresses, means of contact, and anything else required by that certain company. Some careers of those involved in the Human Resource field include enrollment specialists, HR analyst, recruiter, employment relations manager, etc. Many businesses have an Information technology (IT) department, which supports

3399-562: Is legal under the usury laws of any of those states may be made by an Arkansas-based bank under Section 731. The section does not apply to interstate banks with branches in the covered state, but headquartered elsewhere; however, Arkansas-based interstate banks like Arvest Bank may export their Section 731 limits to other states. Due to Section 731, it is generally regarded that Arkansas-based banks now have no usury limit for credit cards or for any loan of greater than $ 2,000 (since Alabama, Regions' home state, has no limits on those loans), with

3502-484: Is organized are usually: Many businesses are operated through a separate entity such as a corporation or a partnership (either formed with or without limited liability). Most legal jurisdictions allow people to organize such an entity by filing certain charter documents with the relevant Secretary of State or equivalent and complying with certain other ongoing obligations. The relationships and legal rights of shareholders , limited partners, or members are governed partly by

3605-428: Is the process of exchanging goods and services. It is not just a single activity, but a set of activities that includes trade (buying and selling goods and services) and auxiliary services or aids to trade, that includes communication and marketing, logistics, finance, banking, insurance, and legal services related to trade. Business is also defined as engaging in commerce, as these are done in all businesses. Finance

3708-930: The Arkansas Constitution and could not be changed by the Arkansas General Assembly . When the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ruled that interstate banks established under the Riegle–Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994 could use their home state's usury law for all branches nationwide with minimal restrictions, Arkansas-based banks were placed at a severe competitive disadvantage to Arkansas branches of interstate banks; this led to out-of-state takeovers of several Arkansas banks, including

3811-530: The GDPR as well as US GLBA requirements. Individualized requests for privacy under the GLBA are likely to include provisions guaranteed by the European Union 's GDPR . (Subtitle A: Disclosure of Nonpublic Personal Information, codified at 15 U.S.C.   §§ 6801 – 6809 ) The Safeguards Rule implements data security requirements from the GLBA and requires financial institutions to develop

3914-420: The GDPR includes provision on scope of data collection, but also includes right of access , right to erasure , right to restriction of processing and right to data portability. Due to the multinational nature of some transactions, including data and internet transactions, and the possible implementation of corresponding regulations in some US states, it is likely that business and other entities will comply with

4017-433: The GLB depending upon the type of business and the activities utilizing individual's personal nonpublic information. Definition: A "consumer" is an individual who obtains or has obtained a financial product or service from a financial institution that is to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, or that individual's legal representative. Examples of consumer relationships: Definition: A "customer"

4120-426: The GLB . A customer is not someone using an automated teller machine (ATM) or having a check cashed at a cash advance business. These are not ongoing relationships like a customer might have—i.e., a mortgage loan , tax advising, or credit financing. A business is not an individual with personal nonpublic information, so a business cannot be a customer under the GLB . A business, however, may be liable for compliance to

4223-543: The Securities Act of 1933 . Municipal bonds traditionally were exempt from the filing requirements of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933 , however, like all other securities they are subject to the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and once again the newly formed FINRA. Some examples of Revenue Bonds include: § IDRs and IDBs (Industrial Development Revenue Bonds) or, after

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4326-633: The U.S. Senate by Phil Gramm ( Republican of Texas) and in the U.S. House of Representatives by Jim Leach (R-Iowa). The third lawmaker associated with the bill was Rep. Thomas J. Bliley, Jr. (R-Virginia), Chairman of the House Commerce Committee from 1995 to 2001. During debate in the House of Representatives , Rep. John Dingell ( Democrat of Michigan) argued that the bill would result in banks becoming "too big to fail." Dingell further argued that this would necessarily result in

4429-515: The long term objective of maximizing the value of the business, while also balancing risk and profitability; this includes the interrelated questions of (1) capital investment , which businesses and projects to invest in; (2) capital structure , deciding on the mix of funding to be used; and (3) dividend policy , what to do with "excess" capital. Human resources can be defined as division of business that involves finding, screening, recruiting , and training job applicants. Human resources, or HR,

4532-825: The " canary in the coal mine " and reduce the cost to businesses of protecting their employees. Sales are activity related to selling or the number of goods or services sold in a given time period. Sales are often integrated with all lines of business and are key to a companies' success. The efficient and effective operation of a business , and study of this subject, is called management . The major branches of management are financial management , marketing management, human resource management , strategic management , production management , operations management , service management , and information technology management . Owners may manage their businesses themselves, or employ managers to do so for them. Whether they are owners or employees, managers administer three primary components of

4635-478: The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act softened the impact of the crisis. Atlantic Monthly columnist Megan McArdle has argued that if the act was "part of the problem, it would be the commercial banks, not the investment banks, that were in trouble" and repeal would not have helped the situation. An article in the conservative publication National Review has made the same argument, calling allegations about

4738-475: The Internet, venture capital, bank loans, and debentures. Businesses often have important " intellectual property " that needs protection from competitors for the company to stay profitable. This could require patents , copyrights , trademarks , or preservation of trade secrets . Most businesses have names, logos, and similar branding techniques that could benefit from trademarking. Patents and copyrights in

4841-628: The Latin corpus , meaning body, and the Maurya Empire in Iron-Age India accorded legal rights to business entities. In many countries, it is difficult to compile all the laws that can affect a business into a single reference source. Laws can govern the treatment of labour and employee relations, worker protection and safety , discrimination on the basis of age, gender, disability, race, and in some jurisdictions, sexual orientation, and

4944-487: The SEC or any other financial regulatory agency the authority to regulate large investment bank holding companies. The legislation was signed into law by President Bill Clinton . A year before the law was passed, Citicorp , a commercial bank holding company , merged with the insurance company Travelers Group in 1998 to form the conglomerate Citigroup , a corporation combining banking, securities and insurance services under

5047-876: The Safeguards Rule was updated, amid some controversy, by the FTC to include specific criteria requiring financial institutions to introduce new security controls and to increase the accountability of boards of directors , with a six-month compliance extension, from January to June 2023, granted for some types of institutions in November 2022. (Subtitle B: Fraudulent Access to Financial Information, codified at 15 U.S.C.   §§ 6821 – 6827 ) Pretexting (sometimes referred to as "social engineering") occurs when someone tries to gain access to personal nonpublic information without proper authority to do so. This may entail requesting private information while impersonating

5150-597: The Tax Reform Act of 1986 and the 39 General Regulations that govern the SRO (self-regulatory organization) of the MSRB. The MSRB, as mentioned above, governs the issuance and trade of municipal securities both general obligation and revenue bonds. Business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services ). It

5253-650: The US, and unit trusts in the UK. A general partnership cannot "go public". A very detailed and well-established body of rules that evolved over a very long period of time applies to commercial transactions. The need to regulate trade and commerce and resolve business disputes helped shape the creation of law and courts. The Code of Hammurabi dates back to about 1772 BC for example and contains provisions that relate, among other matters, to shipping costs and dealings between merchants and brokers . The word "corporation" derives from

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5356-689: The United States are largely governed by federal law, while trade secrets and trademarking are mostly a matter of state law. Because of the nature of intellectual property, a business needs protection in every jurisdiction in which they are concerned about competitors. Many countries are signatories to international treaties concerning intellectual property, and thus companies registered in these countries are subject to national laws bound by these treaties. In order to protect trade secrets, companies may require employees to sign noncompete clauses which will impose limitations on an employee's interactions with stakeholders, and competitors. A trade union (or labor union)

5459-468: The [initial] effort to "develop" the curriculum for such employee training. Under United States law, pretexting by individuals is punishable as a common law crime of false pretenses . Section 731 of the GLB, codified as subsection (f) of 12 U.S.C.   § 1831u , contains a unique provision aimed at Arkansas , whose usury limit was set at five percent above the Federal Reserve discount rate by

5562-483: The account holder, by telephone, by mail, by e-mail, or even by " phishing " (i.e., using a phony website or email to collect data). GLBA encourages the organizations covered by GLBA to implement safeguards against pretexting. For example, a well-written plan designed to meet GLB's Safeguards Rule ("develop, monitor, and test a program to secure the information") would likely include a section on training employees to recognize and deflect inquiries made under pretext. In fact,

5665-502: The business needs, an adviser can decide what kind is proprietorship will be most suitable. General partners in a partnership (other than a limited liability partnership), plus anyone who personally owns and operates a business without creating a separate legal entity, are personally liable for the debts and obligations of the business. Generally, corporations are required to pay tax just like "real" people. In some tax systems, this can give rise to so-called double taxation , because first

5768-455: The business's value: financial resources, capital (tangible resources), and human resources . These resources are administered in at least six functional areas: legal contracting, manufacturing or service production, marketing, accounting, financing, and human resources. In recent decades, states modeled some of their assets and enterprises after business enterprises. In 2003, for example, China modeled 80% of its state-owned enterprises on

5871-511: The business. A distinction is made in law and public offices between the term business and a company such as a corporation or cooperative . Colloquially, the terms are used interchangeably. Corporations are distinct from with sole proprietors and partnerships . They are separate legal entities and provide limited liability for their owners and members. They are subject to corporate tax rates. They are also more complicated and expensive to set up, but offer more protection and benefits for

5974-428: The case of education or school systems, bonds issued for colleges and universities are generally backed by income or other progressive taxes . General obligation bonds may be backed by a variety of credits depending on the state and local law; those credits include taxes on local property ( ad valorem ), regressive taxes and/or all other sources of revenue to the municipality. As a general rule, revenue bonds are backed by

6077-426: The charge in offering all types of financial services products in 1986. American Express attempted to own participants in almost every field of financial business (although there was little synergy among them). Things culminated in 1998 when Citibank merged with The Travelers Companies , creating Citigroup . The merger violated the Bank Holding Company Act (BHCA), but Citibank was given a two-year forbearance that

6180-408: The charter documents and partly by the law of the jurisdiction where the entity is organized. Generally speaking, shareholders in a corporation, limited partners in a limited partnership, and members in a limited liability company are shielded from personal liability for the debts and obligations of the entity, which is legally treated as a separate "person". This means that unless there is misconduct,

6283-403: The client to read or scroll through the notice and check a box to accept terms. The privacy notice must also explain to the customer the opportunity to 'opt out'. Opting out means that the client can say "no" to allowing their information to be shared with nonaffiliated third parties. The Fair Credit Reporting Act is responsible for the 'opt-out' opportunity, but the privacy notice must inform

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6386-487: The company from any issues that may arise in the future. Some of the most common activities conducted by those working in HR include increasing innovation and creativity within a company, applying new approaches to work projects, and efficient training and communication with employees . Two of the most popular subdivisions of HR are Human Resource Management , HRM, and Human Resource Information Systems , or HRIS. The HRM route

6489-443: The company gathers about the client, where this information is shared, and how the company safeguards that information. This privacy notice must be given to the client prior to entering into an agreement to do business. There are exceptions to this when the client accepts a delayed receipt of the notice in order to complete a transaction on a timely basis. This has been somewhat mitigated due to online acknowledgement agreements requiring

6592-579: The corporation pays tax on the profit, and then when the corporation distributes its profits to its owners, individuals have to include dividends in their income when they complete their personal tax returns, at which point a second layer of income tax is imposed. In most countries, there are laws that treat small corporations differently from large ones. They may be exempt from certain legal filing requirements or labor laws, have simplified procedures in specialized areas, and have simplified, advantageous, or slightly different tax treatment. "Going public" through

6695-482: The creation of giant financial supermarkets that could own investment banks, commercial banks and insurance firms, something banned since the Great Depression. Its passage, critics also say, cleared the way for companies that were too big and intertwined to fail . Economist Joseph Stiglitz has also argued that the Act increased risk-taking leading up to the crisis, stating "the culture of investment banks

6798-546: The customer of this right under the GLB. The client cannot opt out of: Notice requirements may vary. In most cases, service of a GLBA notice is not necessary unless the entity serving the notice intends to "share" customer information, which the FTC defines as, "non-public personal information (NPI)", of customers required to be protected under GLBA . A consumer may react to service of a GLBA notice by: The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became enforceable on 25 May 2018. As applies to consumers,

6901-1136: The debate about financial privacy is specifically centered around allowing or preventing the banking, brokerage, and insurances divisions of a company from working together. In terms of compliance , the key rules under the Act include The Financial Privacy Rule which governs the collection and disclosure of customers' personal financial information by financial institutions. It also applies to companies, regardless of whether they are financial institutions, that receive such information. The Safeguards Rule requires all financial institutions to design, implement and maintain safeguards to protect customer information. The Safeguards Rule applies not only to financial institutions that collect information from their own customers, but also to financial institutions – such as credit reporting agencies, appraisers, and mortgage brokers – that receive customer information from other financial institutions. (Subtitle A: Disclosure of Nonpublic Personal Information, codified at 15 U.S.C.   §§ 6801 – 6809 ) The Financial Privacy Rule requires financial institutions to provide each consumer with

7004-456: The economy turns bad. With the new Act, they would be able to do both 'savings' and 'investment' at the same financial institution, which would be able to do well in both good and bad economic times. Prior to the Act, most financial services companies were already offering both saving and investment opportunities to their customers. On the retail/consumer side, a bank called Norwest Corporation , which would later merge with Wells Fargo Bank , led

7107-430: The enactment of the Act those activities were limited to those that were so closely related to banking to be considered incidental to it. Under GLBA depending on the provision the institution falls into, bank holding companies can engage in physical commodity trading, energy tolling, energy management services, and merchant banking activities. Much consolidation occurred in the financial services industry since, but not at

7210-410: The evaluation of the effectiveness of such employee training probably should include a follow-up program of random spot checks, "outside the classroom", after completion of the [initial] employee training, in order to check on the resistance of a given (randomly chosen) student to various types of "social engineering"—perhaps even designed to focus attention on any new wrinkle that might have arisen after

7313-413: The facility ultimately pay off the debt . Many governments with the power to tax also issue revenue bonds, but restrict the debt service funds to only those funds from the governmental enterprise that generates these revenues. The issuing government does not pledge its own credit to pay the bonds. When a municipality assumes liability for the debt service, if the income from the project is insufficient, it

7416-466: The few banks that did merge weathered the crisis better than those that did not. In February 2009, one of the act's co-authors, former Senator Phil Gramm, also defended his bill: [I]f GLB was the problem, the crisis would have been expected to have originated in Europe where they never had Glass–Steagall requirements to begin with. Also, the financial firms that failed in this crisis, like Lehman , were

7519-775: The financial privacy rule provides for a privacy policy agreement between the company and the consumer pertaining to the protection of the consumer's personal nonpublic information. On November 17, 2009, eight federal regulatory agencies released the final version of a model privacy notice form to make it easier for consumers to understand how financial institutions collect and share information about consumers. GLBA defines financial institutions as: "companies that offer financial products or services to individuals, like loans, financial or investment advice, or insurance". The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has jurisdiction over financial institutions similar to, and including, these: These companies must also be considered significantly engaged in

7622-440: The financial service or production that defines them as a "financial institution". Insurance has jurisdiction first by the state, provided the state law at minimum complies with the GLB. State law can require greater compliance, but not less than what is otherwise required by the GLB. The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act defines a "consumer" as A customer is a consumer that has developed a relationship with privacy rights protected under

7725-671: The first stage of development of a potential new service or product. Research and development are very difficult to manage since the defining feature of the research is that the researchers do not know in advance exactly how to accomplish the desired result. Injuries cost businesses billions of dollars annually. Studies have shown how company acceptance and implementation of comprehensive safety and health management systems reduce incidents, insurance costs, and workers' compensation claims. New technologies, like wearable safety devices and available online safety training, continue to be developed to encourage employers to invest in protection beyond

7828-563: The least diversified and the ones that survived, like J.P. Morgan , were the most diversified. Moreover, GLB did not deregulate anything. It established the Federal Reserve as a superregulator, overseeing all Financial Services Holding Companies. All activities of financial institutions continued to be regulated on a functional basis by the regulators that had regulated those activities prior to GLB. Bill Clinton , as well as economists Brad DeLong and Tyler Cowen have all argued that

7931-413: The legislation feared that, with the allowance for mergers between investment and commercial banks, GLBA allowed the newly-merged banks to take on riskier investments while at the same time removing any requirements to maintain enough equity, exposing the assets of its banking customers. Calabria claimed that, prior to the passage of GLBA in 1999, investment banks were already capable of holding and trading

8034-566: The minimum wage, as well as unions , worker compensation, and working hours and leave. Some specialized businesses may also require licenses, either due to laws governing entry into certain trades, occupations or professions, that require special education or to raise revenue for local governments. Professions that require special licenses include law, medicine, piloting aircraft, selling liquor, radio broadcasting, selling investment securities, selling used cars, and roofing. Local jurisdictions may also require special licenses and taxes just to operate

8137-488: The original meaning which referred literally to going to a market to buy or sell goods or services. Marketing tactics include advertising as well as determining product pricing . With the rise in technology, marketing is further divided into a class called digital marketing . It is marketing products and services using digital technologies. Research and development refer to activities in connection with corporate or government innovation. Research and development constitute

8240-399: The owner's own possessions are strongly protected in law if the business does not succeed. Where two or more individuals own a business together but have failed to organize a more specialized form of vehicle, they will be treated as a general partnership. The terms of a partnership are partly governed by a partnership agreement if one is created, and partly by the law of the jurisdiction where

8343-451: The owners and members. Forms of business ownership vary by jurisdiction , but several common entities exist: Less common types of companies are: "Ltd after the company's name signifies limited company, and PLC ( public limited company ) indicates that its shares are widely held." In legal parlance, the owners of a company are normally referred to as the "members". In a company limited or unlimited by shares (formed or incorporated with

8446-433: The partnership is located. No paperwork or filing is necessary to create a partnership, and without an agreement, the relationships and legal rights of the partners will be entirely governed by the law of the jurisdiction where the partnership is located. A single person who owns and runs a business is commonly known as a sole proprietor , whether that person owns it directly or through a formally organized entity. Depending on

8549-566: The passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 , PABs (Private Activity Bonds) § Lease rental bonds § Special Assessment Bonds (or Special District Bonds or, in California, Mello-Roos Bonds) § Housing Authority Bonds As a revenue bond is not backed by the full faith and credit of the issuing government, it does not require voter approval. As of July 1, 1983, all municipal bonds must be registered. Two other important pieces of legislation are

8652-503: The passing of this Act was an amendment made to the GLBA, stating that no merger may go ahead if any of the financial holding institutions, or affiliates thereof, received a "less than satisfactory [ sic ] rating at its most recent CRA exam", essentially meaning that any merger may only go ahead with the strict approval of the regulatory bodies responsible for the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). This

8755-492: The provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act . Should the privacy policy change at any point in time, the consumer must be notified again for acceptance. Each time the privacy notice is reestablished, the consumer has the right to opt out again. The unaffiliated parties receiving the nonpublic information are held to the acceptance terms of the consumer under the original relationship agreement. In summary,

8858-944: The regulatory authority is the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and in Hong Kong, it is the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). The proliferation and increasing complexity of the laws governing business have forced increasing specialization in corporate law. It is not unheard of for certain kinds of corporate transactions to require a team of five to ten attorneys due to sprawling regulation. Commercial law spans general corporate law, employment and labor law , health-care law, securities law, mergers and acquisitions, tax law, employee benefit plans, food and drug regulation, intellectual property law on copyrights, patents, trademarks, telecommunications law, and financing. Other types of capital sourcing include crowdsourcing on

8961-420: The reputation of the exchange or particular market of exchange. Private companies do not have publicly traded shares, and often contain restrictions on transfers of shares. In some jurisdictions, private companies have maximum numbers of shareholders. A parent company is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors;

9064-458: The revenue generated by the municipal facility funded by the bond issue. A feasibility study should be conducted to compare one project's IRR ( internal rate of return , or hurdle rate) to another proposed project, as it is most important to ensure the success of the municipality. For instance, local government and port authorities can propose construction for a given neighborhood, based on projects that have been successful previously, or it can create

9167-535: The sale of First Commercial Bank (then Arkansas' largest bank) to Regions Financial Corporation in 1998. Under Section 731, all banks headquartered in a state covered by that law may charge up to the highest usury limit of any state that is headquarters to an interstate bank which has branches in the covered state. Therefore, since Arkansas has branches of banks based in Alabama , Georgia , Mississippi , Missouri , North Carolina , Ohio , and Texas , any loan that

9270-515: The same basic usury limit, though unlike Arkansas their legislatures can (and generally do) set different limits. If Section 731 applies to those states, then all their usury limits are inapplicable to banks based in those states, since Wells Fargo has branches in both states. The act is often cited as a cause of the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis "even by some of its onetime supporters." Former President Barack Obama has stated that GLBA led to deregulation that, among other things, allowed for

9373-516: The same state in which they reside, interest payments are generally exempt from state and local tax also. States generally tax interest on municipal bonds issued in other states. There is considerable variability by state, however. For example, in Maryland there is also a specific exemption of capital gain on Maryland-issued municipal bonds. In contrast, Minnesota does not provide for an exemption. The differential treatment of different state's interest

9476-429: The scale some had expected. Retail banks, for example, do not tend to buy insurance underwriters, as they seek to engage in a more profitable business of insurance brokerage by selling products of other insurance companies. Other retail banks were slow to market investments and insurance products and package those products in a convincing way. Brokerage companies had a hard time getting into banking, because they do not have

9579-485: The second company being deemed as a subsidiary of the parent company. The subsidiary company can be allowed to maintain its own board of directors. The definition of a parent company differs by jurisdiction, with the definition normally being defined by way of laws dealing with companies in that jurisdiction. Accounting is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations . The modern field

9682-528: The two chambers could not agree on a joint version of the bill, the House voted on July 30 by a vote of 241–132 (R 58–131; D 182–1; Ind. 1–0) to instruct its negotiators to work for a law which ensured that consumers enjoyed medical and financial privacy as well as "robust competition and equal and non-discriminatory access to financial services and economic opportunities in their communities" (i.e., protection against exclusionary redlining ). The bill then moved to

9785-494: The use of information technology and computer systems in support of enterprise goals. The role of a chief information officer is to lead this department. For example, Ford Motor Company in the United States employs "more than 3,000 team members with advanced computing, analytical and technical skills". Manufacturing is the production of merchandise for use or sale using labour and machines , tools , chemical and biological processing, or formulation. The term may refer to

9888-428: The very financial assets claimed to be the cause of the mortgage crisis, and were also already able to keep their books as they had. He concluded that greater access to investment capital as many investment banks went public on the market explains the shift in their holdings to trading portfolios. Calabria noted that after GLBA passed, most investment banks did not merge with depository commercial banks, and that in fact,

9991-401: The world. Companies are also sometimes distinguished into public companies and private companies for legal and regulatory purposes. Public companies are companies whose shares can be publicly traded, often (although not always) on a stock exchange which imposes listing requirements / Listing Rules as to the issued shares, the trading of shares and a future issue of shares to help bolster

10094-612: Was an issue of hot contention, and the Clinton Administration stressed that it "would veto any legislation that would scale back minority-lending requirements." GLBA also did not remove the restrictions on banks placed by the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 which prevented financial institutions from owning non-financial corporations. It conversely prohibits corporations outside of the banking or finance industry from entering retail and/or commercial banking. Many assume Wal-Mart 's desire to convert its industrial bank to

10197-546: Was based on an assumption that they would be able to force a change in the law. The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act passed in November 1999, repealing portions of the BHCA and the Glass–Steagall Act, allowing banks, brokerages, and insurance companies to merge, thus making the CitiCorp/Travelers Group merger legal. Also prior to the passage of the Act, there were many relaxations to the Glass–Steagall Act . For example,

10300-491: Was considered in the case Kentucky v. Davis , 553 U.S. 328 (2008). Municipal Bonds may be issued in one of two forms: (a) revenue bond, or (b) general obligation (GO) bond . Revenue bonds may be issued by an agency, commission, or authority created by legislation in order to construct a "facility," such as a toll bridge ; turnpike ; hospital ; university dormitory; water ; sewer , utilities and electric districts ; or ports . The fees, taxes , or tolls charged for use of

10403-562: Was conveyed to commercial banks and everyone got involved in the high-risk gambling mentality". In an article in The Nation , Mark Sumner asserted that the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act was responsible for the creation of entities that took on more risk due to their being considered " too big to fail ". According to a 2009 policy report from the Cato Institute authored by one of the institute's directors, Mark A. Calabria , critics of

10506-515: Was established by the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli in 1494. Accounting, which has been called the "language of business", measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys this information to a variety of users, including investors , creditors , management , and regulators . Practitioners of accounting are known as accountants . The terms "accounting" and "financial reporting" are often used as synonyms. Commerce

10609-413: Was passed by the Senate 90–8, and by the House 362–57. The legislation was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 12, 1999. Many of the largest banks, brokerages, and insurance companies desired the Act at the time. The justification was that individuals usually put more money into investments when the economy is doing well, but they put most of their money into savings accounts when

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