The SEC’s new cybersecurity regulations went into effect last week. Most companies are “largely ready” to comply, Matt Gorham, senior managing director and leader of PwC’s Cyber & Privacy Innovation Institute, told CFO Brew, “but that doesn’t mean there isn’t work to do.”

As their companies’ finance leaders, CFOs are instrumental in determining whether a cybersecurity incident is material, but they have other roles to play as well. Gorham shared his advice for how CFOs can help their organizations comply with the new regs.

In a nutshell: As a reminder, the regulations consist of what Gorham refers to as three “buckets.” Companies that file with the SEC are required to:

• Declare any material cybersecurity incidents to the SEC on Item 1.05 of Form 8-K within four business days of determining materiality
• Disclose information about their cyber risk management and strategy on a new section of the 10-K called Item 1C
• Disclose information about their boards’ and management’s role in overseeing cybersecurity risk

The first two “buckets,” Gorham said, will likely require the most work to comply with.

Keep reading.—CV

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Sometimes, bad things come in threes, like the number of Star Wars prequels with a Jar Jar Binks cameo.

And now, for the third straight year, US incomes fell, according to new Census Bureau data.

In 2022, the median household income fell to $74,580, adjusted for inflation. That’s a 2.3% decline from 2021’s median estimate of $76,330, according to the Census Bureau. And the latest figures mark a 4.7% drop from a 2019 peak of $78,250.

Meanwhile, earnings for both part-time and full-time workers fell 2.2% between 2021 and 2022. For full-time, year-round workers, median earnings dropped 1.3% in 2022.

One small bright spot: The Gini index, a measure of income inequality, modestly improved. The income gap between high- and low-income households decreased by 1.2% between 2021 and 2022, marking the first annual decrease since 2007.

In all, though, the latest Census data provides a snapshot of American households’ economic troubles, and the abundance of cash-strapped workers has created new challenges for CFOs.

Keep reading.—NP

In a move that suggests the Securities and Exchange Commission will punish audit firms’ executives if they fail to fix problems, the SEC on Tuesday charged Greg Giugliano, the top compliance professional at Marcum LLP, with engaging in “unethical or improper professional conduct.”

Marcum itself was charged in June with “systemic quality control failures and violations of audit standards,” and paid a $10 million penalty, without admitting wrongdoing. The charge against Giugliano, who was the national assurance services leader at Marcum for more than 20 years, stems from what the SEC claims is a failure to “sufficiently address and timely remediate numerous deficiencies” within Marcum’s practice.

Marcum’s communications director did not respond to CFO Brew’s request for comment by publication.

As part of a deal with the SEC that included no admission of wrongdoing, Giugliano agreed to pay a fine of $75,000, and to take a three-year break from management responsibilities at any registered public accounting firm.

Keep reading.—SW

Today’s top finance reads.

Stat: $51. That’s how much Arm, the chip supplier for major players like Apple and Nvidia, priced its IPO per share. At the high end of the company’s expected range, the offering makes Arm a bright spot in the tech IPO market. (CNBC)

Quote: “The chance of having a relatively soft landing and navigating through this has gone up very meaningfully over the last 12 months. The environment is definitely better.”—Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon on the current likelihood of avoiding a significant recession (Reuters)

Read: Birkenstock, the centuries-old shoemaker, dubbed itself “the oldest startup on earth” in its recent IPO filing. The company’s listing on NYSE, which could come in October, is expected to value the shoemaker at over $8 billion. Thanks, Barbie. (NPR)

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