Bloomberg News has an article critical of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway for failing to meet federal filing requirements:
The world's greatest investor could use some help with record keeping.
In the past two weeks, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said it missed filing deadlines for investments in Dow Chemical Co. and wallboard maker USG Corp. The latter resulted in an $896,000 penalty.
Buffett, 83, has boasted for years about running Berkshire with a shoestring staff and delegating responsibilities to the heads of operating units like Geico and railroad BNSF. Yet the mistakes raise questions about whether his management approach is suited to an era of increased reporting requirements....
There have been other slip-ups. Since 2012, Buffett's company has had to file overdue reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about holdings in DirecTV, Liberty Media Corp. and Wabco Holdings Inc. Another document concerning an investment in M&T Bank Corp. came three years behind schedule.
The article's strong suggestion is that Mr. Buffett should add more compliance staff. It doesn't really tackle the question of whether all these federal reporting requirements should exist in the first place. Who do they help other than the lawyers who charge fees for helping companies attempt to comply with them?
The USG case involved what Berkshire described in a release as "the premerger reporting and waiting requirements of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act."