According to a new survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, executives at U.S. multinational companies are thinking less and less of Sarbanes-Oxley. One year after the passage of the Act, the percentage of executives with a favorable opinion of SOX dropped to 30 percent last month, down from 42 percent when the same group was interviewed in October […]
Compliance Week
Posted inInternal Controls
Q&A With COSO ERM, Internal Control Standards Author
It seems like the assumption behind the COSO Risk Management Framework is that there is no commonly accepted definition of “risk management,” and no comprehensive framework for processes. That is the assumption, and that is based on our research; we have not found anything out there that is a generally-accepted framework. There are lots of […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Discrepancy Between Fraud Perceptions, Incidence
Though asset misappropriation and “cybercrimes” like denial-of-service and virus attacks are among the most prevalent economic crimes, most senior executives are apparently kept up at night by fears of financial misrepresentation, in which company accounts are altered. However, those crimes only constitute two percent of economic crimes, according to a study by Wilmer, Cutler & […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
Accounting Violations Linked To Acquisitions, CEO Age
According to a two-and-a-half year study conducted at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, firms that violate accounting rules are more likely than their peers to provide extravagant stock options to their CEOs, to have history of making numerous acquisitions, and to have younger CEOs. The study looked at […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Audit: SEC Has Material Weaknesses In Internal Controls
EXAMPLES OF WEAKNESSES Lacks adequate internal control to track, report “sensitive property.” Disgorgement tracking system not current; can’t be relied upon. Inadequate reconciliation, controls for disgorgement receivables. IT office not clearly authorized to enforce IS and security policies. IT office not promptly disabling accounts after users leave SEC. Financial system controls to monitor unauthorized activities […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Documentation, Legal, Seen As Biggest SOX Costs
Senior executives at U.S. multinational companies are somewhat divided over the financial impact of complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. According to a recent survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, 56 percent of surveyed executives said initial compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley was not very costly for their company, while the remainder claimed compliance was at least “somewhat” costly. […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Section 16 Best & Worst Practices — Web Posting
Now that the SEC’s new Section 16 rules are in effect, companies must file all Forms 3, 4 and 5 electronically. The electronic filing process is pretty straightforward — the SEC has a new on-line filing system for all forms, and documents submitted by direct transmission on or before 10 p.m. EST are deemed filed […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Study: Don’t Wait For FASB; Cheaper To Expense Now
FASB plans to require companies to expense stock-options next year, but a new study shows it may be wise to act now. Buck Consultants, part of Mellon Financial, predicts that technology companies will experience a median decrease in EPS of approximately 20 times greater than companies that voluntarily adopt stock-option expensing guidelines now. The reason, […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Audit Fees May Rise 35%; Numbers Match Other Study
An informal survey of Financial Executives International members showed that companies expect their annual audit fees to increase by an average of 35 percent in order to cover required 404 attestations. Though the numbers came from an unscientific sampling of under 100 executives, they were actually within the range of a Foley Lardner study covered […]
Posted inEthics & Culture
When It Comes To Ethics, Directors Seldom Get Training
Ethics policies are only “Step One.” Step Two requires training. But an educated, ethical workforce still won’t prevent senior executives from committing fraud if they’re intent on doing so, nor will it motivate a Board unable (or unwilling) to identify potential problems. It’s surprising, then, that—while most companies have conducted ethics and compliance training for […]
