A survey conducted in last week’s edition of Compliance Week showed that internal or “cascading” certifications are—or will be—in place at over 90 percent of responding companies. The attestations, often called internal representations, have become increasingly common as companies prepare for Section 404 IC certifications. The law firm of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood was […]
Compliance Week
Posted inFrom the Archive
Disclosures Of Qualified Legal Compliance Committees
On January 23, the SEC codified rules imposing an “up-the-ladder” reporting requirement when attorneys become aware of material violations by the officers, directors or employees of thier companies. According to the rule, an attorney must initially report such evidence to the company’s chief legal officer or to both the CLO and chief executive officer. Reporting […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Study Says Banned Non-Audit Work, Restatements Unrelated
While many non-audit accounting & tax services are now either banned or require audit committee pre-approval, a new academic study shows little or no correlation between those services and lax GAAP enforcement. Scholz The study of non-audit services, conducted by several academics including Susan Scholz at the University of Kansas and William Kinney at the […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Cost of Being Public Increasing Due To New Regs
In the wake of more rigorous governance compliance and increased disclosure requirements, companies can expect the cost of being public to increase by nearly 100 percent, depending on their size. Estimated costs for middle-market companies, some listed at right, include increased accounting and legal fees, according to the law firm of Foley Lardner, which conducted […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
Details on D&O Insurance Emerge In Filings
As reported in previous editions of Compliance Week, companies are reporting higher D&O premiums as insurers increase their rates to match executives’ increased liability with the SOX certification requirement. Mark Miller, a Washington D.C.-based partner at law firm Greenberg Traurig, told CW last year that “costs are going up drastically, and Sarbanes-Oxley is the catalyst.” […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
How Firms Report Financial Experts Varies Widely
Pursuant to Section 407 of Sarbanes-Oxley, public companies will be required to annually disclose whether they have at least one “audit committee financial expert” on their audit committee, and if so, to disclose the name of that expert and whether the expert is independent of management. The rules define an “audit committee financial expert” as […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Complexity, Integration Are Barriers To Compliance
Buried deep in a recent study of financial-services compliance was some interesting information about typical barriers that prevent companies from achieving “first-rate” compliance. Most of the data collected in the study, which was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Economist Intelligence Unit, was focused on financial institutions, and was therefore not entirely relevant to most CW […]
