Christian Phillips, chief security officer at payment processing company Regulus and an old hand at running corporate IT departments, knows all too well the challenges of blending IT departments after a merger. In fact, he’s doing it right now. Regulus was acquired in April by publicly traded 3i Infotech for $100 million. Phillips now must […]
Leffall Jabulani
Posted inTechnology
New PCI Rules Arrive, Confusion Remains
Another flurry of IT security rules to protect consumers’ credit card data went into effect this month—not that they will be much help to bewildered and frustrated retailers across the country. As of July 1, PCI Industry Data Standard 6.6 gave merchants a framework to ensure that point-of-sale information uploaded into Web-based applications is protected […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Study Claims Executive Pay on the Decline
Despite popular belief—or perhaps to the disbelief of many shareholders—corporate governance reforms and market pressures may finally be squeezing at least some parts of executive compensation packages. That’s according to a recent survey by professional services consultant Mercer, based on the findings of 350 companies within the Fortune 1000. According to the survey, total compensation […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Small Filers Warming to New SOX Regime
Solar Integrated Technologies, a California company currently listed on London’s increasingly popular (and less regulated) AIM exchange, has always had its sights on being listed in the United States. The worry: regulatory considerations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. MacEwen Not anymore, says Randall MacEwen, chief executive officer of the $81 million solar roofing systems company. “Compliance […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
What Bear Stearns Means for Litigation, D&O Policies
The collapse of Bear Stearns last month may not have the notoriety of corporate implosions like Enron, WorldCom, or Arthur Andersen. Still, the consequences of the investment bank’s fall could be just as far-reaching. One thing is certain: Bear Stearns’ demise will not be the lone symbol of the sub-prime age, but merely the beginning […]
Posted inData Privacy
PCI Group Publishes Self-Assessment Tests
Any retailers still unsure whether their data security standards can pass muster now have a new way to see how safe (or not) customer data really is. The Payment Card Industry Council has published a detailed set of “self-assessment questionnaires” for small and medium-sized retailers, who typically aren’t required to have their data security reviewed […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
How to Forge Better Board, C-Suite Ties
Boards of directors expect a lot from their executives these days, as they should. In the post-Sarbanes-Oxley world, the need to be informed on all areas of compliance, operations, and financial reporting is more vital than ever before. To that end, such demands require a stepped-up level of communication and transparency between the C-suite and […]
Posted inInternal Controls
SOX 404 Help Still Has Small Co. Skeptics
If costs to comply with Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley are finally starting to decline because of relaxed standards and corporate adaptation to the rule after five years, Calvin Yu hasn’t noticed. Yu, financial reporting manager for $1.4 million Cell Genesys in San Francisco, says that despite the advent of Auditing Standard No. 5 and a […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Talking Controls and Compliance at Burger King
In the latest of our conversations with chief accounting, compliance, and governance officers, we catch up with Chris Anderson, corporate controller at Burger King Holdings. Anderson was appointed to his job in July 2007 and is responsible for risk management, global accounting operations, and external reporting, as well as the finance functions in Europe, Asia […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Creating, and Using, Your First Fraud Assessment
A risk-based approach to testing and managing your internal controls over financial reporting sounds great, but first you need to assess just what your financial reporting risks are. To that end, Bill Stepaniuk never goes into a meeting empty handed. Or, as he likes to put it: “I’m a paper-half-full type of person.” Stepaniuk, head […]