Earlier this week I had the privilege of co-hosting an executive roundtable in Atlanta with a dozen ethics and compliance officers, this time with the audit firm Crowe Horwath where the topic was fraud. The discussion was excellent and Compliance Week will have full coverage of it in a newsletter in another week or two, […]
Matt Kelly
Posted inFrom the Archive
Coming to a Proxy Near You: CEO Succession
Yesterday I wrote about executive compensation as a huge part of corporate governance that can sound a terrible tone at the top if handled poorly. Today I want to write about another, often-overlooked part of governance: CEO succession. We should see some fresh action on CEO succession this proxy season. The Securities and Exchange Commission […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Improving: The Tone of Executive Compensation
Much to my surprise, evidence is emerging that companies are hearing the public disgust over bloated compensation. Yes, CEOs and their top lieutenants still earn far too much compared to the average worker, and we’ll continue to see plenty of abuses and piggy behavior for years to come. But I’ve also seen multiple examples of […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
The Compliance Week in Preview
We’ve got quite a week of compliance and governance news coming up this week, folks. I can’t recall the last time we’ve seen so many different stars in our particular universe align, so perhaps it’s worth drafting a scorecard for the week: Shareholder activism and disclosure. Remember that investor advisory committee the Securities and Exchange […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Compliance Book of the Month: Too Big to Save
For a while now I’ve wanted to start a Compliance Week book club. We get a small but steady stream of books here at CW Central Command examining corporate governance from various angles—some of them quite good, others clearly hitching a brief ride on the governance bandwagon until the fad that propels their pages slips […]
Posted inEthics & Culture
Power Grab
Chief compliance officers may want to re-read that old copy of The Prince and go for the office power grab in 2010. Apparently all the cool kids in corporate governance support you already. Within the last several months, we’ve seen numerous signs—regulatory settlements, best practices guides, proposed revisions to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines—that federal regulators […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Editorial: More Intelligent Tone at the Top
Shortly after that Nigerian nitwit tried to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day, I was listening to a talk radio program discussing the federal government’s response and all the new security procedures airline passengers will inevitably be asked to endure: more questioning at the security checkpoint, less freedom of movement on the plane, […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Securities Regulation Institute, Concluded
Last week I filed a dispatch from the Securities Regulation Institute’s annual conference out in San Diego, focusing on the first day’s agenda of SEC policy and risk management challenges. Before I forget, let’s circle back to review the main points of Day 2: enforcement. The stars of the day were Robert Khuzami, director of […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Sen. Scott Brown, Part II: Enabling SOX 404(b)
The other day I pondered whether the improbable ascendancy of Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., might delay or otherwise thwart Democrats’ plans to overhaul financial regulation. Let’s not forget one other niche of corporate compliance where Brown’s arrival as the 41st Republican senator might have serious consequences. He might allow the dreaded Section 404(b) of Sarbanes-Oxley […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Securities Regulation Institute, Day 1
Covering the news of corporate compliance is a ceaseless job, and one to which I sacrifice myself constantly. Therefore, when the Securities Regulation Institute’s annual conference rolled around this week, I immediately headed to the airport. That it is held in sunny San Diego every winter is mere coincidence. The first day’s discussions were dominated […]
