Richard M. Steinberg

It’s well accepted that the CEO is the most important element to setting a company’s ethics and compliance tone. At most companies the board of directors pays close attention to integrity and ethical values when considering candidates for the position, and in measuring the CEO’s performance.   But here’s a vital question: “How do we […]

The calls are getting louder for long-time directors to give up their long-held board seats. If you listen closely, you can hear the cries echoing across Corporate America: “You’ve served long enough,” they say. “You’ve not kept pace with what’s happening in the industry, the geopolitical environment, technology, international dynamics, or the demands of younger […]

Compliance officers, risk managers, operating executives, and board members can learn much from the tribulations of Siemens. The German engineering conglomerate’s bribery scandal and $1.6 billion settlement with U.S. and German regulators in 2008—and it’s work to fix the problems since then—provide lessons as to what went wrong and how to enhance anti-bribery and anti-corruption […]

Yes, we finally have it. After several years of intense work by PwC, input from an advisory council and regulators, and ultimate approval by the COSO board, the updated Internal Control – Integrated Framework has been issued. If you’re involved in any way with financial reporting, you’re well aware that the original framework has long […]

For some executives from a bygone era the idea of striving to be ethical had no place in their ranks. Business was for tough, rugged individuals, who played a life-or-death game of survival of the fittest. As a zero-sum game, the goal was to take what you could, demolish competitors, and let the buyer beware. […]

Despite the fact that risk management can involve sophisticated techniques— especially in the financial services industry, where a small miscalculation can result in devastating losses—conceptually it is a rather straightforward process: You identify what could go wrong and work to lesson or otherwise deal with those risks. Breaking risk identification down into its simplest elements, […]

To say that these are challenging times to be a corporate director is an understatement. Shareholders are clamoring for greater ability to determine who should sit in the boardroom and what happens there. Then there is the host of new regulatory requirements and the growing volume of litigation. All this occurs with memories still fresh […]

Corporate boards of directors play a critical role in shaping corporate strategic direction and providing guidance and counsel to the CEO and the senior management team. At the same time, they must be looking over management’s shoulder to fulfill their monitoring duties. It’s no secret that some boards are effective while others are not. As […]

The treatment regimen and the outlook for recovery are far different, of course, for a localized cancer and for one that has metastasized, spreading throughout the body. The same is true for business frauds. How companies react to and rectify an isolated fraud by a rogue employee should be different from fixing a series of […]

Among the bestselling novels back in 1962 was Sex and the Single Girl, which soon after was made into a movie starring Natalie Wood, Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, and Lauren Bacall. Well, with an ever expanding list of chief executives caught having extramarital affairs, there could easily be a sequel, which might be called Sex […]