The onslaught of new regulations for financial institutions continues to make life challenging for compliance officers at banks, insurers, and other financial services firms. One sign of the toll regulation is taking on the U.S. financial firms is the lack of new entrants into the industry. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., not a […]
Internal Controls
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Updated COSO Framework to Spark Review of Internal Controls
Now that COSO has completed the update of its widely used internal control framework, it’s time for companies to lay it out against their existing systems of internal control and determine where control changes might be in order. COSO has published a final overhauled version of its Internal Control—Integrated Framework, giving public companies a new […]
Posted inInternal Controls
COSO Finalizes New Internal Control Framework
COSO has published the final version of its newly revised internal control framework, along with two additional resources, which should set public companies in motion to fully review their internal controls to assure they reflect the latest guidance. The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission has updated its Internal Control-Integrated Framework to reflect […]
Posted inEthics & Culture
Cracking the Code: Codes of Conduct That Actually Work
Nearly every company has a code of conduct. At some it’s a commonly cited document that guides behavior at the organization. At others, it gets more use as a beverage coaster. Security and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, for example, falls into the first category. When the company announced late last year that its board of […]
Posted inInternal Controls
How Compliance and HR Can Get It Together
Compliance and human resources have always had a love-hate relationship. Now some companies are finding that getting them aligned can yield large benefits for both functions and improve the organizational culture. That’s no easy task, however. At many companies, gaps in communication and collaboration between compliance and human resources continue to persist. “In general, there […]
Posted inEthics & Culture
Creating a Speak-Up Culture
An important gauge of the success of any company’s compliance training and communications program is whether the company’s efforts have created an environment where employees readily raise questions and concerns about the way the company is conducting business. Since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, much has been written about the different avenues […]
Posted inInternal Controls
e-Discovering the Cloud
A Fortune 20 company was all set to move its e-mail and collaboration systems to the cloud. The business case was obvious: It would be cheaper, more scalable, and easier to manage. The chief information officer was about to pull the trigger. Only one problem: The company hadn’t considered the move’s implications on e-discovery. Where […]
Posted inAnti-Bribery
Russia Anti-Bribery Law Sets New Compliance Standards
Given Russia’s dark cloud of business corruption, it’s hard to believe it would enact the most onerous and stringent anti-corruption law in the world to date. Well, believe it. Russia’s new anti-corruption law goes where none, including the U.K. Bribery Act or the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, have gone before by requiring organizations that […]
Posted inInternal Controls
COSO Slates New Framework Reveal for May 14
The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) has given final approval to the newly revised Internal Control – Integrated Framework: 2013, but companies will have to wait until May 14 to get a copy. COSO spokesman Scott McCallum says the board has approved the final language of the framework update, but will spend the next several […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Tackling the Toughest Issues in Internal Investigations
When allegations of corporate misconduct surface, an effective internal investigation is essential to uncovering facts and formulating an appropriate response. But how do you maintain independence when the problem at hand involves a senior executive and external auditors are breathing down your neck? First, it’s important to avoid any one-size-fits-all approach. “No two investigations are […]
