The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has issued new guidance on internal controls, ethics, and compliance to help its member countries implement anti-bribery strategies. The OECD Working Group on Bribery has issued “Good Practice Guidance on Internal Controls, Ethics, and Compliance,” which calls for companies in the 38 countries that are party to the […]
Internal Controls
Posted inInternal Controls
Getting Ready for the 2010 Proxy Season
Are you ready for the 2010 proxy season? Companies are faced with new rules for expanded disclosure of executive compensation and director experience in the proxy statement. They have more issues that will come under more scrutiny from more people, be they activist investors, proxy advisory services, pension and union funds, or the media. Here’s […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Study: Policy Management Needs Improvement
Compliance officers might be a bit dispirited by a new study of policy-management efforts in Corporate America, which shows that companies are making some improvements at the task but still struggling to achieve the mythical “effective” compliance program amid increasing regulation and tough budgets. The survey, conducted by consulting firm Duff & Phelps, polled 380 […]
Posted inInternal Controls
SEC’s Aguilar on SEC, Financial Regulation Reforms
Despite the progress made during the last year, both with respect to financial reform and reform of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement program, there’s more work to do, according to at least one SEC official. While he praised some of the progress made to date, SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar, in a Feb. 5 speech, […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Restatements, Weaknesses Drop Again in 2009
Restatements and material weaknesses took a sharp dive in 2009, but it’s not entirely clear whether that means companies are making fewer mistakes or just catching and reporting fewer mistakes. In 2009, only 75 companies with markets capitalizations of at least $250 million restated their financial statements, according to data from Glass Lewis & Co. […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Study: Cos. Still Lagging on Records Management
A new study of corporations’ records management programs paints a troubling picture of companies still struggling to keep pace with the huge compliance demands piling onto them, despite the strides made in the last several years. The study, the 2009 Iron Mountain Compliance Benchmark Report, surveyed more than 2,500 enterprises in the public, private, government, […]
Posted inInternal Controls
How to Manage Communication About Risks
Every corporate director knows he or she needs relevant information to carry out oversight responsibilities effectively. But it’s not easy to know exactly what that information should be, the form it should take, or where it should come from. Unfortunately, experience shows that too often boards of directors don’t sufficiently focus on these issues, get […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Regulator Sees French Governance Improving
Corporate governance standards at companies listed in France have improved over the year, but more action is needed to control executive powers and to explain any deviations from governance best practice, according to the head of the country’s stock market regulator. Speaking at the launch of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers’ (AMF) sixth annual report […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Chief Compliance Officer Now a Full-Time Job
Two new studies confirm what those tasked with oversight of corporate compliance probably already know: More and more often these days, the chief compliance officer’s job is a full-time, stand-alone gig, rather than a secondary duty one handles while wearing some other title. A poll from the Open Compliance and Ethics Group found that of […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Navigating Import-Export Compliance
Compliance executives at companies conducting business internationally may want to add a check of their import-export compliance policies to their to-do list. You might have more work to do on that front than you think. It’s well known that import-export compliance is tricky. Several different federal agencies enforce the rules, the rules themselves are complicated […]
