Internal Controls

The Securities and Exchange Commission is forging ahead with plans for mutual recognition of securities firms and regulators overseas, which would give U.S. investors direct access to foreign markets and foreign broker-dealers. The SEC says it is exploring initial agreements with one or more foreign regulatory counterparts, based on a “comparability assessment” by the SEC […]

The ceaseless fight over nonaccelerated companies’ compliance with Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley droned on this month, as the Securities and Exchange Commission received a deluge of comments on its proposal to extend the compliance deadline for the auditor attestation part of Section 404. The SEC published its plan in February, which stated that nonaccelerated filers […]

In some organizations, the current approach to governance, risk management, internal control, and compliance (GRC) is complex and costly. It is considered a “necessary evil” to doing business, like brakes that get in the way of driving toward objectives. Well, I like to remind executives that the fastest cars have the best brakes. To have […]

The following true story may sound familiar. The internal auditor for a $2 billion transportation company feels handcuffed. He’s just completed another round of internal control reporting, and he doesn’t sense the chore was any different under new Sarbanes-Oxley compliance rules than it was under the old rules. The executive had high hopes that the […]

It’s a fear corporate accounting executives have had for months: that the number of internal controls subject to testing and auditor scrutiny won’t decline all that much, despite new guidance calling for more of a risk-based approach to Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Now, exclusive Compliance Week research shows those fears may well come true. According to a […]

A recent federal district court decision wedged open a little bit wider the door for workers trying to sue their employers under the whistleblower protections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Observers say the ruling, O’Mahony v. Accenture Ltd., is the first to hold that the whistleblower provisions of SOX apply to an employee working overseas for […]

Some companies have far lower levels of misappropriation of assets and fraudulent financial reporting than others. Why? Because they aggressively take steps to prevent and detect fraud, end of story. At these exemplary companies, management takes seriously its ethical responsibilities for designing and implementing systems, procedures, and controls to catch fraud—and, along with the board […]

A high-profile former member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has provided a frank glimpse into the bureaucratic clashes over Auditing Standard No. 5—including revelations that the Securities and Exchange Commission fought aggressively to gut AS5’s main provisions. In an exclusive interview with Compliance Week, Kayla Gillan says the SEC “pushed, pushed, pushed, and […]

The transformation of the corporate boardroom since enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has resulted in numerous profound changes, not the least of which is who gets invited to sit in the boardroom at all. Long gone are the days when a directorship was an honor long on prestige and short on demands handed out by […]

In my line of work, I’m often asked exactly what internal auditing is supposed to be. According to the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing, the answer is pretty straightforward: “Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization’s operations.” You might want […]