With dramatic changes in the business environment over the past few years, many internal audit departments are caught in a kind of feedback loop—eager to help steer organizations in a new direction, but struggling to demonstrate their ability to be agents of change. Studies by the Institute of Internal Auditors and PwC suggest that after […]
Risk Management
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
PCAOB’s Hanson on Audit Reform
Jay Hanson, one of the newest members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, gave a keynote address at the Compliance Week 2011 conference in Washington D.C last month, followed by a question and answer period. With so much material to cover, Hanson didn’t get to many of the insightful questions members of the audience […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Improving Risk Assessments and Audit Operations
At companies where internal audit and risk processes are maturing, they are now honing their operations to become more efficient and effective. It all starts with strong, open, trusting relationships that enable internal auditors to act less like cops and more like business advisers, John Barresi, vice president of internal audit and financial controls at […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Agencies Publish Guidance for Bankers on Compliance with Risk Measurement Rule
Four federal agencies published a joint guidance on Friday to help banks comply with their “advanced approaches rule” from 2007, which requires certain firms to use a framework of advanced measurement approaches to calculate operational risk. Under the rule, banks have the flexibility to develop operational risk measurement and management programs, processes, and tools that […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
‘Much Remains to be Done’ for FSOC, Says Schapiro
The Financial Stability Oversight Council has some of the most critical issues still ahead of it in the implementation of rules under the Dodd-Frank Act, said Securities and Exchange Chairman Mary Schapiro in her testimony on monitoring systemic risk and promoting financial stability to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs today. “While […]
Posted inRisk Management
New Guidance on Risk Appetite
*/ /*–>*/ The London-based Institute of Risk Management (IRM) has released draft guidance aimed at helping organizations to determine, quantify, and communicate how willing they are to take risks. The guidance explains how an organization can determine its risk appetite and what role its board of directors should play in the process. The IRM says […]
Posted inData Privacy
High-Profile Data Breaches Raise Security Alerts
The Treasury Department is pushing companies in the financial sector to beef up their data security. A few recent security breaches, including one last year at Morgan Stanley, have proven once again just how critical it is for national banks and their technology service providers “to perform periodic risk assessments of their information security programs” […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
This Proxy Season, Excluding Shareholder Proposals Gets Trickier
Two significant trends about which shareholder proposals companies can or cannot exclude from the proxy statement are already setting the tone for this year’s proxy season—and companies need to read regulators’ response letters carefully to stay on top of developing precedents. The Securities the Securities and Exchange Commission is not only granting fewer requests to […]
Posted inAnti-Bribery
Report: Compliance Risks Growing in Emerging Markets
Sure, emerging markets offer numerous growth opportunities for multinational companies, but they also bring an increasing amount of compliance and integrity risk. A survey of 500 executives at companies in North America conducted by Deloitte and Forbes Insights found that 85 percent said their level of concern over the potential for compliance and integrity risks […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
Take Advantage of the Hiatus In Corporate Governance Changes
It’s time to channel your inner Sherlock Holmes. Holmes famously advised Inspector Gregory to note “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.” When the inspector noted that the dog did nothing unusual in the night, Holmes responded: “That was the curious incident.” Likewise, perceptive observers of the annual gathering of the great and […]
