We've just about nailed down the final planks of the Compliance Week 2011 annual conference, which gets underway three weeks from today. So I'd like to give you all an update of what's to come—and why it will be worth your coming to see and participate, as well.

First, we've secured a great lineup of keynote speakers who hail from all across the wide range of perspectives on corporate compliance and governance. Jay Hanson, new member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, will speak about the PCAOB's efforts to revive its role in the regulatory world—which, I suspect, are going to be more potent than most people currently realize. Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, will talk about current enforcement priorities. One of his priorities seems to be investigating half of Wall Street for insider trading; I'm eager to hear how else he plans to keep corporate legal departments busy.

We also have Tom Linsmeier from the Financial Accounting Standards Board, who will speak about how, for reals this time, FASB is pushing to converge U.S. accounting principles with international rules by the end of 2011. And then there will be the folks from Second City Communications, yet again using improv comedy to teach lessons about effective employee training and prove that compliance really can be, you know, funny.

I'm also especially pleased and intrigued with our two other keynoters. On the afternoon of May 23 we'll hear from Mike Morris, CEO of American Electric Power Co. Morris is stepping down from AEP at the end of this year, after seven years of trying to take AEP from its coal-burning roots into the era of green(er) energy. He also has spent his time trying to break AEP's previous culture of top-down dictates from management and replace it with a more collaborative communication structure. In other words, he has spent seven years facing the same sort of challenges as ethics and compliance officers, except on a much larger scale.

Lastly we'll have Richard Cordray, head of enforcement for the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What exactly does he plan to enforce? How tough might sanctions be? What will his office expect of companies it investigates? I have almost no idea—and, frankly, neither does anybody else; the CFPB is that new. I'll have plenty of questions to ask him, and you should too.

We've also scheduled some outstanding sessions, and specifically increased the amount of material geared for all the financial reporting executives and internal auditors out there. Previously we've held one session with Compliance Week columnist Scott Taub, who reviews some of the more migraine-inducing changes to financial reporting and accounting policy. This year we have that same session, and a separate discussion on accounting convergence with executives from Xerox, Microsoft and Credit Suisse, and Linsmeier's keynote address.

On the internal auditing side: several months ago one compliance officer called me up to complain: “You need to talk about developing risk assessments and monitoring plans, and the roles that compliance and internal audit play!” She was right, and so we now have that precise topic on the schedule for Wednesday morning. That's not to be confused with our update on the COSO Internal Control Framework's major overhaul, which will be an excellent opportunity for COSO fans to speak up about how you'd like to see the framework pulled into the 21st century.

We also have plenty of other sessions on measuring and improving corporate culture, managing internal investigations, presenting information to boards, dealing with the Justice Department, and much more. You can see the full agenda on our conference website.

Aside from all those continuing education opportunities, however, are the continuing networking opportunities. We already have more than 300 people planning to attend, from all walks of industry and all manner of titles. You can rub shoulders (because, actually, the conference does get that crowded) with your peers at Google, Target, Smith & Wesson, Tiffany's, Boeing, MasterCard, PayPal, PepsiCo and many more. We'll also have friends from the PCAOB, Justice Department, Commerce Department, and Securities and Exchange Commission all attending.

The conference itself is May 23-25 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., and you still have time to register now for the best peer-to-peer event of the year for compliance professionals. I hope you'll make it!