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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Survey: Boards Put Reputational Risk Near the Top of the List
Tammy Whitehouse | May 20, 2013
After financial risk, reputation risk is the biggest concern that keeps board directors awake at night, according to the latest poll from audit firm EisnerAmper. Nearly two-thirds of the board members surveyed say it is their next biggest risk, a huge increase from when the survey was conducted last year. Directors cited compliance and regulatory risk as the third largest risk. More survey results inside.
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News Article
When Stock Buybacks Get More Complex So Does the Accounting
Tammy Whitehouse | April 9, 2013
Companies flush with cash are conducting increasingly complex stock buybacks, some with thorny accounting implications. Buybacks with forward repurchases, written put options, and those involving derivatives, for example, can invite accounting scrutiny. "Essentially you are pulling very complicated accounting rules down upon yourself," says Bruce Pounder, director of professional programs at training firm Loscalzos.
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News Article
British Regulators Water Down New Narrative Reporting Reform
Neil Baker | November 27, 2012
Good news for public companies in Britain: Regulators there have scaled back their requirements for narrative reporting, opening the door to simpler compliance even if filers must add a few new disclosures here and there. The latest regulations "are a much more balanced and sensible approach," says John Gollifer of the Investor Relations Society. "It appears that reform has gone far enough."
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News Article
Auditor Rotation Talks Heat Up
Tammy Whitehouse | March 27, 2012
A who's who of the auditing world convened at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board last week for two days of discussion about term limits for audit firms' engagement with clients. Opinions were predictably diverse, and consensus was rare. Goodyear CFO Darren Wells, for example, said auditor rotation should only be required after an audit failure. More views inside.
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News Article
The Inexact Science of Making Defensible Business Judgments
Tammy Whitehouse | March 13, 2012
Since 2008 executives have urged the SEC and others to consider issuing guidance to the capital markets to explain how regulators assess the reasonableness of business judgments, but those calls have gone unheeded. Now the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations has stepped forward with guidelines of its own on the topic. Details inside.
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News Article
Shareholder Groups Stymied on Auditor Rotation Proposals
Tammy Whitehouse | February 7, 2012
Two investor groups recently filed proxy proposals to compel companies to adopt auditor rotation policies. So far, their arguments have fallen on deaf ears. Companies have either ignored the proposals or petitioned the SEC for no-action letters, which they have won. But don't expect the battle to stop there. Details inside.
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Grapevine Blog
FAF Names Four New Board Members
Jaclyn Jaeger | November 17, 2010
The Financial Accounting Foundation, an independent, private-sector organization responsible for the oversight of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, has elected four new members to its board of trustees. Each of the appointments is for a five-year term that begins in January 2011. Among the...
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Grapevine Blog
Rayonier Elects New Board Member
Jaclyn Jaeger | November 1, 2010
Rayonier, an international forest products company, has elected Mark Gaumond to its board of directors, effective immediately.Gaumond retired earlier this year as senior vice chair of markets for Ernst & Young, where he oversaw the assurance, tax, transaction and advisory service lines in the Americas region. Previously, he was the...
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Global Glimpses Blog
European Shareholders Lack Influence
Global Glimpses | September 2, 2010
The European Commission should not overestimate the role that shareholders can play in corporate governance improvement, according to a body that represents big pension funds.A recent Commission green paper on governance reform said institutional shareholders were partly to blame for the financial crisis because they hadn’t performed their ownership role...
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Grapevine Blog
New Independent Member on K-V Pharmaceutical Board
Jaclyn Jaeger | June 30, 2010
K-V Pharmaceutical Company has appointed Ana Stancic to the company's board of directors as a new independent member. She replaces Terry Hatfield, whose resignation from the board was effective upon Stancic's appointment.Stancic brings to the board extensive knowledge and experience in long- and short-term strategic planning, and the development and...
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Global Glimpses Blog
Europe Starts Financial Sector Governance Reform
Global Glimpses | June 7, 2010
The European Commission has launched a review of the corporate governance rules followed by financial firms in its 27 member states.A wide-ranging Green Paper floats a series of potential governance reforms, including new duties for directors, better risk reporting, and a wider remit for external auditors.The paper argues, “Although corporate...
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Global Glimpses Blog
Governance Gets Personal Under New U.K. Code
Global Glimpses | May 28, 2010
The directors of the top 350 U.K.-listed companies will face re-election every year, instead of holding the typical three-year tenure, under a revised version of the country’s influential corporate governance code.The new code released today says performance-related pay should be aligned to the long-term interests of the company and its...
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Global Glimpses Blog
Get a Grip on Risk, Regulator Tells Canadian Bank Boards
Global Glimpses | May 12, 2010
Board directors at Canada’s financial services companies need to get a better grip on risk management, according to the country’s financial regulator.“The old excuses—the risk is too complicated, I don’t want to second guess, I don’t have enough time—just aren’t good enough anymore,” said Ted Price, an Assistant Superintendent at...
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Grapevine Blog
Office Depot Names New Board Member
Jaclyn Jaeger | January 6, 2010
$14.5 billion Office Depot has appointed Thomas Colligan to its board of directors. He will also serve on the audit committee.Since September 2007, Colligan has been vice dean of the Wharton School's Aresty Institute of Executive Education. Previously, he spent more than 40 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he served in...
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Global Glimpses Blog
U.K. Investor Groups Pledge Harder Push on Governance
Global Glimpses | June 11, 2009
A group representing the U.K.’s four main institutional investor bodies has published proposals aimed at giving shareholders a stronger voice in corporate governance issues.The Institutional Shareholders’ Committee (ISC) accepted that the financial crisis showed a need for investors to engage with companies more effectively. Such shareholders have been criticized by...
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Grapevine Blog
PCAOB Chairman Resigns, Effective July 31
Jaclyn Jaeger | June 8, 2009
Mark Olson, chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, will leave the Board effective July 31, ending a tumultuous three-year term where he played a key role in amending compliance obligations for Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.Olson has been chairman of the PCAOB since July 1, 2006, when...
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Global Glimpses Blog
Investors Target Governance at Belgian Bank
Global Glimpses | April 24, 2009
A group of public sector U.K. pension funds has called for a shareholder rebellion over poor governance practices at Belgian banking and life assurance group KBC. The move is part of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum’s plan to take a tougher stance on governance issues at international companies.The forum,...
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Harvey L. Pitt
On The Road To Global Governance Standards
Harvey L. Pitt | May 31, 2006
With Nasdaq announcing its acquisition of nearly 25 percent of the shares of the London Stock Exchange, and the concomitant pressure on the NYSE to make a comparable foreign exchange acquisition, it’s now readily apparent that we’re moving toward global, and away from national, capital markets. In more prosaic terms, what this means is that decisions where to “list” a stock will be significantly less important in the future. What will be of paramount importance is where securities are traded, and who owns them.
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News Article
Audit Committee Financial Experts, One Year Later
Karr Susan Schott | September 21, 2004
On July 15, we hit the one-year anniversary for the SEC's “audit committee financial expert” rule, which requires public companies to disclose information about their audit committee financial expert, if they have one. So is it working?
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Opinions
39 Questions To Expect From Your Audit Committee
Corcoran Michael | June 15, 2004
Most experts note that audit committees should play a critical role in the development of SOX 404 and 302 compliance programs, and that members should be asking questions.
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