Buried in a compliance survey published by a security software company was an interesting anecdote about the confidence of executives in their upcoming SOX 404 “pass-fail” test. According to the survey, conducted by Waltham, Mass.-based Netegrity, when asked how likely it is that their company receive an unqualified opinion of their internal controls by their […]
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Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Audit Committees Must Be Told About Contingency Fees
In a meeting last week, SEC Chief Accountant Don Nicolaisen ordered accounting firms to disclose all contingency-based tax fees to company audit committees. Nicolaisen As we reported in our May 25 edition, those fees—which enable the auditor to take a cut of whatever savings the client was able to realize as a result of the […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
If General Counsel Is Officer, Is Confidentiality At Risk?
Important issues about the attorney-client privilege of general counsel may be emerging from the California courts. The strange case involves the general counsel and vice president of Marvell Semiconductor, who—during acquisition negotiations with Jasmine Networks—failed to hang up his speakerphone after leaving a voicemail for a lawyer at Jasmine. The sensitive conversation was of course […]
Posted inInternal Controls
51 Internal Control Disclosures In May
According to a review of regulatory filings during the month of May, 51 companies disclosed material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal controls, or provided updates on the status of their control-improvement processes. That number is up from 39 similar disclosures in April, and 28 in March. (See box at right for previous months’ data). […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
Compliance Committees Vary In Scope, Structure
As regulatory compliance increases in complexity, many companies are assembling committees to coordinate and oversee such efforts. COMMITTEE EXAMPLES Below are examples of several compliance committees at public companies, including their structure, membership and function: Altria Corporation Committee Structure: The parent company committee has about 30 members, including the CCO of each operating company, the […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
European Securities Regulators, SEC To Cooperate More
Last week, the SEC announced that it would increase cooperation with the Committee of European Securities Regulators to identify emerging risks and “engage in early discussion of potential regulatory projects.” The dialogue is expected to cover a wide range of issues, from credit rating agencies to mutual fund regulation, and the groups will share experiences […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Most Companies’ Non-Audit Fees Under 25% Total Fees
A survey of over 3,600 public companies shows that almost 45 percent of companies’ non-audit fees are less than 25 percent of total fees. The survey, conducted by Karl Nagel & Company, analyzed FYE 2003 audit fees, which totaled more than $4.3 billion in aggregate. 29 percent of companies’ non-audit fees were from one-quarter to […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
PCAOB Will Grill Audit Chairs On Non-Audit Services
Accounting fraud may have hogged the enforcement headlines for the past few years, thanks to high-profile scandals at Enron, Adelphia and Tyco International. But over the past few weeks, a number of accounting firms have learned that the Securities and Exchange Commission and other federal officials are still determined to crack down on auditor independence […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Q&A With Corp. Governance Officer At $9.9b Ingersoll-Rand
This profile is the latest in a series of weekly conversations with executives at U.S. public companies who are currently involved in establishing and developing compliance programs. An index of previous conversations is available here. You were formally named governance officer only in April. How did Ingersoll manage governance before that? It’s been an evolutionary […]
Posted inTechnology
Software, Services Firms Launch Compliance Consortium
A group of software, content and services firms announced yesterday the launch of the Compliance Consortium, which will promote efficient enterprise governance, risk and compliance management. The consortium, spearheaded by enterprise compliance solution provider Axentis, includes a variety of other companies like risk consulting and internal audit firm Jefferson Wells, whistleblower reporting service The Network, […]
