Relatively few companies have made the formal designation of chief compliance or governance officer, which makes the job description difficult to codify. It also illustrates how the responsibilities of the CCO are often distributed around the organization, usually between the positions of general counsel and corporate secretary. But according to The Conference Board in its […]
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Posted inInternal Controls
Q&A With Jefferson Wells CEO Owen Sullivan
Earlier this month, the SEC extended the compliance date for the internal control provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley. Accelerated filers will now need to comply for their first fiscal year ending on or after Nov. 15, 2004. The original compliance date was June 15. This week, we talk to Jefferson Wells CEO Owen Sullivan — whose firm […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
SEC Eases The Burden Of Foreign Firms Adopting IFRS
An addition to the 8-K amendments adopted last week, the SEC also proposed to “ease the burdens that foreign companies may face” when adopting International Financial Reporting Standards for the first time. The amendments would allow certain companies publishing IFRS statements for the first time to include only two years of audited financial statements in […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Ten New Disclosures And A Four Day Deadline
At an open meeting March 11, The Securities and Exchange Commission voted to adopt additional reporting requirements on Form 8-K. The amendments will add 10 disclosure items to Form 8-K, including the transfer of two items to the current report from the periodic reports. The amendments will also strain global companies by forcing timelier disclosure […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Last Week’s Events Provide Reminder On SEC Probes
Corporate executives, spokespersons and counsel should be aware that the period immediately following an SEC investigation needs be treated as the “No-Spin Zone.” Consider last week’s rollercoaster ride at AGCO Corp., which is a $3.5 billion farm equipment manufacturer. Statement And Retraction On Wednesday, March 10, 2004, AGCO Corp., which had been the subject of […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
Security Holder Director Nominations Resources
Transcripts, presentations and other resources related to the SEC’s proposed rules on shareholder access to the proxy.
Posted inFrom the Archive
Who Are The Most Cost-Effective CEOs For Investors?
As part of a recent analysis of CEO pay, executive compensation firm Equilar provided a list of the five chief executives whose pay represented the smallest percentage of market cap increase over the past three years. “We thought it would be interesting to evaluate the CEOs who were the most cost effective from a shareholder’s […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
Disney Drama: What It Means For All Public Companies
The Disney drama that commanded center stage [last] week trumpeted the themes that will play out this proxy season. Two extraordinary actions at Walt Disney Co. stand out. First, a startlingly large 43 percent of voting shareholders withheld support from CEO Michael Eisner’s re-election to the board. Second, in response to the vote, Eisner stepped […]
Posted inInternal Controls
18 Internal Control Disclosures In February
According to a review of regulatory filings during the month of February, 18 companies disclosed material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal controls, or provided updates on the status of their control-improvement processes. In January, 23 companies made similar disclosures. (See box at right for previous months’ data). Types Of Weaknesses Over one-third of the […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Continental Airlines CEO, P&G Exec Join Sprint Board
Henretta Sprint recently announced that it had added two new independent directors, Gordon Bethune and Deborah Henretta, to its board of directors. Bethune, who is chairman and CEO of $8.8 billion Continental Airlines, previously served at Boeing and is a director of Honeywell International and ExpressJet Holdings. Henretta is president of $43 billion Proctor & […]