Walt Disney Co. dissidents Roy Disney and Stanley Gold may be irked that Michael Eisner kept his job as chief executive officer, even though he was forced to relinquish the chairmanship in light of the large vote of no confidence he received from shareholders at its annual meeting last week. But, according to shareholder advocates, […]
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Posted inFrom the Archive
COSO Joint Author Joins Board Of Advisors At Integrify
Schwartz Sarbanes-Oxley software provider Integrify recently announced that Malcolm Schwartz, a principal contributor to the COSO Report, has joined the company’s advisory board. Schwartz has previously served at International Silver Company in senior financial positions, and was a senior partner with Coopers & Lybrand and PwC. He will help North Carolina-based Integrify define how the […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Litigation Update, With Hale And Dorr Senior Partners
BIOS William Paine is Vice Chairman of the Corporate and Securities Litigation Group at Hale and Dorr. Paine has substantial experience defending securities class actions brought in federal and state courts, and typically represents clients charged with violations of the securities laws, and clients subject to government investigations and civil enforcement actions. He regularly represents […]
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 inAccounting & Auditing
Restatements Due To Accounting Errors Decline In 2003
323 publicly traded companies filed restatements due to accounting errors last year, down from 330 similar restatements in 2002. According to a recent study conducted by Chicago’s Huron Consulting Group, the number one reason for the errors was mistakes in calculating reserves and contingencies. In previous years, revenue recognition was the leading cause. Though the […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
“Just Saying No” — The Indemnification Dilemma for Public Companies Dealing with the Wayward CEO
As the prosecution finally rested its case this month against Dennis Koslowski over alleged misconduct at Tyco, and Martha Stewart is in the home stretch of her criminal obstruction trial, you might ask the question — who pays for all this defense? And what happens if any of the many CEO’s and CFO’s now heading […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Companies Taking Longer Time To Close Their Books
Here’s proof that many companies will likely welcome the SOX 404 delay: it’s taking them longer to close their books. Roth According to research conducted by The Hackett Group, a division of $132 million benchmarking firm Answerthink, companies now take 5.5 days to close their books each month, up five percent from last year. According […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Did Mattel Just Experience A Regulation FD Near Miss?
Did Mattel Inc. recently avoid a potential Reg FD violation? ORIGINAL COVERAGE Below is an excerpt from the original Bloomberg coverage: Mattel Says It Expects U.S. Barbie Sales To Rise This Year By Andrea Cheng, Feb. 13 — Mattel, Inc., the world’s biggest toymaker, expects new products including Cali Girl Barbie will lift U.S. sales […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
Is Outsourcing, Tied To Compensation, The Next Activist Issue?
The boom in offshore outsourcing is not only a lightening rod for policy makers and unions — it is also becoming a corporate governance issue at this year’s annual meetings. As more and more companies send software design, call centers and other functions to cheap labor markets like India and China, a number of companies […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Q&A With PwC’s Global Systems, Process Assurance Leader
Last week, 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. (Click here for details). This week, we talked with Lynn Edelson, the Global Leader […]
