Corporate & Securities Law

Enron-driven reforms are unraveling

Posted on January 18, 2008
Enron was the beginning, and now it's the end. The company's collapse in late 2001 alerted the investing public to the magnitude of corporate fraud. We realized no haven was safe.It meant that even the biggest of companies, the bluest of blue chip stocks could be vulnerable to the greed and hubris that lurked within its corporate offices...

Enron shareholders learn outcome of suit

Posted on January 16, 2008
Enron Corp. investors who sued the company more than six years ago are learning this week they'll receive an average of $6.79 per share for the common stock they owned.A court-approved mailing also notifies those who owned preferred stock they'll get $168...

Top court ruling goes against investors

Posted on January 16, 2008
The US Supreme Court put new limits on shareholder suits against a company's banks and business partners in a ruling that may thwart efforts to recoup billions of dollars lost in frauds at Enron Corp. and HealthSouth Corp.more stories like this * Supreme Court hears LG-Quanta patent case * Investors head into '08 amid setbacks * Victim to be heard at husband's trial * Court: Quiz on death penalty no mandate * Cranson man's federal appeal on crack sentence rejected*The justices, voting 5 to 3, threw out a lawsuit by Charter Communications Inc...

Tides of Change - Retooling of Accounting Standards

Posted on January 16, 2008
The Global Public Policy Symposium IV was recently held in NY, with representation and discussion among the top international auditing firms.With the ongoing discussion around more principle-based (IFRS) accounting standards versus the more familiar rules-based (GAAP) standards in the US, many are interested - if not regularly dialed into - the discussion of adoption and the implications of domestic adoption of IFRS...

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Top audit firms push to use their own judgment

Posted on January 16, 2008
Auditors and corporate finance departments must be able to use professional judgment without being second-guessed if countries continue to adopt principle-based accounting standards, the chief executives of the top six global accounting networks argued in a white paper on Tuesday...

Corporate Governance - are you at risk?

Posted on January 16, 2008
Corporate Governance means more to the communicator than reputation management. When effective corporate governance promotes thriving organisations, market confidence and public trust. Internal communicators have a duty to be aware of the corporate governance responsibilities of their organisation, and to support it and enhance it...

First Convicted Backdater Sentenced to Prison

Posted on January 16, 2008
The former chief executive officer of Brocade Communications Systems was sentenced to 21 months and prison and ordered to pay a $15 million fine. He is the first executive to go to trial and be convicted for orchestrating a scheme to illegally backdate stock options...

FASB Codification Released; One Year Verification Phase Begins

Posted on January 15, 2008
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) announced the release of its draft Codification, and the start of the one year 'verification' period in which FASB is "encourag[ing]... use [of] the online Codification Research System free of charge to research accounting issues and provide feedback on whether the Codification content accurately reflects existing U...

Can the Nonprofit World Govern Itself?

Posted on January 15, 2008
In the wake of several high-profile charity scandals and with observers predicting that Congress will pass legislation similar to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for nonprofit organizations, Independent Sector convened the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector to create a set of guidelines designed to help groups govern themselves...

CMA committed to corporate governance practices: Al Jabri

Posted on January 15, 2008
The Capital Market Authority (CMA) is committed to promoting sound corporate governance practices in Oman, Yahya bin Said Al Jabri, executive president of the CMA said here yesterday. Recently, the capital market regulator had issued an administrative decision forming corporate governance committee to implement a corporate governance plan in Oman by disseminating information on international standards and practices...

Panel set up to develop practical guidance for audit committees

Posted on January 15, 2008
The Audit Committee Guidance Committee has been set up to develop practical guidance for audit committees. It will help to strengthen corporate governance practices of listed companies in Singapore, focusing on the practical aspects and considerations of the work of audit committees...

The SarBox: The bill for restatements can be costly

Posted on January 15, 2008
Do financial restatements mean anything these days? The Securities and Exchange Commission Advisory Committee on Financial Reporting is looking into the huge increase in financial restatements by public companies since Sarbanes-Oxley was passed in 2002?a review triggered, at least in part, by SarbOx critics who contend that restatements are expensive, time consuming and of questionable value to shareholders, who increasingly ignore them...

First-of-Its-Kind Report Quantifies Actual Cost of Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 Compliance for Smaller Public Companies

Posted on January 10, 2008
Lord & Benoit, a SOX research and consulting firm, recently gathered empirical cost data to answer a crucial question that government officials, legislators, and business executives have been asking since June of 2007: "what exactly is the cost for a smaller public company to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404(a) and Section 404(b) regulations using the latest guidance issued by the SEC and PCAOB?" The data reveal that for non-accelerated filers, the total average first-year cost for management assessment and additional audit fees is $78,474, which is 13...

Speak Up, Mr. Buffett

Posted on December 31, 2007
Warren Buffett's entry into the muni bond insurance market could represent perfect timing, both financially and politically. Investors can only hope he'll seek to do good while doing well. Specifically, he can help put an end to an egregious double standard...

La Vita Less Dolce - SOX, Italian Style

Posted on December 31, 2007
Can you say "Sarbanes-Oxley" in Italian? According to some experts, it sounds like "law 262," though this is not an exact translation. Passed in 2005, two years after the massive accounting scandal at Italian dairy group Parmalat, 262 requires a manager at listed companies in the country to sign off all financial communications and certify reporting practices...

KPMG: Internal Audit Talent Shortage Challenges Companies, Audit Committees

Posted on December 13, 2007
Companies are struggling to find qualified internal audit talent, as audit departments cope with greater responsibilities while needing additional -- and different -- resources. Corporate management is asking internal audit to find new ways to help achieve strategic objectives...

FEI Members on Panels; FEI Committee on Corporate Reporting Comments on Concept Release

Posted on December 13, 2007
Four members of Financial Executives International (FEI), an association of senior financial executives, are among panelists appearing on the SEC?s IFRS roundtables. FEI members participating on today?s panel are Gregg L. Nelson, VP, Accounting Policy and Financial Reporting at IBM Corporation and Matthew Hilzinger, SVP and Corporate Controller, Exelon Corporation...

SEC?s Cox Tells House Small Bus Committee He Wants to Delay Sarbox External Audit Requirement for Small Co?s by Additional Year

Posted on December 12, 2007
According to written testimony prepared for a hearing of the House Small Business Committee taking place right now, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox will tell the committee: ?I intend to propose to the Commission that we authorize a further one-year delay in implementation for small businesses? in the requirement that small bus provide their first external auditor?s report on internal control, currently due effective year-end 2008, ?in order to base our decision on final implementation of section 404(b) on the best available cost data...

One-year Delay on 404 in the Works

Posted on December 12, 2007
After a year of listening to lawmakers hound him for another delay of the date when small companies must comply with the internal-control provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox says he plans to supply such a reprieve...

Security Governance and Risk Management

Posted on December 11, 2007
Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks company (NYSE: HHS), today announced a new research report on "Security Governance and Risk Management" which reveals that Best-in-Class organizations are more effective than their counterparts at allocating their IT resources and activities based on business objectives and acceptable levels of risk...

The Unexpected Benefits of SOX: A Conversation with Michael Oxley

Posted on December 11, 2007
In response to a series of corporate scandals, Congressman Michael Oxley and Senator Paul Sarbanes sponsored the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002. Conceived as an investor protection law, this wide-ranging legislation impacted U.S. public companies in many ways...

PCAOB Issues Staff Audit Practice Alert on Fair Value

Posted on December 10, 2007
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board today published a Staff Audit Practice Alert on the audit of fair value measurements in financial statements. The alert provides auditors with additional information related to auditing fair value measurements and disclosures, as well as the use of specialists in this area...

FASB sees its future as part of IASB

Posted on December 06, 2007
Robert Herz, Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) chairman?s, wishful thinking is to see the day when FASB will become part of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Speaking at the IFAC World Accountancy Forum during World Accountancy Week, he said it would be a single organisation, called the International Accounting Standards Board, but it would have an office in the US ?maybe in Norwalk, Connecticut? where FASB is based...

Companies Act 2006 will bring IT closer to business

Posted on December 06, 2007
Companies Act 2006, which comes into force in October 2009, is reminiscent of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the US. Sarbanes-Oxley has impinged mightily on the working lives of British IT professionals working for companies listed in the US, so the kinds of implications it bears are nothing new...

OCEG to Revise and Expand Framework ? Join the Process!

Posted on December 06, 2007
Since early 2005 OCEG?s Framework version 1.0 (?Red Book?) has served as a leading model for integrated governance, risk management, compliance and ethics management (GRC). It?s time to expand and revise this model.Join an unparalleled group of individuals with expertise in GRC issues from a wide range of global perspectives - legal, compliance, internal control, risk, and ethics - to participate in the Steering Committee for the OCEG Foundation 2...

Subprime Mess Could Be Bigger Than Enron

Posted on December 05, 2007
As the subprime mortgage meltdown grows, some experts are starting to see the resulting fallout rivaling corporate scandals of earlier this decade, like Enron, that prompted the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Even former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt expects to see more massive writedowns on the way...

KPMG study shows flaws in corporate reporting data

Posted on December 05, 2007
A recent KPMG study shows how badly companies are at meeting their projected earnings. It might make good fodder for class-action lawyers. Only 22% of companies came within 5% of their projections, according to the global study, entitled: Forecasting with Confidence...

PCAOB Issues for Comment Proposed Guidance Regarding the Implementation of PCAOB Rule 4012

Posted on December 05, 2007
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) today voted to issue for public comment a proposed policy statement that identifies the factors relevant to ?full reliance? by the Board on the inspections systems of its non-U.S. counterparts that are sufficiently rigorous to meet the level of protection for investors that is required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002...

Sarbanes Oxley compliance becoming easier

Posted on December 04, 2007
US companies are improving their compliance to the Sarbanes Oxley act, according to new research released this week. The Sarbanes Oxley legislation was signed into US law on the 30th July 2002 after data scandals such as those involving Enron, Tyco International and WorldCom, created a need for corporate governance...

Sarbanes-Oxley rules of '02 reshape Silicon Valley boards of directors

Posted on December 04, 2007
Silicon Valley companies have reshaped their corporate boards in the wake of the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and new stock market rules, according to a survey released today. Chiseling away at the stereotype that tech CEOs pack their boards with cronies, virtually all directors are independent outsiders, and companies routinely are splitting the roles of chairman and CEO...

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