Governance and risk

Risk and performance reporting some way apart

Risk management has become an important issue for business because of volatile capital markets, uncertainty over the economy, fears about reputational damage and broader concerns over the sustainability of companies and the environments they affect.

CFOs in high demand for board positions

When it comes to corporate boards, CFOs increasingly are in demand for their financial and strategic expertise. The benefits of serving in those positions include gaining general management or board knowledge, and gaining exposure to different companies or industries, according to a new report.

Companies do poorly managing corruption risks in emerging markets

Emerging markets have great potential for rapid growth, but corruption can run rampant. Existing processes exist to identify and mitigate corruption risks, but fewer than 40% of companies doing business in countries most prone to corruption use them well in mergers and acquisitions, with third-party agents or when establishing new operations, research shows.

Gender inequality stymies GDP growth, study finds

The study, which analysed data from 128 countries, quantifies the costs of gender inequality to a country’s economy and scores countries based on the effectiveness of their efforts to empower women.

COSO shows how to put risk assessment into practice

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) released a thought paper, Risk Assessment in Practice, designed to help organisations find the optimal risk-taking zone, which the paper refers to as the “sweet spot.”

Manage fears without stifling innovation

Fear of making errors on the job was the most common workplace fear cited by workers in a recent survey. Experts say being averse to errors and mistakes is healthy, as long as fear of failure does not prevent workers from capitalizing on opportunities for innovation.

New tool aids in evaluation of external auditors

With interactions between audit committees and external auditors a focus of a steady stream of news recently, a new tool has been developed to assist audit committees in annual evaluations of external auditors.

Private companies turn to corporate governance to protect slim margins

Private company business owners are turning to public company-style corporate governance strategies to protect their slim margins in the wake of the financial crisis. And unlike public company executives, private company owners are able to control costs by implementing just the policies that make sense for their businesses.

Audit quality centre releases practice aid on audit communication

How should US audit firms and audit committees be talking to each other? The Center for Audit Quality (CAQ), affiliated with the American Institute of CPAs, examines the question in a brief guide released Wednesday on ways to enhance the flow of information on audit inspections and quality-control matters.

Digital age to require greater supply-chain agility

Supply-chain executives believe digitally enabled customers in the future will be willing to pay for value-added services rather than demanding the lowest prices, according to a recent survey. That may force supply chains to become more agile as complexity is pushed upstream.

Survey takes pulse of board members, shows opposition to audit firm rotation

US public company board members surveyed by BDO opposed mandatory audit firm rotation by more than 2 to 1. In the wide-ranging survey, board members showed support for the idea of voluntary adoption of IFRS for financial reporting by US public companies and listed corruption and bribery as the top fraud risk facing their company.
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