In this post-Enron corporate culture, a director position requires more commitment than it used to, not to mention more risk to one’s personal reputation. Today’s board member must be more assertive — not so willing to sit back and watch wrongdoing without doing something to stop it. Though whistleblower systems that encourage anonymous communication of questionable dealings help, diversity on the board may make the most difference. And compliance departments are controlling how money is spent on compliance technology, without consulting the IT folks. This is bound to create tension in the boardroom, given that money previously under IT’s control is being “diverted” to compliance. Chief compliance officers’ priorities should be developing relationships with board members and keeping risk assessment at the top of the “to do” list.

Accounting scandal ends with a dozen guilty pleas and SEC settlements

10.09.06    Mark Kaiser, the former marketing executive of US FoodService, Ahold’s food distribution unit, has been found guilty by a federal jury of participating in an $800MM accounting fraud.

Kaiser was found guilty on all six charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, and making false filings. He faces a life in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

Earlier in September, US FoodService’s former CFO Michael Resnick pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges

For Silicon Valley venture capitalists eager to weaken the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate- governance law, it may pay to have friends in high places. The speaker’s rostrum of the U.S. House of Representatives, for instance.

Nancy Pelosi, the leader of newly empowered House Democrats, received more campaign money this year from partners at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the venture capital firm that helped launch Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., than she got from Democrats’ traditional friend, the AFL-CIO labor federation. She in turn has already identified revising the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley law as a top priority when she becomes House speaker in January.

Venture-capital firms have been lobbying the White House, Washington lawmakers and regulators for months to water down the law, arguing that higher auditing and legal fees are driving companies to take initial public offerings overseas.

Pelosi, Kleiner Perkins Push for Overhaul of Sarbanes-Oxley Law