Saturday, March 17th, 2007
The criticisms leveled at Sarbanes-Oxley illustrate exactly why we should keep it.
Excerpt from an Article by Dale Baker
Updated: 5:12 a.m. CT March 12, 2007
Political sentiment runs in predictable cycles. In the midst of the stock-market bubble, no one cared about regulation and oversight. Everyone was making too much money to bother.
Then the money machine stopped, companies such as Enron and WorldCom blew up with their spectacular accounting frauds, and everyone was screaming for blood. A few perp walks and one big legislative package later, we entered the Sarbanes-Oxley era.
The avalanche of multibillion-dollar corporate implosions stopped. Many companies are still sorting out the impact of realistic options expensing going back several years, but the shakeout from that exercise is almost over.
What are we left with? A much fairer playing field for the individual investor, that’s what. Between Sarbanes-Oxley shoring up the integrity of company accounts and Regulation Fair Disclosure (better known as Reg FD) limiting leaks of inside information, the market is a better place to invest in than it was in summer 2000, by far.
READ MORE HERE
Posted in Regulatory Reform | No Comments »
Friday, March 16th, 2007
| April 19, 2007 |
| 12:00 pm | to | 1:30 pm |
Part-3: IT Strategy Series: Ask the Experts
The finale for this IT Strategy Series is to Ask The Experts. We will bring together experts from all facets of Compliance, including Financial, Information Management, Audit and Corporate. We will offer an open forum to submit questions before hand as well as on the spot information sharing. We will use feedback from the first two sessions to build a value based session.
Download the ASK THE EXPERTS Event Flyer in PDF format for Print or Email sharing!
ASK THE EXPERTS – BIOs
Tim Endisch - IT Consultant at Capital Data, Inc., Chicago
With over twenty-five years of varying capacitates in the industry, Tim has experience in both the technical and director-level aspects of business continuity and compliancy, speaking to the issues and concerns that arise on both sides. As a Technician and Project Manager, Tim in involved with architecture and design to offsite testing exercises, coordination of Business Impact Analyses, definition of mission critical applications, design and building of D/R requirements and scope documentations. As a Director, Tim has had the opportunity to build an effective D/R team, get the respective buy-in and support from the executive level management personnel. As the MIS Operations Director at P&H Mining Equipment, he has coordinated the appropriate standards definition, development and respective change control documentation in lieu of SOX compliancy initiatives.
Jan Hertzberg, CISA, CISSP - Principal of Business Advisory Services IT for Grant Thornton, Chicago
At Grant Thornton, Jan leads the Chicago Business Advisory Services Information Technologies (BAS IT) Group. Jan has over 20 years of experience helping multinational companies in health care, financial services and telecommunication to develop infrastructure, systems and internal IT controls for enhanced reliability and regulatory compliance. Currently, Jan leads IT audit teams across a number of Sarbanes-Oxley consulting and internal audit services projects for a variety of businesses with both domestic and international operations. As an audit and consulting practice leader in the US and Latin America, Jan managed teams that provided guidance and support to clients integrating IT controls into advanced technology solutions. Jan has written and lectured extensively on IT’s impact on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance for transparency in financial reporting, information security and related topics in the US and abroad.
Van Rownd - President of Control Compliance Group, Atlanta – Technology Expert Witness, U.S.DCS
Van has spent the last thirty-six years working in Information Technology, starting with 10 years at IBM, 17 years as an independent Consultant, and 9 years as VP of Information Services. As a consultant, Mr. Rownd concentrated on implementation of high availability systems and IT organizations. AS VP, Mr. Rownd implemented a Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity services plan for a company hosting the data services for the vast majority of class 2 and 3 railroads in North America. He lead this transportation Company in satisfactory completion of SAS70 audits to satisfy Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance for the Rail Industry Public Holding Companies audited by all four of the major CPA firms. His success in helping public companies achieve SOX compliance has contributed to the success of his company Control Compliance Group (CCG), and the acceptance of CCG by auditing firms to assist with the information technology audit. As a result, CCG is a consultant to two of the four major CPA firms for training auditors in the IT audit process as well as providing these two clients with software tools for the field.
William R. Waas - Chairman, CEO and co-Founder of Information Technology Executive Exchange (ITEEx)
Prior to starting ITEEx, Mr. Waas was executive vice president of Valcom ($135 million systems integrator); he was responsible for operations and marketing. He started his career at Grumman Data Systems Corporation and held various management positions in strategic planning, finance and service management. Other notable career milestones for Mr. Waas include; Senior Vice President of Service and Support at Vanstar Corporation (a 2.5 billion dollar system integrator), where he headed the $250 million service organization, and Vice President of Value Added Services for Dell Computer Corporation. Mr. Waas is currently on the board of Project Leadership Associates, and works extensively with ITEEx, a professional association focused on the introduction and adoption of emerging technology. He is an adjunct professor of the MSCIS programs for Northwesten University, Robert Morris College and Loyola University. Mr. Waas holds a BAA in accounting and a MBA in finance from Hofstra University.
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Thursday, March 15th, 2007
Former Rep. Michael Oxley is changing his tune about the corporate reform law he helped write five years ago, and Microsoft is still plagued by antitrust issues.
Learn more at IT BUSINESS EDGE:
Information Overload Imminent, Says IDC
Sarbanes-Oxley with an Unwelcome Twist
Shades of 2002: Microsoft Can’t Shake Antitrust Complaints
________________________________________
Sarbox: Oxley ‘Would Have Done It Differently’
Former Ohio Rep. Mike Oxley retired from politics as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was making history as the first female to be sworn in as Speaker of the House. The veteran Republican is perhaps best known for his role in writing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Not long ago he admitted to an audience of accountants in Paris that he would take a different approach to Sarbox today, given the enormous burden the corporate reform act has turned out to be. Most recently, it is blamed in large part for the storage market jump that is bound to follow the digital data explosion predicted by IDC. Oxley told a group of accountants recently that he would do it differently if he had to write the law again, and the accountants are milking that comment for all it’s worth ________________________________________
:: INSIGHTS FROM AROUND THE WEB ::
Oxley Has Doubts About Sarbox :: National Association of Manufacturers
Microsoft Facing EU Fines in Antitrust Case :: SignOnSanDiego.com
U.S. Moves Toward International Accounting Standard :: Forbes
Digital Data Explosion Requires Management Technologies :: internetnews.com
Webcasters Face New Royalty Rates :: Wired
Posted in Regulatory Reform, Sarbanes Oxley | No Comments »
