Thursday, May 29, 2008

Harsh internal IMF audit calls for 'major changes'

Internal auditors at the International Monetary Fund released a harshly critical report on governance Wednesday and urged "major changes" to maintain the embattled institution's relevance.

The Independent Evaluation Office of the IMF said that effectiveness had been the strongest aspect of the 185-nation institution's governance, "while accountability and voice have been the weakest."

"If left unaddressed, these weaknesses would likely undermine effectiveness over time," IEO director Thomas Bernes said in a statement.

Labels: governance, IMF, internal audit

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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Board's Give Or Get More Expensive Now

More than half of nonprofits now require board members to make an annual contribution, with a major share of large ones setting a minimum of $5,000.

That finding, in the new edition of National Board Governance Survey for Not-for-Profit Organizations conducted by the accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP, comes against a backdrop of more and more nonprofits reshaping board of directors practices and policies to fit the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Just as more public companies expect their directors own stock, nonprofits expect an investment as well.

While it excludes nonprofits, Sarbanes-Oxley in 2002 established new or enhanced standards for all U.S. public company boards, management, and public accounting firms. It does not apply to privately held companies. The Act deals with everything, from responsibilities to criminal penalties, and requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to implement rulings on requirements to comply with the new law.

Board's Give Or Get More Expensive Now

Labels: governance, non profit

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Monday, April 16, 2007

Wanted: Money master, two days a week

When a small business calls on Allan Foerster or Steven Walker, it gets more with less.

Both men are chartered accountants, and both serve as temporary chief financial officers -- popularly known as "CFOs to go" -- for small businesses. They perform the duties of a full-time chief financial officer but on a limited or part-time schedule, working a few days a week for a small company.

Mr. Foerster, of Kitchener, Ont., has been a temporary chief financial officer for seven years and has his own one-man company, CFO 2 Go, Inc. He says increased scrutiny over governance and an emphasis on accounting responsibility, spurred in part by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the United States, has made it vital for even small businesses to have a chief financial officer.

But few small businesses can afford a full-time CFO, so hiring a temporary one is a more palatable option.

Wanted: Money master, two days a week

Labels: governance, small business, temporary CFO

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Sunday, April 15, 2007

SOX and J-SOX Primer

On March 22^nd, Michael Dell the founder and CEO of Dell, Inc. at a Customer Reception in Tokyo, Japan remarked on the planned implementation of the so-called J-SOX laws in April of next year. He stated that "it's increasingly important for Japanese companies to review their database management and information security procedures to structure and comply with enhanced legal requirements for internal controls."

SOX and J-SOX Primer

Labels: governance, J-SOX, Japan

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Monday, March 26, 2007

Middle East IPO Summit opens today

The conference this year aims to highlight the solid underlying economic conditions for initial public offerings (IPO) in 2007. After a volatile performance in 2006, which saw US$ 436 billion wiped off GCC market capitalisation, the bourses so far in 2007 have languished in bear territory adding to those losses.

During his presentation Dr. Izzat Dajani, Chief Executive of Investment and Development, Government of Ras Al Khaimah will examine the changing dynamics of regional capital markets. Should self-regulation and corporate governance be precursors to IPOs and should start-ups be allowed to go public and if so why?

Middle East IPO Summit opens today

Labels: governance, middle east

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Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Russia Blog: Russian IPOs - Curb Your Enthusiasm?

Improving Corporate Governance in Russia

Another recently released report that attracted comment in the Russian press this week was issued by the international headhunting firm Heidrick & Struggles. It notes that the Russian companies floating on international stock exchanges raise 20% less than their Western counterparts because Russia’s standards for corporate governance are lower. It also shows that investors would pay up to 38% more for shares in Russian companies with good corporate governance. This is a very good argument for the Russian entities engaged in corporate governance, like Russian Institute of Directors or the Institute of Corporate Law and Corporate Governance.

Russia Blog: Russian IPOs - Curb Your Enthusiasm?

Labels: governance, ipo, russia

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Forum looks into developing framework, models for corporate governance, corporate responsibility

Corporate governance and social responsibility is in need of updated regulations and faces major obstacles according to the organisers of a new forum held on Tuesday at the Dead Sea Movenpick Hotel.

The forum, intended to bring together business leaders from across the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), was designed to launch Schema, the first privately held Corporate Governance and Responsibility advisory practice in the region.

Majied Qasem, chairman of Schema, evoked the example of the Dutch East India Company, the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stock, as an example as why the local public sector should become more involved with the corporate governance movement. The company, after 200 years of profit, became bankrupt due to poor governance.

"We want to remind people that corporate social responsibility [CSR] isn't a new concept. Theses concepts are as old as corporations themselves," said Qasem. "I am sharing this example to raise the level of awareness and urgency. These problems cannot be solved by governments alone, we need the business sector to step up."

Forum looks into developing framework, models for corporate governance, corporate responsibility

Labels: africa, development, governance

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