Compliance & Governance

Awards to be presented at CRO Conference Sept. 10 in Chicago

CRO Magazine introduces its first CEO of the Year Awards Nominees 2008 to recognize the achievements of the all-star CEOs in Corporate Responsibility.

With the exception of the Mid Market Award, all 2008 CRO CEO of the Year Awards will be named live at the CRO Conference Sept. 10, 2008, at the Union League Club in Chicago. The Mid Market Award was named at the CRO Conference in San Francisco June 24.

U.N. office also lists 317 more participants at risk of removal from the initiative

The United Nations Global Compact Office removed 630 companies from its list for failure to communicate progress on the 10 principles of the initiative, the office said. Under the Integrity Measures introduced in 2004, companies must report advancements annually to stakeholders.

Evaluations of key impacts vital for setting strategy, bringing substantive changes

Materiality is a concept within the auditing and accounting fields relating to the importance of an amount, transaction or discrepancy. The objective of an audit of financial statements is to enable the auditor to express an opinion on whether the financial statements are prepared, in all material respects, in conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The assessment of what is material is a professional judgment.

Companies must define programs to maintain, manage global data

Over the past decade, an enhanced regulatory environment has emerged, which fundamentally impacts how global organizations handle enterprise data. Laws and regulations now mandate that companies manage their electronic and physical records more carefully. Additionally, businesses with global operations are now obligated to develop a standard for corporate compliance that reconciles domestic e-discovery and retention rules with foreign privacy-law requirements.

U.S. Attorney settles custom fraud case related to apparel made in China

The U.S. Justice Department and three apparel importers settled a customs fraud case that saw goods manufactured in China falsely labeled as made in Korea or Russia, and sold as such in the United States at Wal-Mart, JC Penney, Family Dollar Stores, Kohls and Marshalls stores.

The benefit to the subterfuge was that the importers—Intertex Apparel Group, J.J. Basics and Ben’s Clothing—could evade quotas on goods manufactured in China and dodge customs fees by under-valuing “the actual cost for those goods charged by the Chinese manufacturers,” according to the U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York.

In separate move, Wachovia names independent chairman

A Rockefeller family initiative has picked up the backing of RiskMetrics Group’s ISS Governance Service, which is asking shareholders to back a resolution at the Exxon Mobil’s May 28 shareholder meeting to split the CEO/chairman role.

Closed-loop systems can help committees access sales figures, discuss mergers in secure environments

Although good governance is ultimately predicated on the ethics and expertise of board members, it is obvious to many directors today that there is a crucial role for technology. These directors reject the notion held in certain quarters a few years ago that technology is a panacea. Instead they subscribe to the more mature view that technology is an enabler—a key ingredient for a board environment that is radically different from the one only a few years ago.

As roles evolve, CROs become ‘stewards of strategic decisions’

Today’s companies are challenged to find socially responsible, sustainable ways of doing business that benefit their employees, communities and the environment—while simultaneously enriching their shareholders. And businesses across a variety of industries are proving that it can be done.

Executive support, planning and technology key to overhauling GRC design

Most economists are predicting a recession in the United States in the near future; some think we’re already in one. Concerns over energy prices, unrest in the Middle East, and even the current crisis in financial services all harken back to the late ’80s and early ’90s, which was the last time many believe we experienced a full recession. Coinci­dentally, there was also a Bush in the White House, a leading Democratic candidate named Clinton, and a new “Rambo” movie hitting theaters at that time. But while some interesting parallels between then and now may exist, there’s no question that the world has changed dramatically.