Carol Beaumier, Protiviti, Inc.
In the current regulatory environment where corporate governance is on everyone’s mind, some companies are deciding that they might benefit from more focused attention to compliance issues. These companies are forming board-level committees that are primarily and solely charged with overseeing compliance and legal matters. This column explores the relationship between compliance and corporate governance, the reasons for establishing a board-level compliance committee, the mandate and membership of such a committee, some challenges that a compliance committee may face and the potential benefit to a company of having a board-level compliance committee.