New Edition!
As the current financial crisis continues to evolve globally, there are a seemingly infinite number of questions emerging about how the crisis developed and spread, how it is impacting financial institutions as well as other companies, what governments are doing to address the crisis, and what companies must do to secure their own futures. This document provides answers to some of what Protiviti believes are among the most commonly asked questions about the financial crisis.
KLplus Risk Brief Released
This course discusses the Supreme Court's amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which took effect on December 1, 2006. These amendments provide guidance on the handling of electronically stored information in litigation. With the publication of these amendments, a legal framework now exists from which we can analyze and build policies and process for litigation preparedness; even if some of the amendments have left room for interpretation.
Hot Issue and Related Poll
Fraud risk is companywide and needs to be on every employee’s radar, top to bottom. A fraud risk assessment can help any organization improve its education around fraud risk. In part one of this two-part series, Gene Agee from Sprint, and Tom Andreesen from Protiviti, provide insight into Sprint’s fraud risk assessment process and the importance of executive sponsorship.
This week’s poll question asks: "Has your company conducted a fraud risk assessment within the last year?"
Previous Poll Results
See the results from last week's poll, "How would you rate your level of executive presence?"
Compliance Week Article
It is a narrative compliance executives hear all too often: A company becomes the center of a Securities and Exchange Commission probe, the stock price then tanks, the press goes on a feeding frenzy, and senior management is left to pick up the pieces. Litigation experts examine five common mistakes companies make -- and how to avoid them.
Taylor & Francis Article
This article focuses on developing economic theory on the interrelation between IT investment components. Three functional forms to model the joint effects between components of investment on firm accounting profitability are identified and empirically tested. The results suggest that the complementarities between components of IT investment can be best modeled by using the multiplicative functional forms, providing a framework to model the joint effects of different factors that impact firm profitability.
Job Description
This job description provides an overview of responsibilities, and the qualifications for the Chief Risk Officer position.
Policy
The purpose of this document is to develop a consistent process for scheduling and managing IT security assessment processes. The general steps outlined provide a process for conducting various types of assessments, as well as guidelines for monitoring of security compliance within the computer system and network environments.
Announcement
Please take this survey. Protiviti has conducted this annual survey to determine whether and how internal audit functions are "rebalancing" their activities in order to address risks overshadowed by the intense focus on financial reporting risks. The purpose of this new survey is to continue to measure the impact of AS5 and the SEC’s Interpretive Guidance on rebalancing activities. How much difference did one year make? Are companies nearing the completion of their rebalancing activities? When the results are tabulated, we will share them with the internal audit community.
KnowledgeLeader News
The examiner's final report to the bankruptcy court on the demise of New Century Financial Corporation documents some important lessons in corporate governance for mortgage lenders and financial services institutions. New Century Financial Corporation announced on Feb. 7, 2007, that it would have to restate its financials for the first three quarters of 2006. Following this announcement, New Century's descent was dramatic and swift. Source: Mortgage Banking
Featured External Links
This document is intended to assist organizations in securing cell phones and PDAs. More specifically, this document describes in detail the threats faced by organizations that employ handheld devices and the measures that can be taken to counter those threats. Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology
The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) is responding to the global financial crisis with important information for executive management, board of directors, and audit committees. The IIA has created a special Web portal - "A World in Crisis" - for a broad range of articles, resources, and perspectives on how internal auditing can be a part of the solution to the crisis. Source: The IIA
Featured Event
Today’s cash strapped business environment and the continued, prudent press for justifiable ROI has led to the need to create business cases for new technology solutions that go beyond those that were required historically. In this webinar, Protiviti and SAP will focus on the framework and functionality of SAP Process Control and highlight specific examples of benefits that can be translated into the business case. Registration is free. Host: Protiviti
Featured CPE Course
This course is offered at a discount through KnowledgeLeader’s partnership with MicroMash. The completed course is worth 2 CPE credits and is designed to enhance your understanding of:
- Audit Responsibilities
- Audit Communications
To view the full list of CPE courses, please visit KnowledgeLeader’s Standards & Trainings Page and follow the MicroMash Online CPE Courses link.
Did You Know?
KnowledgeLeader's search function default is "All Words," however, when searching you have the option to change your results to "Exact Phrase," or "Any Words." Furthermore, the standard search allows you to search within your results and resort your results by date, if you are looking for the most recent material. KnowledgeLeader's advanced search provides additional flexibility by allowing you to limit your search to specific document types. This may be useful if basic search is returning too many results, or you are specifically looking for tools or publications. Finally, you may select documents on specific topics by clicking on Topics and selecting one of the pre-defined keywords.
CCH Tax and Accounting - Accounting Research Manager Updates
- Financial Statement Disclosures -- FASB Approves Enhanced Disclosure Requirements Applicable in 2008 for Public Entities
- EITF Meeting Results -- EITF Decisions Reached
- Revenue Recognition -- 2009 Edition of Revenue Recognition Guide Added
- EITF Materials -- FASB Issues Additional Meeting Materials for November 13, 2008 EITF Meeting
- Shareholder Proposals -- SEC Staff Issues Guidance on Shareholder Proposals
- International Financial Reporting -- IASB Issues Agenda for November 18-21, 2008 Meeting
- IFRIC Update -- Customer Contributions and Other Matters Discussed
- Using the Work of a Specialist -- Additional Interpretive Guidance Discussed
- Single Audits -- New Required Electronic Submission Process for the Single Audit Data Collection Form Discussed
From the Archive
This sample work program can be downloaded and reviewed for ideas and comparison with your own work programs.
Top 5 Pages on KnowledgeLeader
The following links will take you to the five most popular pages from the week of November 3, 2008.