January 12, 2005
EU Trying to Get a Handle on Corporate Governance
Everyone complains about Sarbanes-Oxley, but it has forced change around the world in corporate governance. No one wants to be transparent because they just do not want to tell everything. But one by one, countries are tackling this issue. If you do not tackle it, it definitely promotes the image that you have something to hide. Change is not easy, but in this area, very necessary.
An excerpt from a publication in the UK discusses this topic:
In total, Korn/Ferry put the total cost for US businesses alone of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance at more than $5bn per year.The prescriptive nature of the demands also rankle with European companies. In the UK, the combined code on corporate governance that was updated in 2003 uses a ‘comply or explain’ approach, realising that one set of rules cannot be universally applied across all companies. This is something that Europeans find much easier to swallow....
The EU appears to have stepped back from imposing a blanket form of Sarbanes-Oxley across all member states and prefers to let individual countries put their own legislation in place. However, Frits Bolkenstein, the EU commissioner for the internal market, has put forward a number of proposals for improving corporate governance. These include bolstering auditors’ independence, tackling off-balance sheet financing, providing greater transparency into executive pay and forcing companies to make statements about the standards of corporate governance used in their firms." For the complete article, click here.
To begin action on Sarbanes-Oxley at your firm, find out more at www.issuescentral.com about Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Playbook(tm). Rapid. Affordable Compliance.
An excerpt from a publication in the UK discusses this topic:
In total, Korn/Ferry put the total cost for US businesses alone of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance at more than $5bn per year.The prescriptive nature of the demands also rankle with European companies. In the UK, the combined code on corporate governance that was updated in 2003 uses a ‘comply or explain’ approach, realising that one set of rules cannot be universally applied across all companies. This is something that Europeans find much easier to swallow....
The EU appears to have stepped back from imposing a blanket form of Sarbanes-Oxley across all member states and prefers to let individual countries put their own legislation in place. However, Frits Bolkenstein, the EU commissioner for the internal market, has put forward a number of proposals for improving corporate governance. These include bolstering auditors’ independence, tackling off-balance sheet financing, providing greater transparency into executive pay and forcing companies to make statements about the standards of corporate governance used in their firms." For the complete article, click here.
To begin action on Sarbanes-Oxley at your firm, find out more at www.issuescentral.com about Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Playbook(tm). Rapid. Affordable Compliance.
