Publications

May 7, 2012
Data Quality Index – Do You Have Faith in the Accuracy of Your Numbers?
FS Insights, a quarterly publication from Protiviti’s Financial Services Practice, provides timely coverage of issues facing the financial services industry and insights to help you identify and manage risks and adapt to the changes affecting financial services companies. This issue features the articles: Data Quality Index – Do You Have Faith in the Accuracy of Your Numbers? and Dodd-Frank Act’s Potential Implications on Technology at Financial Institutions.
CONTENT AREA: Newsletters
TOPICS: Financial Services Industry, Fraud, Compliance, Dodd-Frank Act

May 7, 2012
Lessons Learned from an AML Enforcement Action – Protiviti Flash Report
An enforcement action against a bank subsidiary of a Top 10 bank holding company, which was recently made public by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), has attracted considerable media attention. The enforcement action is noteworthy for the significant volume of remediation requirements imposed on the company, some which we have seen in other enforcement actions and others which suggest evolving regulatory expectations. The purpose of this Flash Report is to highlight the requirements imposed by the OCC in this instance and, in doing so, to offer a framework for financial institutions to compare their own practices against the mandated requirements.
CONTENT AREA: Regulatory Updates
TOPICS: Financial Services Industry, Fraud, Compliance

May 7, 2012
Shareholder passivity: a viable explanation for corporate governance failures at NewsCorp?
Why would shareholders remain passive despite economic incentives to address corporate governance failings at the company level? In crafting a response to this question, the article addresses contemporary debates on the monitoring role of investors in ensuring that the companies they own maximize shareholder value and adhere to high standards of corporate governance.
CONTENT AREA: Articles
TOPICS: Corporate Governance, Audit Committee & Board, Whistleblower/Complaint Reporting, Governance Risk & Compliance, Internal Controls

May 7, 2012
Value at Risk and Stress Tests for Energy Trading Versus Basel Committee Capital Requirements
Value at Risk (VaR) is a way to summarize the “worst loss over a target horizon that will not be exceeded with a given level of confidence.” There are some interesting comparisons to be made between the stress testing and capital adequacy requirements in energy trading and banking. In this podcast, Protiviti Directors Mark Cory and Heidi Forbes discuss Value at Risk and stress testing in energy trading companies.
CONTENT AREA: Podcasts
TOPICS: Compliance, Energy & Utilities Industry, Financial Services Industry, Risk Assessment

April 30, 2012
Risk Oversight: Is it “Broken”? What are the New Expectations?
One of the common themes that emerged is that many of the companies at the root of the financial crisis had some combination of weak risk management and deficient board oversight of risk. This article analyzes the traditional role played by boards, senior management and the internal audit function and proposes significant changes in the approach used by boards, senior executives and auditors to prevent yet another wave of trust debilitating corporate governance breakdowns.
CONTENT AREA: Articles
TOPICS: Corporate Governance, Enterprise Risk Management, Internal Audit, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, COSO

April 23, 2012
Aligning to Manage Ethical Decision-Making: A Checklist for IT Outsourcers
Ethics is not always top of mind for businesses when making IT outsourcing decisions. This article offers an offshore checklist to help start the discussion about minimizing not only the public relations spin but the actual negative economic impact that IT offshore outsourcing can wreak.
CONTENT AREA: Articles
TOPICS: IT Infrastructure, Ethics, Cost Management, Outsourcing/Co-sourcing/Shared Services, Project Management

April 23, 2012
HHS Announces One-Year Delay in the ICD-10 Compliance Date
In February 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had announced its intention to initiate the rulemaking process to postpone the implementation date for the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition diagnosis and procedure codes (ICD-10) from its previously scheduled October 1, 2013, compliance deadline. On April 9, HHS announced a one-year delay in the deadline to October 1, 2014. This Flash Report describes the reasons for the delay and suggests what impacted organizations should do now,
CONTENT AREA: Regulatory Updates
TOPICS: Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals Industry, Compliance

April 23, 2012
High Performance at Under Armour
Under Armour is a brand synonymous with performance and is the original creator of high-performance apparel designed for athletes. In this performer profile, Jonathan Schwartz, senior director risk management, and Elysa Lipsky, senior manager internal audit, discuss how to drive organizational accountability for ERM though the internal audit report writing process. When writing reports, ask: “Is this just an inherent business risk or is there a clear relationship between the risk and achievement of objectives?”
CONTENT AREA: Performer Profiles
TOPICS: Audit Reporting, Enterprise Risk Management, Internal Audit, Risk Assessment

April 23, 2012
JOBS Act Inspires Criticism of Regulatory and Governance Rollback
The newest members of the public company ranks will now have five years to avoid corporate governance requirements, thanks to the JOBS Act passed by Congress last week. Critics say the measure will do little more than play to scam artists. "With securities fraud running at a record level ... any reasonable person would understand there needs to be adequate protection of investors," says Lynn Turner, governance activist and former SEC chief accountant.
CONTENT AREA: Articles
TOPICS: Sarbanes-Oxley Act, External Auditor, PCAOB, Section 404-Internal Control Reporting, Initial Public Offering, Fraud

April 23, 2012
SEC FLASH REPORT – SEC Staff Issues Guidance on Confidential Submission Process for Emerging Growth Companies
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama signed the bi-partisan “Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act” (the “JOBS Act”) legislation into law. Last week, the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Corporate Finance issued guidance in the form of frequently asked questions on the confidential submission process for emerging growth companies. This Flash Report summarizes some of the points included in the SEC staff’s guidance.
CONTENT AREA: Regulatory Updates
TOPICS: Financial Reporting, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Section 302-Executive Certifications, Section 404-Internal Control Reporting, Initial Public Offering