Conflict Disclosure: No-Brainer or Not?
Posted on April 29th, 2008 by Priya Ramesh »Permalink
Happy Tuesday, everyone. It seems that the PCAOB is considering a rule requiring accounting firms to disclose to audit committees any potential conflicts of interest between themselves and the operations they’re auditing. Fierce Sarbox says it’s a no-brainer, and we’re inclined to agree. Anybody out there want to argue otherwise? That’s what our comments are for — let your voice be heard.
Meanwhile, risk seems to be the topic of the week. Financial Week examines how demand has soared for Chief Risk Officers (most recently at Washington Mutual).
As the Financial Week article linked above says, “The credit crunch has pushed risk management to the top of corporate directors’ list of concerns.” No telling how much farther it will climb amid increasingly grim financial news, like Morgan Stanley’s warning that problems for big banks have only just begun. But according to company CFOs, economic forecasts are indeed grim — just not for their own companies. Hmmm. So is this just a high-profile case of cognitive dissonance, or do they know something we (and the Fed) don’t?
Tags: PCAOB, risk management, conflict disclosure, credit crunch