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Improving the Flow of Information to the Audit Committee
05/21/2013 | by Lipman, Frederick D.
The audit committee has been recognized as an important entity level control. Independent auditors rely upon the audit committee to provide the auditors with important information necessary to perform the audit function. For example, AS No. 16 requires the independent auditor to “inquire of the audit committee about whether it is aware of matters relevant to the audit, including, but not limited to, violations or possible violations of laws or regulations.”
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Why CEOs and Boards Should Establish Robust Internal Whistleblower Policies
04/25/2013 | by Lipman, Frederick D.
Most CEOs and directors believe that, by installing a hotline and creating a paper whistleblower policy, they have established an effective internal whistleblower system. They are misled by the fact that occasionally the hotline is used for typical employee grievances, such as perceived discrimination or sexual harassment complaints.
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From Enron to Lehman Bros.: What Can We Learn From These Corporate Governance Failures? (Introduction)
04/24/2013 | by Lipman, Frederick D.
Lessons for Boards From Recent Corporate Governance Failures
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From Enron to Lehman Bros.: What Can We Learn From These Corporate Governance Failures? (PART I)
04/23/2013 | by Lipman, Frederick D.
Government investigations, bankruptcy receiver reports and numerous books provide a rich source of information about the major corporate disasters of the first decade of the 21st century. Although the financial implosions, starting with Enron and ending with Lehman Bros., have significant differences, there is one major corporate governance theme which appears.
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From Enron To Lehman Bros.: What Can We Learn From These Corporate Governance Failures? (PART II)
04/21/2013 | by Lipman, Frederick D.
Sox Hotlines are Ineffective
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From Enron to Lehman Bros.: What Can We Learn From These Corporate Governance Failures? (PART III)
04/20/2013 | by Lipman, Frederick D.
Defects in Current Whistleblower Systems
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From Enron to Lehman Bros.: What Can We Learn From These Corporate Governance Failues? (PART IV)
04/19/2013 | by Lipman, Frederick D.
Elements of a Robust Whistleblower Policy
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Should the Motivations and Personalities of the Internal Whistleblower be Relevant to the Truth of the Allegations?
03/02/2013 | by Lipman, Frederick D.
Some people believe that the motivation and personality of an internal whistleblower are relevant to the validity of their allegations. A cogent argument can be made that neither the motivations nor personality of the whistleblower have anything to do with the truth of their charges.
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Model Meeting Agendas
03/01/2013 | by Lipman, Frederick D.
From time to time we have received questions from members as to the scheduling of meetings of public company audit committees. In particular, questions have been asked as to what should be on the agenda for each of the meetings and how many meetings should the average audit committee hold. There is no one answer for every public company audit committee since each situation varies with the peculiar circumstances of the public company. However, we have in the past been provided with the following agendas for a total of five meetings of the audit committee. Each agenda sets forth the topics to be covered at that meeting. The agendas assume a calendar year company.
