Audit, Compliance and Risk Blog

Insurance Archaeology: Do You Know Where Your Policies Are?

Posted by Viola Funk on Fri, Oct 04, 2013

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Tags: Corporate Governance, Business & Legal, Insurance, Insurance Claims

CEO/Worker Pay Ratio—SEC Proposes Controversial and Costly Statistic

Posted by Ron Pippin on Wed, Oct 02, 2013

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Tags: Corporate Governance, SEC, Accounting & Tax, Accountants

Je me souviens de…Offsetting GHG Emissions

Posted by Viola Funk on Wed, Sep 25, 2013

The greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program overseen by California’s Air Resources Board (ARB), which began earlier this year, not only allows for use of approved offsets to meet a portion of an entity’s emission reduction requirements. Entities will soon also be able to comply with the program by participating in its counterpart in the Canadian province of Quebec. By January 1, 2014, ARB’s cap-and-trade program will be linked with Quebec’s. A press release from ARB sums up key features of the linkage:

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Tags: Health & Safety, Environmental risks, Environmental, EPA, Greenhouse Gas, ghg

California Adopts Safer Consumer Products Regulations

Posted by Jon Elliott on Thu, Sep 19, 2013

Do you know what's in the chemical products you buy and use, and whether they're "safe?"  Effective October 1, 2013, California regulations provide criteria and procedures for state-level identification and listing of likely-hazardous chemicals of concern.  Manufacturers and importers will be required to evaluate chemicals of concern in consumer products, their potential alternatives, and how best to limit exposure or reduce hazards.  Assemblers and retailers will have related responsibilities.  Although these requirements apply directly only within California, any reviews and reformulations are likely to affect global production and distribution decisions.

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Tags: Health & Safety, California Legislation, Environmental, EHS, EPA, Hazcom

An Autumn Update on Accounting and Auditing Matters

Posted by Ron Pippin on Tue, Sep 17, 2013


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Tags: SEC, Accounting & Tax, Lease Accounting, Audit Standards, Accountants

Two Important Oil & Gas Conferences

Posted by Lorraine O'Donovan on Wed, Sep 11, 2013

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Tags: Business & Legal, Environmental risks, Environmental, Greenhouse Gas, ghg, Oil & Gas

Directors' & Officers' Liability: Delaware's "Entire Fairness" Test

Posted by Jon Elliott on Mon, Sep 09, 2013

Directors and officers owe formal duties to their corporations and shareholders, commonly called “fiduciary duties” from the Latin root words for “trust.”  These duties developed over centuries of common law, and now appear in state corporation codes.  Most interpretations of these duties and how to meet them actually appear in court decisions, arising in cases where aggrieved shareholders sue claiming that a company’s directors and/or officers have breached one or more of these duties.

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Tags: Corporate Governance, Business & Legal, SEC, SOX

New Alberta Energy Regulator to Streamline Regulatory Process

Posted by STP Editorial Team on Wed, Sep 04, 2013

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Tags: Business & Legal, Environmental, Oil & Gas, Canadian

Motor Carrier Registration Systems to be Upgraded and Web-Based

Posted by Jon Elliott on Fri, Aug 30, 2013

Last week the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published major changes in the registration requirements it imposes on “motor carriers” that use roads and highways to transport materials—including hazardous materials.  Over the next two years, these changes will consolidate four separate registration systems into a new web-based Unified Registration System (URS), designed to cover every domestic entity subject to FMCSA authority.  Most elements of the new regulations will take effect on October 23, 2015, to allow FMCSA to develop additional URS features and to conduct several related rulemakings, and to allow regulated entities to prepare for the changes in compliance requirements.

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Tags: Health & Safety, Environmental risks, Environmental, Hazcom, Transportation

Significant New Auditing Standards—Part 2, Tenure/Other Information

Posted by Ron Pippin on Wed, Aug 28, 2013

This is the second of a two-part discussion on the August 13, 2013, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) proposal that would result in two new auditing standards. In the first article, I discussed the proposed concept of “critical audit matters” or CAMs. In this article, I discuss the proposed requirements to disclose how long the auditor has been auditing the company and to provide some assurance on “other information” that a registrant must file in an annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). I conclude this article with some summary thoughts.

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Tags: Corporate Governance, Business & Legal, SEC, Accounting & Tax, Audit Standards, Accountants