While reading the book “Managing the Risk of Fraud and Misconduct: Meeting the Challenges of a Global, Regulated and Digital Environment” (McGraw-Hill, 2011), I came across an official rundown of what an effective governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) framework should accomplish, according to co-authors Timothy Hedley and Richard Girgenti:

• Protect and enhance business value by fostering a risk aware culture, support informed decision-making, and address multiple compliance and assurance layers;


• Enhance operational efficiency by rationalizing risk management, controls, and assurance structures and processes, as well as intelligent use of IT and data management structures;


• Provide a proactive and dynamic approach by enabling the organization to more quickly, consistently, and efficiently respond to challenges arising from evolving risk profiles and rapidly changing regulatory requirements; and


• Support a linkage to strategy by enabling the organization to meet compliance objectives while improving performance to be use of an integrated framework and support the strategic objectives.

“The recent economic downturn has provided new opportunities for fraudulent financial reporting,” writes Timothy Hedley in Managing the Risk of Fraud and Misconduct (McGraw Hill, 2011), a new book he co-authored with KPMG colleague Richard Girgenti.

The co-authors’ combined fraud risk management experience totals nearly seven decades, and they have created an extremely detailed book that serves as a comprehensive guideline for risk managers. The book also provides current insights on fraud risks related to the digital environment that organizations find themselves operating in more frequently these days.

more

This past week, the Securities & Exchange Commission and the U.S. Justice Department announced a major settlement with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) as a result of corrupt financial practices overseas. J&J agreed to pay $70 million in fines for non-compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) over more than a decade. Violations included payments to physicians in three European countries to buy J&J products as well as payments to the former Iraq government officials to buy products labeled as “humanitarian aid”. more

A BizTaxBuzz guest post by Stephen O’Connell, partner, and Jeff Malo, director, with business and tax advisory firm WTP Advisors. (See my previous blog on the new Schedule UTP disclosures.)

It’s inevitable that some companies will face assessments as a result of the disclosure requirements now imposed by Schedule UTP. For these taxpayers, the question is not how to avoid potential liabilities, but how to mitigate their impact.

Understanding your payment history and interest profile may reveal significant opportunities to offset at least a portion of any liabilities that you anticipate as a result of a Schedule UTP disclosure.

more

When it comes to initial public offerings (IPOs) and mergers and acquisitions (M&A), the first three months of the year have been busy. The value of U.S. IPOs nearly tripled from the first quarter of 2010, topping $12 billion, PwC reports. Similarly, U.S. mergers and acquisitions jumped 85 percent, to $268.4 billion, according to mergermarket.

The value of initial public offerings was the highest since 2000, if the results of the $17.8 billion Visa offering in 2008 are excluded, PwC’s analysis shows. Of the 32 IPOs during the quarter, three generated proceeds of more than $1 billion: HCA Holdings, at $3.8 billion; Kinder Morgan at $2.9 billion; and Nielsen Holdings at $1.6 billion. That compares with one in 2010 — GM’s $15.8 billion deal. Overall, average deal size jumped from $145.7 million in 2010 to $387.8 million this year. The momentum is likely to continue, said Henri Leveque, partner with PwC’s accounting advisory practice, in a statement. more