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strategy
by leon on September 1, 2007
Negotiation is a a delicate art. Whether you are buying something, or trying to strike some sort of deal.Trouble is most people are not that good at it, according to a Duke University and university ...
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executive pay
by leon on August 31, 2007
How much do hedge fund managers make? A lot more than ordinary folk.According to a new study, the top 20 private equity and hedge fund managers pocketed an average $657.5 million, or 22,255 times the...
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Accounting
by leon on August 30, 2007
As a breed, politicians never cease to amaze me. Short-sighted, self-serving and sometimes, just totally clueless.A very good example is Senator Chuck Schumer's attempt to lean on the Big Four ac...
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risk
by leon on August 30, 2007
With climate change and shifting weather patterns, Water shortages are now popping up everywhere around the world. Whether it's in the US, Australia, Ireland, Bulgaria, Turkey, and other parts of...
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markets
by leon on August 29, 2007
What is it with insider trading? Why is there a spate of cases involving dirty trades and pillow talk?The Securities and Exchange Commission has so far filed seven insider trading cases against marri...
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SOX
by leon on August 29, 2007
Over the last few months, I have done a few entries on Sarbanes-Oxley co-author Michael Oxley's life after leaving Congress. I've talked about him here, here, here , here and here.Check this ...
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regulators
by leon on August 28, 2007
The analysis over the long-awaited and long-overdue resignation of Alberto Gonzales will continue for some time. A good summing up of the commentary is in Slate. For a decent analysis of his less tha...
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markets
by leon on August 28, 2007
The fallout from the subprime debacle continues to spread. Now it's hitting realtors and internet companies are also bracing themselves for problems with a projected drop-off in advertising.No su...
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executive pay
by leon on August 28, 2007
Earlier this year, I talked about how the money sloshing into London has created a new class of bankers and traders: the haves and the have-yachts.But US bankers and traders haven't exactly been ...
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Accounting
by leon on August 27, 2007
It's finally happened. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has been conducting inspections of audit work for a few years now. At last, we have good analysis of the kind of audit mistake...
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Ethics
by leon on August 27, 2007
Interesting response in the blogosphere over the last few weeks to the report in The Times that Pope Benedict XVI plans to issue a doctrinal pronouncement condemning tax evasion as "socially unj...
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risk
by leon on August 25, 2007
Why do we keep making bad investments? Maybe it's because of the way our brains are wired up, says Jason Zweig, author of Your Money and Your Brain.Zweig gives eight tips CNN Money, just warnings...
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Accounting
by leon on August 25, 2007
I have long maintained that Sarbanes-Oxley has been a licence to print money for accountants.If you needed any further evidence, these findings from the Corporate Library reported here are further co...
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strategy
by leon on August 23, 2007
Keeping the customer happy has been a management mantra for years. So why is it that companies keep gouging them? Why do phone companies lock customers into complex contracts with charges hidden in t...
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Compliance
by leon on August 23, 2007
Retention of electronic records is a hot issue for business and it has proven itself to be a big compliance headache. I have blogged on that issue here, here and here.AXS-One is a global records comp...
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Compliance
by leon on August 22, 2007
No secret that compliance spending has been heading north since Sarbanes-Oxley and Basel II. But is it doing any good?Not according to a survey published in Steve Brown's Network Observations blo...
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litigation
by leon on August 22, 2007
Earlier this month, I talked about Refco's delinquent community, and about how many people were colluding. Everyone seemed to have a slice of the action that sent the company to the dogs. At the t...
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risk
by leon on August 22, 2007
The volatility in the markets now reflects a whole new set of financial risks, says Harvard Business School business administration lecturer Mohamed El-Erian.He argues that the markets have become so ...
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executive pay
by leon on August 21, 2007
Now that the Justice Department got its first backdating scalp in Brocade Communications System's former CEO Gregory Reyes, the Securities and Exchange Commission has now targeted company's fo...
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Ethics
by leon on August 21, 2007
Interesting revelations from Reuters that CIA and FBI computers edited entries in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia on such hot topics as the Iraq war and the Guantanamo prison.The changes were picked...
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corporate crime
by leon on August 21, 2007
PricewaterhouseCoopers and IBM have settled allegations that the companies were involved in graft over government contracts.According to the Department of Justice press release, the firms had agreed t...
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markets
by leon on August 19, 2007
In the fallout of the subprime debacle, the blame game has started and the ratings agencies are coming under plenty of fire with the European Commission now looking at whether they should be regulated...
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Accounting
by leon on August 17, 2007
It has not been a great year for Dell. In January, Michael Dell took the reins again, turfing out Kevin Rollins. And from there, things started going from bad to worse.In March, I said that an account...
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corporate crime
by leon on August 17, 2007
With the cost of military operations and diplomatic efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world set to top $1 trillion over the next decade, and with the International Herald Tribune r...
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corporate governance
by leon on August 16, 2007
This week I interviewed Professor Sydney Finkelstein who teaches at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Finkelstein is best known for his superb book Why Smart Executives Fail which identifies blind s...
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litigation
by leon on August 16, 2007
Analysts might say the correction will not turn into a bear market but lawyers are warning that the credit meltdown could leave banks, hedge funds and private equity firms embroiled in costly litigati...
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Ethics
by leon on August 15, 2007
How do you stop an analysts from downgrading your stock? Just do a few small favors and grease some palms.That's the finding from a study that reveals about two out of three analysts have received...
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risk
by leon on August 15, 2007
Global markets are in turmoil, risk is being repriced and institutions are likely to put more pressure on companies to come clean on their contingent liabilities that include environmental, sustainabi...
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SOX
by leon on August 14, 2007
In the past, I have talked about how Michael Oxley cashed in on his role as Sarbox co-author. First, he joined a law firm to help companies get around the law, then he becomes Nasdaq vice-chairman.Now...
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executive pay
by leon on August 14, 2007
Last week's conviction of former Brocade chief executive officer Gregory Reyes of stock option backdating continues to send shivers through Silicon Valley.More indictments are likely to follow, re...
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risk
by leon on August 13, 2007
The Internet is becoming a playground for criminals and has turned into a lawless "wild west'', according to a report out of Britain's House of Lords.The report says there the Interne...
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Accounting
by leon on August 13, 2007
I have blogged about delinquent communities here, here and here.The problem with delinquent communities is that it's hard to bring all the perpetrators to justice. The lines are too blurred, it...
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markets
by leon on August 12, 2007
You know things are really looking bad on the markets what the central banks start pumping in money to ease the liquidity crunch. And it seems to have worked for now with reports that things have calm...
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shareholder activism
by leon on August 10, 2007
In the past I have talked about corporate delinquent communities here and here.Usually when there's corporate malfeasance, it involves a stack of people. Auditors look the other way, managers help...
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Ethics
by leon on August 9, 2007
Who cares about corruption allegations? British defence and aerospace company BAE Systems has reported a higher than expected 19 per cent rise in first half profits, driven largely by its expansion in...
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risk
by leon on August 9, 2007
With companies handling more and more private information, the risks of an IT security breach creating commercial harm to a company are very real. And to a large extent, avoidable.Breaches in IT secur...
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Accounting
by leon on August 8, 2007
Earlier this year, I talked about a new breed of CFO, the gun-for-hire who comes in for as little as a few months to do a specific job. And I raised the possibility that this could be a problem if com...
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Ethics
by leon on August 8, 2007
What does corporate responsibility mean for most companies? Apparently, it's all about the size of the checkbook.According to a global study, 2007 Corporate Social Responsibility: United States, A...
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SOX
by leon on August 8, 2007
Sarbanes-Oxley compliance costs might have levelled off but other costs are increasing at a fierce rate, according to a survey released by lawyers Foley & Lardner.Costs have gone up because of inc...
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Ethics
by leon on August 7, 2007
An embarrassing week for pepsi after it was forced to admit that the H2O it puts into Aquafina comes from the same source as tap water. This follows the work of activist groups like Corporate Accounta...
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markets
by leon on August 7, 2007
Now that he has The Wall Street Journal, what's next for Rupert Murdoch?It's likely to make life more tenuous for the Financial Times, reports the Independent on Sunday.Next on the agenda coul...
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markets
by leon on August 7, 2007
The subprime woes which have spread to global markets, something I covered here, are set to continue this week are set to continue with all eyes on the federal reserve this week.The big question is wh...
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Ethics
by leon on August 4, 2007
If company directors want to create an ethical culture in their organization, they need to ask 10 questions:1.Does the board have a policy to deal with unethical behavior?2.How does the company go abo...
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boards of directors
by leon on August 3, 2007
How much protection do directors have if climate change lawsuits come in?That's an important question raised in this paper, Global Warming - Will There Be Exposures For Directors And Officers And ...
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corporate crime
by leon on August 2, 2007
Convicted media mogul Conrad Black has been told he is not allowed to go back to Canada prior to his sentencing on November 30. Black, who faces up to 35 years in jail, had asked to return to his home...
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Ethics
by leon on August 2, 2007
Five years after Sarbanes-Oxley was signed into law to clean up corporate America's ethics , and we have some disturbing finds from the Ethics Resource Center.An Ethics Resource Center study, repo...
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SOX
by leon on August 1, 2007
sarbanes-Oxley has been slated by business, lawyers and accountants. Not without some justification.But what about the people the law was supposedly brought in to protect? According to two surveys, mo...
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markets
by leon on August 1, 2007
The fallout from the US mortgage mess continues to hurt the US market and beyond. It's spread to the rest of the world, as far afield as Australia, Britain, Japan, Europe, and China.Clearly, issue...
