Noteworthy

Credit Crisis Renews ERM Focus

Failures in the credit market are pushing senior executives of financial services firms to take a closer look at enterprise risk management (ERM), according to an Economist Intelligence Unit study. Nearly 60 percent of the 316 senior executives surveyed throughout the world say the credit crisis has led them to reassess their organization's risk management practices.

The IIA Previews Revised Standards

The IIA has issued revised International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (Standards). The Standards are being made available in advance of the release of the new International Professional Practices Framework in January 2009 from The IIA's Web site.

U.S. Firms Report Fewer Material Weaknesses

There was a steep decline in large U.S. publicly listed companies disclosing material weaknesses in financial reports last year, according to analysis published by Compliance Week. Among the 426 Standard & Poor's 500 companies studied, only 14 weaknesses were reported by 11 companies. A 2006 Compliance Week study of 400 randomly selected firms found more than 800 material weaknesses, with nearly every large company surveyed reporting at least one material weakness.

Fraud Losses Rising

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) estimates that U.S. organizations lose 7 percent of their annual revenues to fraud - up from 5 percent in 2006. Fraud costs these organizations a combined US $994 billion each year, according to the ACFE's 2008 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud & Abuse.

Site Search: