Brian Rowbotham spoke on International Tax and Richard Kinyon of Morrison Foerster on Estate Planning Implications. July 2010
International Tax
Estate Planning
Thursday, July 29, 2010
International Tax & Estate Planning
Event hosted by Reed Smith LLP for San Francisco Bar Association and California Society of Certified Public Accountants members.
Brian Rowbotham spoke on International Tax and Richard Kinyon of Morrison Foerster on Estate Planning Implications. July 2010
International Tax
Estate Planning
Brian Rowbotham spoke on International Tax and Richard Kinyon of Morrison Foerster on Estate Planning Implications. July 2010
International Tax
Estate Planning
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Clueless Corporate Boards are Invisible Culprits in Company Failures
CEOs Sweet-talk their Boards; Federal Sarbanes-Oxley rules too weak to help, and Accounting Industry too timid to intervene.
In the swirl of failures that have swamped giants like AIG, Lehman Brothers, and General Motors, corporate boards of directors are too often overlooked as the major culprit in such financial debacles. Board governance is the problem. Today, boards of major financial institutions are putting companies at risk because they are lacking in competence in risk analysis. In addition, conflicts of interest keep most - if not all - boards from being the objective advisors they are supposed to be.
Today, Congressional negotiators hammered out final changes to HR 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed the U.S. Senate on May 20. This 2,000-page bill, is being hailed as the way to rein in Wall Street excesses and protect the consumer. However, this bill does absolutely nothing to deal with the problem of board governance and audit committees too beholden to corporate executives. Once again, Congress goes for getting more regulation on the books instead of getting it right. What we're seeing today is Enron déjà vu that got us the Sarbanes-Oxley Act which did nothing to prevent the financial crises we're currently facing throughout the country. Congress will continue to muddle along, more interested in being perceived as taking action rather than doing something to get to the heart of the problem.
The issue of board governance is again, becoming a hot topic. It is discussed in the attached April issue of Reuter's Venture Capital Journal.
In the swirl of failures that have swamped giants like AIG, Lehman Brothers, and General Motors, corporate boards of directors are too often overlooked as the major culprit in such financial debacles. Board governance is the problem. Today, boards of major financial institutions are putting companies at risk because they are lacking in competence in risk analysis. In addition, conflicts of interest keep most - if not all - boards from being the objective advisors they are supposed to be.
Today, Congressional negotiators hammered out final changes to HR 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed the U.S. Senate on May 20. This 2,000-page bill, is being hailed as the way to rein in Wall Street excesses and protect the consumer. However, this bill does absolutely nothing to deal with the problem of board governance and audit committees too beholden to corporate executives. Once again, Congress goes for getting more regulation on the books instead of getting it right. What we're seeing today is Enron déjà vu that got us the Sarbanes-Oxley Act which did nothing to prevent the financial crises we're currently facing throughout the country. Congress will continue to muddle along, more interested in being perceived as taking action rather than doing something to get to the heart of the problem.
The issue of board governance is again, becoming a hot topic. It is discussed in the attached April issue of Reuter's Venture Capital Journal.
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