There have been several new developments and materials produced during this past week or so relating to boards, risk, audit committees and strategy. The following are three of them:

1. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published for consultation changes to the UK Corporate Governance Code, guidance for boards of listed companies and standards for auditors covering risk management and reporting – supplementary guidance for directors of all banks is also being issued – click here for the announcement and background discussion.

And, click here, for the detailed Consultation Paper.

I will be following and reporting further about this development. In recent times we have seen increasing discussions about risk management, and in some instances specific new regulations such as I discussed in my not-so-long-ago post about new offshore drilling 24/7 risk management and employee risk involvement requirements. I am convinced that education and public discussion about risk management needs to increase, and that risk management practices need to further develop and improve, and be implemented, hopefully voluntarily.

Also consider using the following materials that I have prepared:

Form tool: Risk & Uncertainty Management Form – Processes & Oversight Dave Tate Esq 10202013

2. An article by Norman Marks about reflections on strategic risk, including comments and articles by other thought leaders. Norman regularly posts worthwhile news and comments.

3. Governance leaders call to action for enhancing the audit committee report. I’m disappointed in this new endeavor. Essentially, the call to action encourages audit committees to clarify the scope of the audit committee’s duties; clearly define the audit committee’s composition; and provide relevant information about factors considered when selecting or reappointing an audit firm, selecting the lead audit engagement partner, determining auditor compensation, how the committee oversees the external auditor, and how the committee evaluates the external auditor.

I found the first point, to clarify the scope of the audit committee’s duties, to be of the most potential interest; however, the discussion about what this might involve is only preliminary in nature and lacks detailed comments. Instead, consider using the following materials that I have prepared:

Form tool: 2 Page Board Director Guidelines Dave Tate Esq 10262013

Form tool: Audit Committee Annual Self-Evaluation Form David Tate Esq 10112013

Form tool: Board of Directors Annual Self-Evaluation Form David Tate Esq 10162013

Dave Tate (San Francisco), http://tatetalk.com