New policies prioritize the prosecution of individual employees and put pressure on corporations to turn over evidence against their executives.

Click on the following link for the article: www.nytimes.com

Dave Tate’s comments: definitely something for executive officers, boards and audit committees to be aware of. For example, in an internal investigation of fraud or accounting problems, how far must the investigation and report go to identify individuals who are relevant to the issue, or possible individual fault or legal liability, and under which charges or causes of action?

Dave Tate, Esq. (San Francisco / California), http://directorofficernews.com

I have been writing for a while now, both here and at Marks on Governance, about the need for internal audit to (among others): Move to enterprise risk-based auditing Audit at the speed of the busi…

Click on the following link for the discussion: normanmarks.wordpress.com

Good information and discussion from Norman.

Dave Tate, Esq. and licensed Certified Public Accountant (inactive) California (San Francisco / California).

When Peter Nowicki retired in 2009, the then-50-year-old chief of the tiny Moraga Orinda Fire District made national news by trading his $194,000 salary for a starting pension of $241,000 a year. The pension board will consider rolling that back 25 percent.

Click on the following link for the full article: www.contracostatimes.com

Dave Tate’s comments: I’m forwarding this article because it hits on some key points. Otherwise, I have no personal knowledge of the facts, and I am not commenting on right or wrong. However, the key points are the need for transparency to the public, open meeting laws, and ” . . . the retirement association, armed with investigatory powers under new state law, launched probes . . . . ” All three, transparency, open meeting laws, and the power and ability to investigate are key, along with the actual investigation. I would have liked to have seen more in the article about internal audit, and processes and procedures in place to prevent, evaluate and investigate these types of issues before they get to this stage.

Dave Tate, Esq. and licensed Certified Public Accountant (inactive) in California, (San Francisco and throughout California). Blogs: http://directorofficernews.com and http://californiaestatetrust.com

Click on the following link for the article: iaonline.theiia.org

Dave Tate’s comments: a good discussion for all organizations, boards and audit committees, even for those entities that believe that they have implemented COSO 2013. This is a continually ongoing process. Dave Tate, Esq. (and CPA (inactive) California). http://directorofficernews.com

An investigation into whether corporate culture and governance at PG&E is responsible for persistent safety problems at the gas and electric…

Click on the following link for the article: kron4.com

Dave Tate’s comments. This will be an interesting investigation if it truly is about the corporate culture. The article reads like the investigation will be of safety policies and practices. It would be very helpful to know who has been hired to assist in the investigation, for $2 million, and what criteria will be used.

Dave Tate, Esq. (San Francisco / California), http://directorofficernews.com

Click on the following link for the discussion: www.wsandco.com

A good discussion, worth reading and acting on.

Dave Tate, Esq. (San Francisco / California)

D&O and Audit Committee Blog: http://directorofficernews.com

Trust/Estate Litigation Blog: http://californiaestatetrust.com

Well, are we all now suitably unnerved at the economic prospects bearing down on us?

Click on the following for the discussion: www.complianceweek.com

Interesting comments by Matt Kelly of Compliance Week about the possible roles of compliance and audit executives in strategic risks.

Dave Tate, Esq.

http://directorofficernews.com

When Does an Insured Loss Occur The California Supreme Court concluded it had erred in the past and that since an insured loss occurs or happens at the time of injury during the policy period, and …

Sourced through Scoop.it from: zalma.com

Dave Tate’s comments. A good discussion about an important new California case correcting a prior incorrect holding. Yes, insurance policy holders can assign their policy rights. See also my prior posts.

Dave Tate, Esq. (San Francisco/California) http://directorofficernews.com. http://californiaestatetrust.com.

In recent months, commentators from across the political spectrum, largely in response to perceived excesses of activist investors, have called for changes

Click on the following for the article: www.dandodiary.com

Dave Tate’s comments. This is an interesting discussion about short-termism and whether to do away with quarterly reports. I have to ask, will doing away with quarterly reports eliminate or significantly eliminate short-termism? Where is the authority for that argument in the U.S. market. Won’t short-term investing still exist, but without the benefit, if any, that quarterly reporting provides? Investors will simply look elsewhere for information. That also raises the question, what benefit does or might quarterly reporting provide? Do quarterly reporting and accounting reviews provide a benefit to investors. I tend to believe that at a minimum they help bring or keep some honesty, integrity and reliability in the system. As you will also know from my writings, I believe that a review engagement does provide some manner of assurances to investors, but just not in the form of an audit “opinion” as the courts have noted – but haven’t the court’s perhaps gotten some of that analysis wrong?

Dave Tate, Esq. (San Francisco/California), http://directorofficernews.com