Catégorie : Audit interne

Le futur code de gouvernance du Royaume-Uni


Je vous invite à prendre connaissance du futur code de gouvernance du Royaume-Uni (R.-U.).

À cet effet, voici un billet de Martin Lipton*, paru sur le site de Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, qui présente un aperçu des points saillants.

Bonne lecture !

 

The Financial Reporting Council today [July 16, 2018] issued a revised corporate governance code and announced that a revised investor stewardship code will be issued before year-end. The code and related materials are available at www.frc.org.uk.

The revised code contains two provisions that will be of great interest. They will undoubtedly be relied upon in efforts to update the various U.S. corporate governance codes. They will also be used to further the efforts to expand the sustainability and stakeholder concerns of U.S. boards.

First, the introduction to the code makes note that shareholder primacy needs to be moderated and that the concept of the “purpose” of the corporation, as long put forth in the U.K. by Colin Mayer and recently popularized in the U.S. by Larry Fink in his 2018 letter to CEO’s, is the guiding principle for the revised code:

Companies do not exist in isolation. Successful and sustainable businesses underpin our economy and society by providing employment and creating prosperity. To succeed in the long-term, directors and the companies they lead need to build and maintain successful relationships with a wide range of stakeholders. These relationships will be successful and enduring if they are based on respect, trust and mutual benefit. Accordingly, a company’s culture should promote integrity and openness, value diversity and be responsive to the views of shareholders and wider stakeholders.

Second, the code provides that the board is responsible for policies and practices which reinforce a healthy culture and that the board should engage:

with the workforce through one, or a combination, of a director appointed from the workforce, a formal workforce advisory panel and a designated non-executive director, or other arrangements which meet the circumstances of the company and the workforce.

It will be interesting to see how this provision will be implemented and whether it gains any traction in the U.S.

 

 

The UK Corporate Governance Code

 

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Martin Lipton* is a founding partner of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, specializing in mergers and acquisitions and matters affecting corporate policy and strategy. This post is based on a Wachtell Lipton memorandum by Mr. Lipton.

Les sept attentes que les comités d’audit ont envers les chefs des finances


Une bonne relation entre le Président du comité d’Audit et le Vice-président Finance (CFO) est absolument essentielle pour une gestion financière éclairée, fidèle et intègre.

Les auteurs sont liés au Centre for Board Effectiveness de Deloitte. Dans cette publication, parue dans le Wall Street Journal, ils énoncent les sept attentes que les comités d’audit ont envers les chefs des finances.

Cet article sera certainement très utile aux membres de conseils, notamment aux membres des comtés d’audit ainsi qu’à la direction financière de l’entreprise.

Bonne lecture ! Vos commentaires sont les bienvenus.

 

The CFO and the Audit Committee: Building an Effective Relationship

 

 

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The evolution of the CFO’s role is effecting a shift in the audit committee’s expectations for the working relationship between the two. By considering their response to seven commonly held expectations audit committees have of CFOs, CFOs can begin to lay the groundwork for a more effective working relationship with their organization’s audit committee.

Typically, CFOs play four key roles within their organizations, but the amount of time CFOs allocate to each role is changing rapidly. “For CFOs high integrity of work, accuracy, and timely financial reporting are table stakes, but increasingly they are being expected to be Strategists and Catalysts in their organization,” says Ajit Kambil, global research director for Deloitte’s CFO Program. “In fact, our research indicates that CFOs are spending about 60% to 70% of their time in those roles, and that shift is both reflecting and driving higher expectations from the CEO as well as the board.”

As in any relationship, a degree of trust between CFOs and audit committee chairs serves as a foundation to an effective communication on critical issues. “In high-functioning relationships between CFOs and audit committee chairs, trust and dialogue are critical. Challenges can occur if a CFO comes to an audit committee meeting unprepared or presents a surprising conclusion to the audit committee without having sought the audit committee chair’s opinion, leaving the audit committee chair without the ability to influence that conclusion,” says Henry Phillips, vice chairman and national managing partner, Center for Board Effectiveness, Deloitte & Touche LLP.

 

Common Expectations Audit Committee Have of CFOs

 

Following are seven key expectations audit committees have of CFOs for both new and established CFOs to bear in mind.

 

(1) No Surprises: 

Audit committees do not welcome any surprises. Or, if surprises occur, the audit committee will want to be apprised of the issue very quickly. Surprises may be inevitable, but the audit committee expects CFOs to take precautions against known issues and to manage the avoidable ones and to inform them very early on when something unexpected occurs. In order to do this well, it is important for the CFO and the audit committee chair — perhaps some of the other board members — to set a regular cadence of meetings, so that they have a relationship and a context within which to work together when challenging issues arise. Don’t leave these meetings to chance. “If the audit committee chair or committee members are hearing about something of significance for the first time in a meeting, that’s problematic. Rather, the CFO should be apprising the audit committee chair as much in advance of a committee meeting as possible and talk through the issues so the audit committee chair is not surprised in the meeting,” says Phillips.

 

(2) Strong partnering with the CEO and other leaders: 

Audit committees want to see the CFO as an effective partner with the CEO, as well as with their peer executives. “The audit committee is carefully observing the CFO and how he or she interacts across the C-suite. At the same time, the audit committee also wants the CFO to be objective and to provide to the board independent perspectives on financial and business issues and not be a ‘yes’ person,” says Deb DeHaas, vice chair and national managing partner, Center for Board Effectiveness at Deloitte. A key for the CFO is to proactively manage CEO and peer relations — especially if there are challenging issues that may be brought up to the board. In that case, the CFO should be prepared to take a clear position on what the board needs to hear from management.

(3) Confidence in finance organization talent: 

 

Audit committees want visibility into the finance organization to ensure that it has the appropriate skills and experience. They also are looking to ensure that the finance organization will be stable over time, that there will be solid succession plans in place and that talent is being developed to create the strongest possible finance organization. CFOs might consider approaching these goals in several ways. One way is to provide key finance team members an opportunity to brief the audit committee on a special topic, for example, a significant accounting policy, a special analysis or another topic that’s on the board agenda. “While I encourage CFOs to give their team members an opportunity to present to the committee, it’s critical to make sure they’re well prepared and ready to address questions,” Phillips notes.

‘An outside-in view from audit committee members can bring significant value to the CFO — and to the organization.’

 

(4) Command of key accounting, finance and business issues: 

 

Audit committees want CFOs to have a strong command of the key accounting issues that might be facing the organization, and given that many CFOs are not CPAs, such command is even more critical for the CFO to demonstrate. Toward that end, steps the CFO can take might include scheduling deep dives with management, the independent auditor, the chief accounting officer and others to receive briefings in order to better understand the organization’s critical issues from an accounting perspective, as well as to get trained up on those issues. In addition, CFOs should demonstrate a deep understanding of the business issues that the organization is confronting. There again, CFOs can leverage both internal and external resources to help them master these issues. Industry briefings are also important, particularly for CFOs who are new to an industry.

 

(5) Insightful forecasting and earnings guidance: 

 

Forecasts and earnings guidance will likely not always be precise. However, audit committees expect CFOs to not only deliver reliable forecasts, but also to articulate the underlying drivers of the company’s future performance, as well as how those drivers might impact outcomes. When CFOs lack a thorough understanding of critical assumptions and drivers, they can begin to lose support of key audit committee members. For that reason, it is important that CFOs have an experienced FP&A group to support them. In addition,audit committees and boards want to deeply understand the guidance that is being put forward, the ranges, and confidence levels. As audit committee members read earnings releases and other information in the public domain, they tend to focus on whether the information merely meets the letter of the law in terms of disclosures, or does it tell investors what they need to know to make informed decisions. This is where an outside-in view from audit committee members can bring significant value to the CFO — and to the organization. Moreover, audit committees are increasingly interested in the broader macroeconomic issues that can impact the organization, such as interest rates, oil prices, and geographic instability.

 

(6) Effective risk management: 

 

CFOs are increasingly held accountable for risk management, even when there is a chief risk officer. Further, audit committees want CFOs to provide leadership not only on traditional financial accounting and compliance risk matters, but also on some of the enterprise operational macro-risk issues — and to show how that might impact the financial statement. It is important for CFOs to set the tone at the top for compliance and ethics, oversee the control environment and ensure that from a compensation perspective, the appropriate incentives and structures are in place to mitigate risk. A key to the CFO’s effectiveness at this level is to find time to have strategic risk conversations at the highest level of management, as well as with the board.

 

(7) Clear and concise stakeholder communications: 

 

Audit committees want CFOs to be very effective on how they communicate with key stakeholders, which extend beyond the board and the audit committees. They want CFOs to be able to articulate the story behind the numbers and provide insights and future trends around the business, and to effectively communicate to the Street. CFOs can expect board members to listen to earnings calls and to observe how they interact with the CEOs, demonstrate mastery of the company’s financial and business issues, and communicate those to the Street. Moreover, a CFO who is very capable from an accounting and finance perspective should exercise the communication skills that are necessary to be effective with different stakeholders.

 

“Communication is the cornerstone for a strong CFO-audit committee chair relationship,” notes DeHaas. “Although the CFO might be doing other things very well, if there is not effective communication and a trusting relationship with the audit committee, the CFO will likely not be as effective.”

Conséquences à la non-divulgation d’une cyberattaque majeure


Quelles sont les conséquences de ne pas divulguer une intrusion importante du système de sécurité informatique ?

Les auteurs, Matthew C. Solomon* et Pamela L. Marcogliese, dans un billet publié sur le forum du HLS, ont étudié de près la situation des manquements à la sécurité informatique de Yahoo et ils nous présentent les conséquences de la non-divulgation d’attaques cybernétiques et de bris à la sécurité des informations des clients.

Ils exposent le cas très clairement, puis ils s’attardent aux modalités des arrangements financiers avec la Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

Comme ce sont des événements susceptibles de se produire de plus en plus, il importe que les entreprises soient bien au fait de ce qui les attend en cas de violation des obligations de divulgation.

Les auteurs font les cinq (5) constats suivants eu égard à la situation vécue par Yahoo :

 

— First, public companies should take seriously the SEC’s repeated warnings that one of its top priorities is ensuring that public companies meet their obligations to adequately disclose material cybersecurity incidents and risks. This requires regular assessment of cyber incidents and risks in light of the company’s disclosures, with the assistance of outside counsel and auditors as appropriate, and ensuring that there are adequate disclosure controls in place for such incidents and risks.

— Second, the SEC’s recently released interpretive guidance on cybersecurity disclosure is an important guidepost for all companies with such disclosure obligations. The guidance specifically cited the fact that the SEC views disclosure that a company is subject to future cybersecurity attacks as inadequate if the company had already suffered such incidents. Notably, the Yahoo settlement specifically faulted the company for this precise inadequacy in its disclosures. Similarly, the recent guidance encouraged companies to adopt comprehensive policies and procedures related to cybersecurity and to assess their compliance regularly, including the sufficiency of their disclosure controls and procedures as they relate to cybersecurity disclosure. The Yahoo settlement also found that the company had inadequate such controls.

— Third, at the same time the SEC announced the settlement, it took care to emphasize that “[w]e do not second-guess good faith exercises of judgment about cyber-incident disclosure.” [7] The SEC went on to note that Yahoo failed to meet this standard with respect to the 2014 Breach, but by articulating a “good faith” standard the SEC likely meant to send a message to the broader market that it is not seeking to penalize companies that make reasonable efforts to meet their cyber disclosure obligations.

— Fourth, it is also notable that the SEC charges did not include allegations that Yahoo violated securities laws with respect to the 2013 Breach. Yahoo had promptly disclosed the 2013 Breach after learning about it in late 2016, but updated its disclosure almost a year later with significant new information about the scope of the breach. The SEC’s recent guidance indicated that it was mindful that some material facts may not be available at the time of the initial disclosure, as was apparently the case with respect to the 2013 Breach. [8] At the same time, the SEC cautioned that “an ongoing internal or external investigation – which often can be lengthy – would not on its own provide a basis for avoiding disclosures of a material cybersecurity incident.” [9]

— Finally, it is worth noting that the Commission did not insist on settlements with any individuals. Companies, of course, can only commit securities violations through the actions of their employees. While it is not unusual for the Commission to settle entity-only cases on a “collective negligence” theory, the SEC Chair and the Enforcement Division’s leadership have emphasized the need to hold individuals accountable in order to maximize the deterrent impact of SEC actions. [10]

 

Bonne lecture !

 

Failure to Disclose a Cybersecurity Breach

 

 

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On April 24, 2018, Altaba, formerly known as Yahoo, entered into a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), pursuant to which Altaba agreed to pay $35 million to resolve allegations that Yahoo violated federal securities laws in connection with the disclosure of the 2014 data breach of its user database. The case represents the first time a public company has been charged by the SEC for failing to adequately disclose a cyber breach, an area that is expected to face continued heightened scrutiny as enforcement authorities and the public are increasingly focused on the actions taken by companies in response to such incidents. Altaba’s settlement with the SEC, coming on the heels of its agreement to pay $80 million to civil class action plaintiffs alleging similar disclosure violations, underscores the increasing potential legal exposure for companies based on failing to properly disclose cybersecurity risks and incidents.

Background

As alleged, Yahoo learned in late 2014 that it had recently suffered a data breach affecting over 500 million user accounts (the “2014 Breach”). Yahoo did not disclose the 2014 Breach until September 2016. During the time period Yahoo was aware of the undisclosed breach, it entered into negotiations to be acquired by Verizon and finalized a stock purchase agreement in July 2016, two months prior to the disclosure of the 2014 Breach. Following the disclosure in September 2016, Yahoo’s stock price dropped 3% and it later renegotiated the stock purchase agreement to reduce the price paid for Yahoo’s operating business by $350 million.

In or about late 2016, following its disclosure of the 2014 Breach, Yahoo learned about a separate breach that had taken place in August 2013 and promptly announced that such breach had affected 1 billion users (the “2013 Breach”). In October 2017, Yahoo updated its disclosure concerning the 2013 Breach, announcing that it now believed that all 3 billion of its accounts had been affected.

The Settlement

Altaba’s SEC settlement centered on the 2014 Breach only. The SEC found that despite learning of the 2014 Breach in late 2014—which resulted in the theft of as many as 500 million of its users’ Yahoo usernames, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords, and security questions and answers, referred to internally as Yahoo’s “crown jewels”— Yahoo failed to timely disclose the material cybersecurity incident in any of its public securities filings until September 2016. Although Yahoo senior management and relevant legal staff were made aware of the 2014 Breach, according to the SEC, they “did not properly assess the scope, business impact, or legal implications of the breach, including how and where the breach should have been disclosed in Yahoo’s public filings or whether the fact of the breach rendered, or would render, any statements made by Yahoo in its public filings misleading.” [1] The SEC also faulted Yahoo’s senior management and legal staff because they “did not share information regarding the breach with Yahoo’s auditors or outside counsel in order to assess the company’s disclosure obligations in its public filings.” [2]

Among other things, the SEC found that Yahoo’s risk factor disclosures in its annual and quarterly reports from 2014 through 2016 were materially misleading in that they claimed the company only faced the risk of potential future data breaches, without disclosing that “a massive data breach” had in fact already occurred. [3]

The SEC also alleged that Yahoo management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations (“MD&A”) in those reports was also misleading to the extent it omitted known trends or uncertainties with regard to liquidity or net revenue presented by the 2014 Breach. [4]Finally, the SEC further found that Yahoo did not maintain adequate disclosure controls and procedures designed to ensure that reports from Yahoo’s information security team raising actual incidents of the theft of user data, or the significant risk of theft of user data, were properly and timely assessed to determine how and where data breaches should be disclosed in Yahoo’s public filings. [5]

Based on these allegations, the SEC found that Yahoo violated Sections 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act and Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act. [6] To settle the charges, Altaba, without admitting or denying liability, agreed to cease and desist from any further violations of the federal securities laws and pay a civil penalty of $35 million.

Takeaways

There are several important takeaways from the settlement:

— First, public companies should take seriously the SEC’s repeated warnings that one of its top priorities is ensuring that public companies meet their obligations to adequately disclose material cybersecurity incidents and risks. This requires regular assessment of cyber incidents and risks in light of the company’s disclosures, with the assistance of outside counsel and auditors as appropriate, and ensuring that there are adequate disclosure controls in place for such incidents and risks.

— Second, the SEC’s recently released interpretive guidance on cybersecurity disclosure is an important guidepost for all companies with such disclosure obligations. The guidance specifically cited the fact that the SEC views disclosure that a company is subject to future cybersecurity attacks as inadequate if the company had already suffered such incidents. Notably, the Yahoo settlement specifically faulted the company for this precise inadequacy in its disclosures. Similarly, the recent guidance encouraged companies to adopt comprehensive policies and procedures related to cybersecurity and to assess their compliance regularly, including the sufficiency of their disclosure controls and procedures as they relate to cybersecurity disclosure. The Yahoo settlement also found that the company had inadequate such controls.

— Third, at the same time the SEC announced the settlement, it took care to emphasize that “[w]e do not second-guess good faith exercises of judgment about cyber-incident disclosure.” [7] The SEC went on to note that Yahoo failed to meet this standard with respect to the 2014 Breach, but by articulating a “good faith” standard the SEC likely meant to send a message to the broader market that it is not seeking to penalize companies that make reasonable efforts to meet their cyber disclosure obligations.

— Fourth, it is also notable that the SEC charges did not include allegations that Yahoo violated securities laws with respect to the 2013 Breach. Yahoo had promptly disclosed the 2013 Breach after learning about it in late 2016, but updated its disclosure almost a year later with significant new information about the scope of the breach. The SEC’s recent guidance indicated that it was mindful that some material facts may not be available at the time of the initial disclosure, as was apparently the case with respect to the 2013 Breach. [8] At the same time, the SEC cautioned that “an ongoing internal or external investigation – which often can be lengthy – would not on its own provide a basis for avoiding disclosures of a material cybersecurity incident.” [9]

— Finally, it is worth noting that the Commission did not insist on settlements with any individuals. Companies, of course, can only commit securities violations through the actions of their employees. While it is not unusual for the Commission to settle entity-only cases on a “collective negligence” theory, the SEC Chair and the Enforcement Division’s leadership have emphasized the need to hold individuals accountable in order to maximize the deterrent impact of SEC actions. [10]

_________________________________________________________________________

Endnotes

1Altaba Inc., f/d/b/a Yahoo! Inc., Securities Act Release No. 10485, Exchange Act Release No. 83096, Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 3937, Administrative Proceeding File No. 3937 (Apr. 24, 2018) at ¶ 14.(go back)

2Id. at ¶ 15.(go back)

3Id. at ¶¶ 2, 16.(go back)

4Id.(go back)

5Id. at ¶ 15.(go back)

6Id. at ¶¶ 22-23.(go back)

7Press Release, SEC, Altaba, Formerly Known As Yahoo!, Charged With Failing to Disclose Massive Cybersecurity Breach; Agrees To Pay $35 Million (Apr. 24, 2018), https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2018-71.(go back)

8As we have previously discussed, the federal securities laws do not impose a general affirmative duty on public companies to continuously disclose material information and, as acknowledged in Footnote 37 of the interpretive guidance, circuits are split on whether a duty to update exists. However, in circuits where a duty to update has been found to exist, a distinction has often been drawn between statements of a policy nature that are within the company’s control and statements describing then current facts that would be expected to change over time. The former have been held subject to a duty to update while the latter have not. See In re Advanta Corp. Securities Litigation, 180 F.3d 525, 536 (3d Cir. 1997) (“[T]he voluntary disclosure of an ordinary earnings forecast does not trigger any duty to update.”); In re Burlington Coat Factory Securities Litigation, 114 F.3d 1410, 1433 (3d Cir. 1997); In re Duane Reade Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 02 Civ. 6478 (NRB), 2003 WL 22801416, at *7 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 25, 2003), aff’d sub nom. Nardoff v. Duane Reade, Inc., 107 F. App’x 250 (2d Cir. 2004) (“‘company has no duty to update forward–looking statements merely because changing circumstances have proven them wrong.’”).(go back)

9See SEC, Commission Statement and Guidance on Public Company Cybersecurity Disclosures, 83 Fed. Reg 8166, 8169 (Feb. 26, 2018), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/02/26/2018-03858/commission-statement-and-guidance-on-public- company-cybersecurity-disclosures.(go back)

10See, e.g., Steven R. Peikin, Co-Director, Div. Enf’t., SEC, Reflections on the Past, Present, and Future of the SEC’s Enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Keynote Address at N.Y.U. Program on Corporate Law and Enforcement Conference: No Turning Back: 40 Years of the FCAP and 20 Years of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention Impacts, Achievements, and Future Challenges (Nov. 9, 2017), https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/speech-peikin2017-11-09;
SEC Div. Enf’t., Annual Report A Look Back at Fiscal Year 2017, at 2 (Nov. 15, 2017), https://www.sec.gov/files/enforcement-annual-report2017.pdf.(go back)

_______________________________________________________________________

*Matthew C. Solomon and Pamela L. Marcogliese are partners and Rahul Mukhi is counsel at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. This post is based on a Cleary Gottlieb publication by Mr. Solomon, Ms. Marcogliese, Ms. Mukhi, and Kal Blassberger.

Douze questions qu’un administrateur doit se poser afin de cerner l’efficacité de son CA


J’ai trouvé très intéressantes les questions qu’un nouvel administrateur pourrait se poser afin de mieux cerner les principaux facteurs liés à la bonne gouvernance d’un conseil d’administration.

Bien sûr, ce petit questionnaire peut également être utilisé par un membre de CA qui veut évaluer la qualité de la gouvernance de son propre conseil d’administration.

Les administrateurs peuvent interroger le président du conseil, les autres membres du conseil et le secrétaire corporatif.

Les douze questions énumérées ci-dessous ont fait l’objet d’une discussion lors d’une table ronde organisée par INSEAD Directors Forum du campus asiatique de Singapore.

Cet article a été publié par Noelle Ahlberg Kleiterp* sur le site de la Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance.

Chaque question est accompagnée de quelques réflexions utiles pour permettre le passage à l’acte.

Bonne lecture ! Vos commentaires sont les bienvenus.

 

Twelve questions to determine board effectiveness

 

 

In many countries, boards of directors (particularly those of large organisations) have functioned too long as black boxes. Directors’ focus has often—and understandably so—been monopolised by a laundry list of issues to be discussed and typically approved at quarterly meetings.

The board’s own performance, effectiveness, processes and habits receive scant reflection. Many directors are happy to leave the corporate secretary with the task of keeping sight of governance best practices; certainly they do not regard it as their own responsibility.

It occurred to me later that these questions could be of broader use to directors as a framework for beginning a reassessment of their board role.

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However, increased regulatory pressures are now pushing boards toward greater responsibility, transparency and self-awareness. In some countries, annual board reviews have become compulsory. In addition, mounting concerns about board diversity provide greater scope for questioning the status quo.

Achieving a more heterogeneous mix of specialisations, cultures and professional experiences entails a willingness to revise some unwritten rules that, in many instances, have governed board functions. And that is not without risk.

At the same time, the “diversity recruits” wooed for board positions may not know the explicit, let alone the implicit, rules. Some doubtless never anticipated they would be asked to join a board. Such invitations often come out of the blue, with little motivation or clarity about what is expected from the new recruit. No universal guidelines are available to aid candidates as they decide whether to accept their invitation.

Long-standing directors and outliers alike could benefit from a crash course in the fundamentals of well-run boards. This was the subject of a roundtable discussion held in February 2017 as part of the INSEAD Directors Forum on the Asia campus.

As discussion leader, I gave the participants, most of whom were recent recipients of INSEAD’s Certificate in Corporate Governance, a basic quiz designed to prompt reflection about how their board applies basic governance principles. It occurred to me later that these questions could be of broader use to directors as a framework for beginning a reassessment of their board role.

 

Questions and reflections

 

Q1) True/False: My board maintains a proper ratio of governing vs. executing.

Reflection: Recall basic principles of governance. If you are executing, who is maintaining oversight over you? Why aren’t the executive team executing and the board governing?

 

Q2) True/False: My board possesses the required competencies to fulfil its duties.

Reflection: Competencies can be industry-specific or universal (such as being an effective director). Many boards are reluctant to replace members, yet the needs of the organisation shift and demand new competencies, particularly in the digital age. Does your board have a director trained in corporate governance who could take the lead? Or does it adopt the outdated view of governance as a matter for the corporate secretary, perhaps in consultation with owners?

 

Q3) True/False: The frequency and duration of my board meetings are sufficient.

Reflection: Do you cover what you must cover and have ample time for strategy discussions? Are discussions taking place at the table that should be conducted prior to meetings?

 

Q4) How frequently does your chairperson meet with management: weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or otherwise?

Reflection: Meetings can be face-to-face or virtual. An alternative question is: Consider email traffic between the chair/board and management—is correspondence at set times (e.g. prior to scheduled meetings/calls) or random in terms of topic and frequency?

 

Q5) Is this frequency excessive, adequate or insufficient?

Reflection: Consider what is driving the frequency of the meetings (or email traffic). Is there a pressing topic that justifies more frequent interactions? Is there a lack of trust or lack of interest driving the frequency?

 

Q6) True/False: My board possesses the ideal mix of competencies to handle the most pressing issue on the agenda.

Reflection: If one issue continually appears on the agenda (e.g. marketing-related), there could be reason to review the board’s effectiveness with regards to this issue, and probably the mix of skills within the current board. If the necessary expertise were present at the table, could the board have resolved the issue?

 

Q7) True/False: The executive team is competent/capable. If “false”, is your board acting on this?

Reflection: At this point in the quiz, you should be considering whether incompetency is the issue. If so, is it being addressed? How comfortable are you, for example, that your executive team is capable of addressing digitisation?

 

Q8) True/False: My chairperson is effective.

Reflection: Perhaps incompetency rests with the chairperson or with a few board members. Are elements within control of the chairperson well managed? Does your board function professionally? If not, does the chair intervene and improve matters? Are you alone in your views regarding board effectiveness? A “false” answer here should lead you to take an activist role at the table to guide the chair and the board to effectiveness.

 

Q9) Yes/No: Does your board effectively make use of committees? If “yes”, how many and for which topics? If “no”, why not?

Reflection: Well-defined committees (e.g. audit, nomination, risk) improve the efficiency of board meetings and are a vital component of governance. In the non-profit arena, use of board committees is less common. However, non-profit boards can equally benefit from this basic guiding principle of good governance.

 

Q10) True/False: Recruitment/nomination of new board members adheres to a robust process.

Reflection: When are openings posted? Who reviews/targets potential candidates? How are candidate criteria determined?  And is there a clear “on-boarding” process that is regularly revisited?

 

Q11) True/False: My board performs a board review annually.

Reflection: A board review will touch on many elements mentioned in previous questions. Obtaining buy-in for the first review might prove painful. Thereafter knowledge of an annual review will undoubtedly lead to more conscious governance and opportunities to introduce improvements (including replacement of board members). Procedurally, the review of the board as a whole should precede the review of individuals.

 

Q12) Think of a tough decision your board has made. Recall how the decision was reached and results were monitored. Was “fair process leadership” (FPL) at play?

Reflection: Put yourself in the shoes of a fellow board member, perhaps the one most dissatisfied with the outcome of a particular decision. Would that person agree that fair process was adhered to, despite his or her own feelings? Boards that apply fair process move on—as a team—from what is perceived to be a negative outcome for an individual board member. If decisions are made rashly and lack follow-up, FPL is not applied. Energies will quickly leave the room.

 

From reflection to action

 

Roundtable participants agreed that these questions should be applied in light of the longevity of the organisation concerned. Compared with most mature organisations, a start-up will need many more board meetings and more interactions between the board and the management team. The “exit” phase of an organisation (or a sub-part of the organisation) is another time in the lifecycle that requires intensified board involvement.

Particularly in the non-profit sector, where directors commonly work pro bono, passion for the organisational mission should be a prerequisite for all prospective board members. However, passion—in the form of a determination to see the organisation’s strategy succeed—should be a consideration for all board members and nominees, regardless of the sector.

Directors who apply the above framework and are dissatisfied with what they discover could seek solutions in their professional networks, corporate governance textbooks or a course such as INSEAD’s International Directors Programme.

If you are considering a board role, you could use the 12 questions, tweak them for your needs and evaluate your answers. Speak not only with the chair, but also with as many board members and relevant executive team members as you can. Understand your comfort level with how the board operates and applies governance principles before accepting a mandate.

Noelle Ahlberg Kleiterp, MBA, IDP-C, has worked for 25 years across three continents with companies including GE, KPMG, Andersen Consulting and Atradius. Noelle owns a sole proprietorship in Singapore and serves as a board member on a non-profit organisation in Singapore.

Enjeux clés concernant les membres des comités d’audit | KPMG


Le récent rapport de KPMG sur les grandes tendances en audit présente sept défis que les membres des CA, notamment les membres des comités d’audit, doivent considérer afin de bien s’acquitter de leurs responsabilités dans la gouvernance des sociétés.

Le rapport a été rédigé par des professionnels en audit de la firme KPMG ainsi que par le Conference Board du Canada.

Les sept défis abordés dans le rapport sont les suivants :

– talent et capital humain ;

– technologie et cybersécurité ;

– perturbation des modèles d’affaires ;

– paysage réglementaire en évolution ;

– incertitude politique et économique ;

– évolution des attentes en matière de présentation de l’information ;

– environnement et changements climatiques.

Je vous invite à consulter le rapport complet ci-dessous pour de plus amples informations sur chaque enjeu.

Bonne lecture !

 

Tendances en audit

 

 

Résultats de recherche d'images pour « tendances en audit »

 

 

Alors que l’innovation technologique et la cybersécurité continuent d’avoir un impact croissant sur le monde des finances et des affaires à l’échelle mondiale, tant les comités d’audit que les chefs des finances reconnaissent le besoin de compter sur des talents de haut calibre pour contribuer à affronter ces défis et à en tirer parti.

Le rôle du comité d’audit est de s’assurer que l’organisation dispose des bonnes personnes possédant l’expérience et les connaissances requises, tant au niveau de la gestion et des opérations qu’au sein même de sa constitution. Il ne s’agit que de l’un des nombreux défis à avoir fait surface dans le cadre de ce troisième numéro du rapport Tendances en audit.

Les comités d’audit d’aujourd’hui ont la responsabilité d’aider les organisations à s’orienter parmi les nombreux enjeux et défis plus complexes que jamais auxquels ils font face, tout en remplissant leur mandat traditionnel de conformité et de présentation de l’information. Alors que les comités d’audit sont pleinement conscients de cette nécessité, notre rapport indique que les comités d’audit et les chefs des finances se demandent dans quelle mesure leur organisation est bien positionnée pour faire face à la gamme complète des tendances actuelles et émergentes.

Pour mettre en lumière cette préoccupation et d’autres enjeux clés, le rapport Tendances en audit se penche sur les sept défis qui suivent :

  1. talent et capital humain;
  2. technologie et cybersécurité;
  3. perturbation des modèles d’affaires;
  4. paysage réglementaire en évolution;
  5. incertitude politique et économique;
  6. évolution des attentes en matière de présentation de l’information;
  7. environnement et changements climatiques.

Au fil de l’évolution des mandats et des responsabilités, ce rapport se révélera être une ressource précieuse pour l’ensemble des parties prenantes en audit.

Rôle du CA dans l’établissement d’une forte culture organisationnelle | Un guide pratique


Vous trouverez, ci-dessous, un document partagé par Joanne Desjardins*, qui porte sur le rôle du CA dans l’établissement d’une solide culture organisationnelle.

C’est certainement l’un des guides les plus utiles sur le sujet. Il s’agit d’une référence essentielle en matière de gouvernance.

Je vous invite à lire le sommaire exécutif. Vos commentaires sont appréciés.

 

Managing Culture | A good practical guide – December 2017

 

Résultats de recherche d'images pour « tone at the top »

Executive summary

 

In Australia, the regulators Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) have both signalled that there are significant risks around poor corporate culture. ASIC recognises that culture is at the heart of how an organisation and its staff think and behave, while APRA directs boards to define the institution’s risk appetite and establish a risk management strategy, and to ensure management takes the necessary steps to monitor and manage material risks. APRA takes a broad approach to ‘risk culture’ – includingrisk emerging from a poor culture.

Regulators across the globe are grappling with the issue of risk culture and how best to monitor it. While regulators generally do not dictate a cultural framework, they have identified common areas that may influence an organisation’s risk culture: leadership, good governance, translating values and principles into practices, measurement and accountability, effective communication and challenge, recruitment and incentives. Ultimately, the greatest risk lies in organisations that are believed to be hypocritical when it comes to the espoused versus actual culture.

The board is ultimately responsible for the definition and oversight of culture. In the US, Mary Jo White, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), recognised that a weak risk culture is the root cause of many large governancefailures, and that the board must set the ‘tone at the top’.

Culture also has an important role to play in risk management and risk appetite, and can pose significant risks that may affect an organisation’s long-term viability.

However, culture is much more about people than it is about rules. This guide argues that an ethical framework – which is different from a code of ethics or a code of conduct – should sit at the heart of the governance framework of an organisation. An ethical framework includes a clearly espoused purpose, supported by values and principles.

There is no doubt that increasing attention is being given to the ethical foundations of an organisation as a driving force of culture, and one method of achieving consistency of organisational conduct is to build an ethical framework in which employees can function effectively by achieving clarity about what the organisation deems to be a ‘good’ or a ‘right’ decision.

Culture can be measured by looking at the extent to which the ethical framework of the organisation is perceived to be or is actually embedded within day-to-day practices. Yet measurement and evaluation of culture is in its early stages, and boards and senior management need to understand whether the culture they have is the culture they want.

In organisations with strong ethical cultures, the systems and processes of the organisation will align with the ethical framework. And people will use the ethical framework in the making of day-to-day decisions – both large and small.

Setting and embedding a clear ethical framework is not just the role of the board and senior management – all areas can play a role. This publication provides high-level guidance to these different roles:

The board is responsible for setting the tone at the top. The board should set the ethical foundations of the organisation through the ethical framework. Consistently, the board needs to be assured that the ethical framework is embedded within the organisation’s systems, processes and culture.

Management is responsible for implementing and monitoring the desired culture as defined and set by the board. They are also responsible for demonstrating leadership of the culture.

Human resources (HR) is fundamental in shaping, reinforcing and changing corporate culture within an organisation. HR drives organisational change programs that ensure cultural alignment with the ethical framework of the organisation. HR provides alignment to the ethical framework through recruitment, orientation, training, performance management, remuneration and other incentives.

Internal audit assesses how culture is being managed and monitored, and can provide an independent view of the current corporate culture.

External audit provides an independent review of an entity’s financial affairs according to legislative requirements, and provides the audit committee with valuable, objective insight into aspects of the entity’s governance and internal controls including its risk management.

 

 

*Joanne Desjardins est administratrice de sociétés et consultante en gouvernance. Elle possède plus de 18 années d’expérience comme avocate et comme consultante en gouvernance, en stratégie et en gestion des ressources humaines. Elle est constamment à l’affût des derniers développements en gouvernance et publie des articles sur le sujet.

Indicateurs de mesure de la performance des fonctions d’audit interne


Denis Lefort, CPA, expert-conseil en gouvernance, audit et contrôle, porte à ma connaissance un rapport de recherche de l’IIA qui concerne « les indicateurs de mesure de la performance des fonctions d’audit interne ».

Encore aujourd’hui, les indicateurs utilisés sont souvent centrés sur la performance en interne de la fonction et non sur son réel impact sur l’organisation.

Par exemple, peu de services d’audit interne évaluent leur performance par la réduction des cas de fraude dans l’entreprise, par une meilleure gestion des risques, etc.

On utilise plutôt les indicateurs habituels comme le taux de recommandations implantées, la réalisation du plan d’audit, etc.

Voici, ci-dessous, l’introduction au document de l’IIA. Pour consulter le rapport détaillé, cliquez sur le titre du document.

Bonne lecture. Vos commentaires sont les bienvenus

Measuring Internal Audit Value and Performance

 

In 2010, The IIA recognized a need to capture a simple, memorable, and straightforward way to help internal auditors convey the value of their efforts to important stakeholders, such as boards of directors, audit committees, management, and clients. To that end, the association introduced the Value Proposition for Internal Auditing, which characterizes internal audit’s value as an amalgam of three elements: assurance, insight, and objectivity.

opsione-audit-assistance-audit-interne2

But identifying the conceptual elements of value is only part of what needs to be done. How does that construct look in the workplace? What activities does internal audit undertake that deliver the most value? What should be measured to determine that the organization’s expectations of value are being met? How does internal audit organize and structure the information that populates the metrics? And, most critically, do the answers to all these questions align; that is, does internal audit’s perception of its value, as measured and tracked, correlate with what the organization wants and needs from the internal audit function? (Exhibit 1)

Exhibit 1

The Internal Audit Value Proposition

 

1. ASSURANCE = Governance, Risk, Control

Internal audit provides assurance on the organization’s governance, risk management, and control processes to help the organization achieve its strategic, operational, financial, and compliance objectives.

2. INSIGHT = Catalyst, Analyses, Assessments

Internal audit is a catalyst for improving an organization’s effectiveness and efficiency by providing insight and recommendations based on analyses and assessments of data and business process.

3. OBJECTIVITY = Integrity, Accountability, Independence

With commitment to integrity and accountability, internal audit provides value to governing bodies and senior management as an objective source of independent advice.

These are the kinds of questions the CBOK 2015 global practitioner survey posed to chief audit executives (CAEs) from around the world. The activities these CAEs believe bring value to the organization are consistent with the three elements of The IIA’s value proposition. In fact, the nine activities identified by CAEs as adding the most value can be mapped directly to the three elements, as shown in exibit 2

However, in looking at the performance measures and tools used by the organization and the internal audit function, a gap appears to form between value-adding activities and the ways performance is measured. This report explores that gap in greater detail and clarifies the respondents’ view of value-adding activities, preferred performance measures, and the methodologies and tools most commonly used to support internal audit’s quality and performance processes. Where appropriate, responses tabulated by geographic regions and organization types are examined.

Finally, based on the findings, the final chapter of the report provides a series of practical steps that practitioners at all levels can implement to help their internal audit department deliver on its value proposition of assurance, insight, and objectivity.

Exhibit 2

The Internal Audit Value Proposition (mapped to response options from the CBOK Survey)

 

ASSURANCE ACTIVITIES

  1. Assuring the adequacy and effectiveness of the internal control system
  2. Assuring the organization’s risk management processes
  3. Assuring regulatory compliance
  4. Assuring the organization’s governance processes

INSIGHT ACTIVITIES

  1. Recommending business improvement
  2. Identifying emerging risks

OBJECTIVE ADVICE ACTIVITIES

  1. Informing and advising management
  2. Investigating or deterring fraud
  3. Informing and advising the audit committee

Réflexions sur les bénéfices d’une solide culture organisationnelle


Quels sont les bénéfices d’une solide culture organisationnelle ?

C’est précisément la question abordée par William C. Dudley, président et CEO de la Federal Reserve Bank de New York, dans une allocution présentée à la Banking Standards Board de Londres.

Dans sa présentation, il évoque trois éléments fondamentaux pour l’amélioration de la culture organisationnelle des entreprises du secteur financier :

 

  1. Définir la raison d’être et énoncer des objectifs clairs puisque ceux-ci sont nécessaires à l’évaluation de la performance ;
  2. Mesurer la performance de la firme et la comparer aux autres du même secteur ;
  3. S’assurer que les mesures incitatives mènent à des comportements en lien avec les buts que l’organisation veut atteindre.

 

Selon M. Dudley, il y a plusieurs avantages à intégrer des pratiques de bonne culture dans la gestion de l’entreprise. Il présente clairement les nombreux bénéfices à retirer lorsque l’organisation a une saine culture.

Vous trouverez, ci-dessous, les principales raisons pour lesquelles il est important de se soucier de cette dimension à long terme. Je n’avais encore jamais vu ces raisons énoncées aussi explicitement dans un texte.

L’article a paru aujourd’hui sur le site de la Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance.

Bonne lecture !

 

Résultats de recherche d'images pour « culture organisationnelle d'une entreprise »
WordPress.com

 

Reforming Culture for the Long Term

 

I am convinced that a good or ethical culture that is reflected in your firm’s strategy, decision-making processes, and products is also in your economic best interest, for a number of reasons:

Good culture means fewer incidents of misconduct, which leads to lower internal monitoring costs.

Good culture means that employees speak up so that problems get early attention and tend to stay small. Smaller problems lead to less reputational harm and damage to franchise value. And, habits of speaking up lead to better exchanges of ideas—a hallmark of successful organizations.

Good culture means greater credibility with prosecutors and regulators—and fewer and lower fines.

Good culture helps to attract and retain good talent. This creates a virtuous circle of higher performance and greater innovation, and less pressure to cut ethical corners to generate the returns necessary to stay in business.

Good culture builds a strong organizational story that is a source of pride and that can be passed along through generations of employees. It is also attractive to clients.

Good culture helps to rebuild public trust in finance, which could, in turn, lead to a lower burden imposed by regulation over time. Regulation and compliance are expensive substitutes for good stewardship.

Good culture is, in short, a necessary condition for the long-term success of individual firms. Therefore, members of the industry must be good stewards and should seek to make progress on reforming culture in the near term.

Un document complet sur les bonnes pratiques de gouvernance et de gestion d’un CA | The Directors Toolkit 2017 de KPMG


Voici la version 4.0 du document « The Directors’Toolkit 2017 » de KPMG, très bien conçu, qui répond clairement aux questions que tous les administrateurs de sociétés se posent en cours de mandat.

Même si la publication est dédiée à l’auditoire australien de KPMG, je crois que la réalité réglementaire nord-américaine est trop semblable pour se priver d’un bon « kit » d’outils qui peut aider à constituer un Board efficace.

C’est un formidable document électronique interactif. Voyez la table des matières ci-dessous.

J’ai demandé à KPMG de me procurer une version française du même document, mais il ne semble pas en exister.

Bonne lecture !

The Directors’ Toolkit 2017 | KPMG

 

 

Now in its fourth edition, this comprehensive guide is in a user friendly electronic format. It is designed to assist directors to more effectively discharge their duties and improve board performance and decision-making.

Key topics

  1. Duties and responsibilities of a director
  2. Oversight of strategy and governance
  3. Managing shareholder and stakeholder expectations
  4. Structuring an effective board and sub-committees
  5. Enabling key executive appointments
  6. Managing productive meetings
  7. Better practice terms of reference, charters and agendas
  8. Establishing new boards.

What’s new in 2017

In this latest version, we have included newly updated sections on:

  1. managing cybersecurity risks
  2. human rights in the supply chain.

Register

Register here for your free copy of the Directors’ Toolkit.

Facteurs qui influencent la rémunération des dirigeants d’OBNL ?


Qu’est-ce qui influence la rémunération des dirigeants d’organisation sans but lucratif. C’est la question à laquelle Elizabeth K. Keating et Peter Frumkin ont tenté de répondre dans une recherche scientifique notoire, dont un résumé est publié dans la revue Nonprofit Quaterly.

L’établissement d’une juste rémunération dans toute organisation est un domaine assez complexe. Mais, dans les entreprises à but non lucratif, c’est souvent un défi de taille et un dilemme !

Lorsque l’on gère l’argent qui vient, en grande partie, du public, on est souvent mal à l’aise pour offrir des rémunérations comparables au secteur privé. Les comparatifs ne sont pas faciles à établir…

Cependant, il faut que l’organisation paie une rémunération convenable ; sinon, elle ne pourra pas retenir les meilleurs talents et faire croître l’entreprise.

Bien sûr, la situation a beaucoup évolué au cours des 30 dernières années. On conçoit plus facilement maintenant que les services rendus pour gérer de telles organisations doivent être rémunérés à leur juste valeur. Mais, le secteur des OBNL est encore dominé par des salaires relativement bas et par la contribution de généreux bénévoles…

 

Résultats de recherche d'images pour « rémunération dirigeants OBNL »
Publications de Gouvernance Expert – Gestion PME et OBNL

Contrairement à la plupart des entreprises privées, les OBNL rémunèrent leur personnel selon un salaire fixe. Cependant, les comparaisons avec le secteur privé ont amené plusieurs OBNL à offrir des rémunérations basées sur la performance (ex. : les résultats de la collecte de fonds, la compression des dépenses, les surplus dégagés).

Dans la plupart des OBNL, les augmentations de salaires des dirigeants demeurent des sujets chauds… très chauds, étant donné les moyens limités de ces organisations, la propension à faire appel au bénévolat et les contraintes liées aux missions sociales.

Les auteurs de l’étude ont développé trois hypothèses pour expliquer les comportements de rémunération dans le secteur des entreprises à but non lucratif :

  1. Les PDG qui gèrent des organisations de grandes tailles seront mieux rémunérés ;
  2. Les rémunérations des PDG d’OBNL ne seront pas basées sur la performance financière de leurs organisations ;
  3. Les rémunérations des PDG d’OBNL ne seront pas déterminées par la liquidité financière.

En résumé, les recherches montrent que les hypothèses retenues sont validées dans presque tous les secteurs étudiés. C’est vraiment la taille et la croissance de l’organisation qui sont les facteurs déterminants dans l’établissement des rémunérations des hauts dirigeants. Dans ce secteur, la bonne performance ne doit pas être liée directement à la rémunération.

La plupart des administrateurs de ces organisations ne sont pas rémunérés, souvent pour des raisons de valeurs morales. Cependant, je crois que, si l’entreprise en a les moyens, elle doit prévoir une certaine forme de rémunération pour les administrateurs qui ont les mêmes responsabilités fiduciaires que les administrateurs des entreprises privées.

Je crois personnellement qu’une certaine compensation est de mise, même si celle-ci n’est pas élevée. Les administrateurs se sentiront toujours plus redevables s’ils retirent une rémunération pour leur travail. Même si la rétribution est minimale, elle contribuera certainement à les mobiliser davantage.

Cette citation résume assez bien les conclusions de l’étude :

One final implication of our analysis bears on the enduring performance-measurement quandary that confronts so many nonprofit organizations. We believe that nonprofits may rely on organizational size to make compensation decisions, drawing on free cash flows when available, rather than addressing the challenge of defining, quantifying, and measuring the social benefits that they produce. Nonprofits typically produce services that are complex and that generate not only direct outputs but also indirect, long-term, and societal benefits. These types of services often make it difficult to both develop good outcome measures and establish causality between program activity and impact. In the absence of effective metrics of social performance and mission accomplishment, many organizations rely on other factors in setting compensation. Perhaps, once better measures of mission fulfillment are developed and actively implemented, nonprofits will be able to structure CEO compensation in ways that provide appropriate incentives to managers who successfully advance the missions of nonprofit organizations, while respecting the full legal and ethical implications of the nondistribution constraint.

Pour plus d’information concernant le détail de l’étude, je vous conseille de prendre connaissance des extraits suivants.

Bonne lecture !

What Drives Nonprofit Executive Compensation?

 

To test our first hypothesis, we relied on two variables: lagged total fixed assets and lagged total program expenses. We chose total fixed assets as a proxy for scale of operations and total program expenses as a measure of the annual budget.15 To test our second hypothesis, we developed two variables associated with pay-for-performance compensation: administrative efficiency and dollar growth in contributed revenue.16 To test our third hypothesis, we selected three variables that determine whether an organization is cash constrained or has free cash flows: lagged commercial revenue, liquid assets to expenses measure, and investment portfolio to total assets measure.17

Since the nonprofit industry is quite heterogeneous, we explored the compensation question in the major subsectors: arts, education, health, human services, “other,” and religion.18

Arts

The compensation of arts CEOs increases more rapidly relative to program expenses than in the other subsectors, and the remuneration of arts CEOs is negatively associated with commercial revenue share. This stands in contrast to the positive relation of this factor in the remaining subsectors.

Greater administrative efficiency, higher liquidity, and a more extensive endowment are associated with higher compensation, but generating additional contributions is not. Overall, the organizational-size variables explain a substantially greater proportion of the variation in compensation for arts CEOs than the other two factors combined.

Education

While arts executive pay is closely related to program expenses, CEOs at educational institutions receive compensation that is significantly associated with fixed assets. These organizations include primary and secondary schools, as well as colleges and universities. Unlike the arts CEOs, educational leaders are better compensated when their organizations have growth in contributions but not when they are more administratively efficient.

Health

Due to the competition in the health subsector between for-profit and nonprofit firms, one might expect that compensation would be more heavily weighted toward the pay-for-performance variables. Instead, we found that CEO compensation in this subsector is strongly related to organizational size. It is weakly tied to administrative efficiency, and is not significantly related to growth in contributions. From these results, we concluded that compensation in the health subsector is not closely tied to classic pay-for-performance measures.

With regard to free cash flows, we found that the sensitivity of CEO remuneration to increases in the commercial revenue share is highest in the health subsector. Health CEO remuneration is also quite sensitive to the relative size of the endowment. We found no significant relation between health CEO compensation and liquidity. Overall, the organization-size variables explain a greater portion of the variation in pay in the health subsector than the pay-for-performance and free cash flow variables combined.

Human Services and “Other”

CEO compensation in the human-services and “other” subsectors exhibit considerable similarities in the magnitude of the coefficients. Total program expenses are significantly related to compensation, with a $10–$11 gain in compensation for each $1,000 increase in program expenses. In neither case are total fixed assets significantly associated with remuneration. CEOs in both subsectors can expect to be financially rewarded for greater administrative efficiency and when the share of commercial revenue is higher and the relative size of the investment portfolio is larger. One striking difference is that CEOs in the other subsectors receive substantially higher compensation when contributions are increased, while CEOs of human-service providers oddly receive significantly lower compensation when liquidity is higher. In both subsectors, the organizational-size variables had more power to explain compensation than the other two variable groups combined.

Religion

Compensation for religious leaders differs substantially from the other sectors. First, “base” pay and both organizational-size variables are insignificant. In the area of pay-for-performance, the regression results indicate that compensation is not directly associated with growth in contributions. More unusually, it is negatively related to administrative efficiency. In one regard, the CEOs of religious organizations are similar to their counterparts: their compensation is significantly associated with the commercial-revenue share and the relative size of the investment portfolio. For CEOs of this subsector, the size hypothesis was most strongly supported, but it did not dominate the other two hypotheses combined.

Conclusions

We found that nonprofit CEOs are paid a base salary, and many CEOs also receive additional pay associated with larger organizational size. Our results indicate that while pay-for-performance is a factor in determining compensation, it is not prominent. In fact, in all the subsectors we studied, CEO compensation is more sensitive to organizational size and free cash flows than to performance. While our analysis suggests that nonprofits may not literally be violating the nondistribution constraint, we did find evidence that CEO compensation is significantly higher in the presence of free cash flows. In only one subsector (education), however, did we find evidence that free cash flow is a central factor.

___________________________________________

*This article is adapted from “The Price of Doing Good: Executive Compensation in Nonprofit Organizations,” an article by the authors published in the August 2010 issue (volume 29, issue 3) of Policy and Society, an Elsevier/ ScienceDirect publication. The original report can be accessed here.

Réflexions sur les bénéfices d’une solide culture organisationnelle


Quels sont les bénéfices d’une solide culture organisationnelle ?

C’est précisément la question abordée par William C. Dudley, président et CEO de la Federal Reserve Bank de New York, dans une allocution présentée à la Banking Standards Board de Londres.

Dans sa présentation, il évoque trois éléments fondamentaux pour l’amélioration de la culture organisationnelle des entreprises du secteur financier :

 

  1. Définir la raison d’être et énoncer des objectifs clairs puisque ceux-ci sont nécessaires à l’évaluation de la performance ;
  2. Mesurer la performance de la firme et la comparer aux autres du même secteur ;
  3. S’assurer que les mesures incitatives mènent à des comportements en lien avec les buts que l’organisation veut atteindre.

 

Selon M. Dudley, il y a plusieurs avantages à intégrer des pratiques de bonne culture dans la gestion de l’entreprise. Il présente clairement les nombreux bénéfices à retirer lorsque l’organisation a une saine culture.

Vous trouverez, ci-dessous, les principales raisons pour lesquelles il est important de se soucier de cette dimension à long terme. Je n’avais encore jamais vu ces raisons énoncées aussi explicitement dans un texte.

L’article a paru aujourd’hui sur le site de la Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance.

Bonne lecture !

 

Résultats de recherche d'images pour « culture organisationnelle d'une entreprise »
WordPress.com

 

Reforming Culture for the Long Term

 

I am convinced that a good or ethical culture that is reflected in your firm’s strategy, decision-making processes, and products is also in your economic best interest, for a number of reasons:

Good culture means fewer incidents of misconduct, which leads to lower internal monitoring costs.

Good culture means that employees speak up so that problems get early attention and tend to stay small. Smaller problems lead to less reputational harm and damage to franchise value. And, habits of speaking up lead to better exchanges of ideas—a hallmark of successful organizations.

Good culture means greater credibility with prosecutors and regulators—and fewer and lower fines.

Good culture helps to attract and retain good talent. This creates a virtuous circle of higher performance and greater innovation, and less pressure to cut ethical corners to generate the returns necessary to stay in business.

Good culture builds a strong organizational story that is a source of pride and that can be passed along through generations of employees. It is also attractive to clients.

Good culture helps to rebuild public trust in finance, which could, in turn, lead to a lower burden imposed by regulation over time. Regulation and compliance are expensive substitutes for good stewardship.

Good culture is, in short, a necessary condition for the long-term success of individual firms. Therefore, members of the industry must be good stewards and should seek to make progress on reforming culture in the near term.

The Directors Toolkit 2017 | Un document complet de KPMG sur les bonnes pratiques de gouvernance et de gestion d’un CA


Voici la version 4.0 du document australien de KPMG, très bien conçu, qui répond clairement aux questions que tous les administrateurs de sociétés se posent dans le cours de leurs mandats.

Même si la publication est dédiée à l’auditoire australien de KPMG, je crois que la réalité réglementaire nord-américaine est trop semblable pour se priver d’un bon « kit » d’outils qui peut aider à constituer un Board efficace.

C’est un formidable document électronique interactif. Voyez la table des matières ci-dessous.

J’ai demandé à KPMG de me procurer une version française du même document, mais il ne semble pas en exister.

Bonne lecture !

The Directors’ Toolkit 2017 | KPMG

 

 

 

Now in its fourth edition, this comprehensive guide is in a user friendly electronic format. It is designed to assist directors to more effectively discharge their duties and improve board performance and decision-making.

Key topics

  1. Duties and responsibilities of a director
  2. Oversight of strategy and governance
  3. Managing shareholder and stakeholder expectations
  4. Structuring an effective board and sub-committees
  5. Enabling key executive appointments
  6. Managing productive meetings
  7. Better practice terms of reference, charters and agendas
  8. Establishing new boards.

What’s new in 2017

In this latest version, we have included newly updated sections on:

  1. managing cybersecurity risks
  2. human rights in the supply chain.

Register

Register here for your free copy of the Directors’ Toolkit.

La gouvernance des Cégeps | Le rapport du Vérificateur général du Québec


Nous publions ici un billet de Danielle Malboeuf* qui fait état des recommandations du vérificateur général eu égard à la gouvernance des CÉGEP.

Comme à l’habitude Danielle nous propose son article à titre d’auteure invitée.

Je vous souhaite bonne lecture. Vos commentaires sont appréciés.

 

La gouvernance des Cégeps et le rapport du Vérificateur général du Québec

par

Danielle Malboeuf*  

 

À l’automne 2016, le Vérificateur général du Québec produisait un rapport d’audit concernant la gestion administrative de cinq cégeps. Ses travaux ont porté plus précisément sur la gestion des contrats, la gestion des bâtiments, les services autofinancés ainsi que sur la rémunération du personnel d’encadrement et les frais engagés par celui-ci.

Parmi les recommandations formulées à l’endroit des cégeps audités, on en retrouve une qui concerne plus précisément la gouvernance : « S’assurer que les instances de gouvernance reçoivent une information suffisante et en temps opportun afin qu’elles puissent exercer leur rôle quant aux décisions stratégiques et à la surveillance de l’efficacité des contrôles… »[1]

À la lecture de ce rapport et des constats de ces travaux d’audit, on ne peut qu’être qu’en accord avec cette recommandation qui invite les administrateurs à exercer leur rôle. Mais justement, quel rôle ont-ils ? Du point de vue légal, la Loi sur les collèges d’enseignement général et professionnel est peu éclairante à ce sujet.  Contrairement à la Loi sur la gouvernance des sociétés d’État qui précise clairement les fonctions qui sont confiées au conseil d’administration (CA), dont l’obligation d’évaluer l’intégrité des contrôles internes. On y exige également la création de trois sous-comités dont le comité de vérification ou d’audit à qui on confie entre autres, la responsabilité de mettre en place des mécanismes de contrôle interne. De plus, ce sous-comité doit compter sur la présence d’au moins une personne ayant une compétence en matière comptable ou financière.

À mon avis, la gouvernance d’un cégep devrait s’apparenter à celle des sociétés d’État. À ce sujet, dans son rapport publié en mai 2011 soumettant un bilan de l’implantation de la Loi sur la gouvernance des sociétés d’État, l’auteur de ce rapport, l’Institut sur la gouvernance des organismes publics et privés (IGOPP) allait dans le même sens. Il formulait comme première recommandation : « Imposer les nouvelles règles de gouvernance aux nombreux organismes du gouvernement qui ne sont pas inclus dans la loi actuelle sur la gouvernance. »[2]

Malgré le fait que les cégeps n’ont pas l’obligation légale de créer un comité d’audit, plusieurs l’ont fait dans un souci de transparence et afin d’être soutenu par les administrateurs dans leur effort pour assurer une utilisation optimale des ressources financières de l’organisation. Toutefois, le mandat qui leur est confié se limite dans la majorité des cas à une analyse des prévisions budgétaires et des états financiers. Ce n’est pas suffisant !

Considérant la recommandation du vérificateur général, il serait tout à fait approprié d’élargir ce mandat. En plus d’examiner les états financiers et d’en recommander leur approbation au CA, le comité d’audit devrait entre autres, veiller à ce que des mécanismes de contrôle interne soient mis en place et de s’assurer qu’ils soient adéquats et efficaces ainsi que de s’assurer que soit mis en place un processus de gestion des risques.[3] Sachant que les cégeps ne comptent pas de vérificateur interne, il est d’autant plus important de mettre en place un tel comité et de lui confier des fonctions de contrôle financier et de gestion des risques.

Une fois le comité d’audit mis en place, il devrait se pencher prioritairement sur la surveillance du processus de gestion contractuelle. Rappelons que les étapes du processus de gestion contractuelle sont : l’établissement des besoins et l’estimation des coûts, la préparation de l’appel d’offres et la sollicitation des fournisseurs, la sélection du fournisseur et l’attribution du contrat, le suivi du contrat et l’évaluation des biens et des services reçus[4].

À ce sujet, le Vérificateur général, dans son rapport, nous fait part de ses préoccupations. Il a identifié des lacunes dans les modes de sollicitation et constaté des dépassements de coûts et des prolongations dans les délais d’exécution, et ce, sans pénalité. Il précise que « Des activités prévues dans le processus de gestion contractuelle des cégeps audités ne sont pas effectuées de façon rigoureuse. »[5] En jouant son rôle, le comité d’audit du CA pourrait s’assurer que le processus mis en place et le partage des responsabilités retenu sont adéquats et efficaces. Il ne devrait d’ailleurs pas hésiter à faire appel à des ressources externes pour évaluer la performance du Cégep à l’égard de sa gestion contractuelle, le cas échéant.

En terminant, rappelons l’importance de retrouver sur le comité d’audit des administrateurs compétents qui ont une connaissance approfondie de la structure, des politiques, directives et exigences réglementaires. Ils doivent avoir la capacité d’assurer l’efficacité des mécanismes de contrôle interne et de la gestion des risques (un sujet que je développerai dans un article ultérieur).

En présence de telles compétences, il sera plus facile d’assurer la crédibilité du CA et de ses décisions. Il s’agit d’un atout précieux pour toutes institutions collégiales.

_____________________________________

[1] Rapport du Vérificateur général du Québec à l’Assemblée nationale pour l’année 2016-2017, p.35.

[2] Gouvernance des sociétés d’État, bilan et suggestions, IGOPP, p.48.

[3] Loi sur la gouvernance des sociétés d’État, art 24, 3.

[4] Rapport du Vérificateur général du Québec à l’Assemblée nationale pour l’année 2016-2017, annexe 4.

[5] Rapport du Vérificateur général du Québec à l’Assemblée nationale pour l’année 2016-2017, p.9.

_____________________________________

*Danielle Malboeuf est consultante et formatrice en gouvernance ; elle possède une grande expérience dans la gestion des CÉGEPS et dans la gouvernance des institutions d’enseignement collégial et universitaire. Elle est CGA-CPA, MBA, ASC, Gestionnaire et administratrice retraitée du réseau collégial et consultante.

Articles sur la gouvernance des CÉGEPS publiés sur mon blogue par l’auteure :

(1) LE RÔLE DU PRÉSIDENT DU CONSEIL D’ADMINISTRATION (PCA) | LE CAS DES CÉGEPS

(2) Les grands enjeux de la gouvernance des institutions d’enseignement collégial

(3) L’exercice de la démocratie dans la gouvernance des institutions d’enseignement collégial

(4) Caractéristiques des bons administrateurs pour le réseau collégial | Danielle Malboeuf

(5) La gouvernance des CÉGEPS | Une responsabilité partagée

Le rôle du conseil d’administration dans les procédures de conformité


Voici un cas de gouvernance, publié en décembre sur le site de Julie Garland McLellan* qui illustre comment la direction d’une société publique peut se retrouver en situation d’irrégularité malgré une culture du conseil d’administration axée sur la conformité.

L’investigation du vérificateur général (VG) a révélé plusieurs failles dans les procédures internes de la société. De ce fait, Kyle le président du comité d’audit, risque et conformité, est interpellé par le président du conseil afin d’aider la direction à trouver des solutions durables pour remédier à la situation.

Même si Kyle est conscient qu’il ne possède pas l’autorité requise pour régler les problèmes constatés par le VG, il comprend qu’il est impératif que son message passe.

Le cas présente la situation de manière assez succincte, mais explicite ; puis, trois experts en gouvernance se prononcent sur le dilemme qui se présente aux personnes qui vivent des situations similaires.

Bonne lecture ! Vos commentaires sont toujours les bienvenus.

Le rôle du conseil d’administration dans les procédures de conformité

 

Business audit concept . Flat design vector illustration

Kyle is chairman on the Audit, Risk and Compliance committee of a government authority board which is subject to a Public Access to Information Act. The auditor general has just completed an audit of several authorities bound by that Act and Kyle’s authority was found to have several breeches of the Act, in particular;

–  some contracts valued at $150,000 or more were not recorded in the contracts register

–  some contracts were not entered into the register within 45 working days of the contracts becoming effective

–  there were instances where inaccurate information was recorded in the register when compared with the contracts, and

–  additional information required for certain classes of contracts was not disclosed in some registers.

The Board Chairman is rightly concerned that this has happened in what all directors believed to be a well governed authority with a strong culture of compliance. The Board Chairman has asked Kyle to oversee management’s response to the Auditor General and the development of systems to ensure that these breeches do not reoccur. Kyle is mindful that he remains a non-executive and has no authority within the chain of management command. He is keen to help and knows that the CEO is struggling with the complexity of her role and will need assistance with any increase in workload.

How can Kyle help without getting embroiled in management affairs?

Raz’s Answer

The issue I spot here, is one which I’ve encountered myself – as a seasoned professional, you have the internal urge to roll your sleeves and get right into it, and solve the problem. From the details disclosed in this dilemma, there’s evidence that the authority’s internal culture is compliant, therefore it’s hard to believe there’s foul play which caused these discrepancies in the reports. I would have guessed that there are some legacy processes, or even old technology, which needs to be looked at and discover where the gap is.

The CEO is under immense pressure to fix this issue, being exposed to public scrutiny, but with the government’s limited resources at her disposal, the pressure is even higher. Making decisions under such pressure, especially when a board member, the chair of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee is looking over her shoulder, will likely to force her to make mistakes.

Kyle’s dilemma is simple to explain, but more delicate to handle: « How do I fix this, without sticking my nose into the operations? »

As a NED, what Kyle needs to be is a guide to the CEO, providing a calm and supportive environment for the CEO to operate in. Kyle needs to consult with the CEO, and get her on side, to ensure she’ll devote whichever resources she does have, to deal with this issue. This won’t be a Band-Aid solution, but a solution which will require collaboration of several parts of the organisations, orchestrated by the CEO herself.

Raz Chorev is Partner at Orange Sky and Managing Director at CXC Global. He is based in Sydney, Australia.

Julie’s Answer

The Auditor General has asked management to respond and board oversight of management should be done by and through the CEO.

Kyle cannot help without putting his fingers (or intellect) into the organisation. To do that without causing upset he will need to inform the CEO of the Chairman’s request, offer to help and make sure that he reports to her before he reports elsewhere. Handled sensitively the CEO, who appears to be struggling, should welcome any assistance with the task. Handled insensitively this could be a major issue because the statutory definitions of directors’ roles in public sector companies are less fluid than those in the private sector.

Kyle should also take this as a wake-up call – he assumes a culture of compliance and good governance but that is obviously not correct. The audit committee should regularly review the regulatory and legislative compliance framework and verify that all is as it should be; that has clearly not happened and Kyle should work with the company secretary or chief compliance/legal officer to review the entire framework and make sure nothing else is missing from the regular schedule of reviews. The committee must ask for what it needs to oversight effectively not just read what they are given.

The prevailing attitude should be one of thankfulness that the issue has been found and can be corrected. If Kyle detects a cultural rejection of the need to comply and cooperate with the AG in establishing good governance then Kyle must report to the whole board so remedial action can be planned.

Once management have responded to the AG with their proposed actions to remedy the matter. The audit committee should review to check that the actions have been implemented and that they effectively lead to compliance with the requirements. Likely remedies include amending the position descriptions of staff doing tendering or those setting up vendors in the payments system to include entry of details to the register, training in compliance, design of an internal audit system for routine review of registers and comparison to workloads to ensure that nothing has ‘dropped between the cracks’, and regular reporting of register completion and audit to the board audit committee.

Sean’s Answer

The Audit Risk and Compliance Committee (« Committee ») is to assist the Board in fulfilling its corporate governance and oversight responsibilities in relation to the bodies’ financial reporting, internal control structure, risk management systems, compliance and the external audit function.

The external auditors are responsible for auditing the bodies’ financial reports and for reviewing the unaudited interim financial reports. The Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 calls for auditing financial statements and performance reviews by the Auditor General.

As Committee Chairman Kyle must be independent and must have leadership experience and a strong finance, accounting or business background. So too must the CEO and CFO have appropriate and sufficient qualifications, knowledge, competence, experience and integrity and other personal attributes to undertake their roles.

It should be the responsibility of the Committee to maintain free and open communication between the Committee, external auditors and management. The Committee’s function is principally oversight and review.

The appointment and ongoing assessment, mentoring and discipline of the CEO rests with the board but the delegation of this authority in relation to compliance often rests with the Committee and Board Chairs.

Kyle may invite members of management (CFO and maybe the CEO) or others to attend meetings  and the Committee should have  authority, within the scope of its responsibilities, to seek information it requires, and assistance  from any employee or external party. Inviting the CFO and or CEO to the Committee allows visibility and a holistic and independent forum where deficiencies may be isolated and functions (but not responsibility) delegated to others.

There is a disconnect or deficiency in one or more functions; Kyle should ensure that the Committee holistically review its own charter, discuss with management and the external auditors the adequacy and effectiveness of the internal controls and reporting functions (including the Bodies’s policies and procedures to assess, monitor and manage these controls), as well as a review of the internal quality control procedures (because these are also suspected to be deficient).

It will rapidly become apparent to management, the Committee, Kyle, the board and the Chairman where the deficiencies lie or did lie, and how they have been corrected. Underlying behavioural problems and or abilities to function will also become apparent and with these appropriately addressed similar deficiencies in other areas of the body may be contemporaneously corrected and all reported to the Auditor General.

Sean Rothsey is Chairman and Founder of the Merkin Group. He is based in Cooroy, Queensland, Australia.

*Julie Garland McLellan is a practising non-executive director and board consultant based in Sydney, Australia. www.mclellan.com.au/newsletter.html

Une culture empreinte de corruption mène habituellement à de sérieux manquements organisationnels !


Si l’on pouvait identifier les variables qui contribuent à créer une culture d’entreprise corrompue, pourrait-on prévoir les comportements corporatifs fautifs ?

C’est essentiellement la question de recherche à laquelle Xiaoding Liu, professeur de finance à University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business, a tenté de répondre dans un article utilisant une méthodologie originale et une solide analyse.

L’auteur avance qu’une culture d’entreprise souffrant d’un certain degré de corruption, c’est-à-dire ayant une culture interne plus tolérante envers le manque d’éthique, est plus susceptible de mener à des manquements corporatifs significatifs eu égard aux malversations, aux conflits d’intérêts et aux comportements organisationnels  «opportunistes».

In particular, they ask whether a firm’s inherent tendency to behave opportunistically is deeply rooted in its corporate culture, commonly defined as the shared values and beliefs of a firm’s employees.

Cet article montre qu’il y a un lien significatif entre une culture interne basée sur de faibles valeurs éthiques et la probabilité d’inconduite de la direction.

De plus, l’article montre que les comportements des employés basés sur de faibles valeurs éthiques sont transmissibles à d’autres organisations et que ces conclusions s’appliquent tout autant à la direction.

C’est la raison pour laquelle les conseils d’administration doivent se préoccuper de la culture de l’entreprise, s’assurer d’avoir le pouls du climat interne et être vigilants eu égard aux manquements à l’éthique.

Il est également crucial de s’assurer d’avoir une équipe d’auditeurs internes indépendants et bien outillés qui se rapporte au comité d’audit de l’entreprise.

À la suite de ce compte rendu, vous aurez sûrement des questions d’ordre méthodologique. Si vous voulez en savoir davantage sur la démarche de l’auteur, je vous encourage fortement, même si c’est ardu, de lire l’article au complet.

Bonne lecture !

Corruption Culture and Corporate Misconduct

 

A key question in corporate governance is how to control problems arising from conflicts of interest between agents and principals. The existing literature has extensively investigated traditional ways of dealing with agency problems such as hostile takeovers, the board of directors, and institutional investors, and has found mixed evidence regarding their effectiveness. Acknowledging the difficulty in designing effective governance rules to curb corporate scandals and bank failures, regulators and academics have recently turned their attention inward to the firm’s employees. In particular, they ask whether a firm’s inherent tendency to behave opportunistically is deeply rooted in its corporate culture, commonly defined as the shared values and beliefs of a firm’s employees.

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In my article, Corruption Culture and Corporate Misconduct, recently published in the Journal of Financial Economics, I investigate this question by studying the role of corporate culture in influencing corporate misconduct. To do so, I create a measure of corporate corruption culture, which captures a firm’s general attitude toward opportunistic behavior. Specifically, corporate corruption culture is calculated as the average corruption attitudes of insiders (i.e., officers and directors) of a company. To measure corruption attitudes of insiders, I use a recently developed methodology from the economics literature that is generally described as the epidemiological approach (Fernández, 2011). It is based on the key idea that when individuals emigrate from their native country to a new country, their cultural beliefs and values travel with them, but their external environment is left behind. Moreover, these immigrants not only bring their beliefs and values to the new country, they also pass down these beliefs to their descendants. Thus, relevant economic outcomes at the country of ancestry are used as proxies of culture for immigrants and their descendants. Applying this approach, I use corruption in the insiders’ country of ancestry to capture corruption attitudes for insiders in the U.S., where the country of ancestry is identified based on surnames using U.S. Census data.

Using a sample of over 8,000 U.S. companies, I test the main prediction that firms with high corruption culture, which tend to be more tolerant toward corrupt behavior, are more likely to engage in corporate misconduct. Consistent with this prediction, I find that corporate corruption culture has a significant positive effect on various types of corporate misconduct such as earnings management, accounting fraud, option backdating, and opportunistic insider trading. The effects are also economically significant: a one standard deviation increase in a firm’s corruption culture is associated with an increase in the likelihood of corporate misconduct by about 2% to 7%, which are comparable to the effects of other governance measures such as board independence.

I further show that my findings are robust to controlling for time-varying local and industry factors, and traditional measures of corporate governance including the board size, the percentage of insider directors, the presence of institutional investors, and the threat of hostile takeovers. Van den Steen (2010) proposes a model of corporate culture and predicts that the appointment of a new CEO will lead to turnover through both selection and self-sorting. Thus, although corporate culture tends to be persistent over time, it is likely to change in a significant way around new CEO appointments. Motivated by this prediction, I examine corporate misconduct 5 years before and after the appointment of a new CEO while controlling for firm fixed effects. I continue to find a significant positive relation between corruption culture and corporate misconduct, which further alleviates endogeneity concerns.

The theoretical literature has predictions regarding the mechanisms through which corporate culture would affect opportunistic behavior. The first channel predicts that corruption culture acts as a selection mechanism by attracting or selecting individuals with similar corruption attitudes to the firm, where these individuals act according to their internal norms that are then reflected in corporate outcomes (Schneider, 1987). Consistent with this channel, I find that individuals with high corruption attitudes are more likely to join firms with high corruption culture and an insider is more likely to leave the firm if his corruption attitudes are more distant from the corruption attitudes of the other insiders in the firm. The second channel predicts that corruption culture can operate beyond internal norms and have a direct effect on individual behavior through group norms (Hackman, 1992). To test this channel, I examine misconduct at the insider level and focus on the sample of insiders that have moved across firms. Holding the individual constant, results show that when the same individual joins a firm with high corruption culture, his likelihood of engaging in personal misconduct increases compared to when he was at a firm with low corruption culture, consistent with corruption culture working through group norms.

In summary, I show that a firm’s corruption culture is an important determinant of the firm’s likelihood of engaging in corporate misconduct. This finding echoes the growing focus on corporate culture by regulators in an effort to curb corporate wrongdoing. Moreover, I provide evidence on the inner workings of corruption culture, showing that it influences corporate misconduct by both acting as a selection mechanism and having a direct influence on individual behavior. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first paper to construct a novel measure of corporate culture based on the ancestry origins of company insiders. By doing so, I contribute to a growing finance literature examining the influence of corporate culture on corporate behavior, where the main challenge is measurement.

The full article is available for download here.

Le point sur la gouvernance au Canada en 2016 | Rapport de Davies Ward Phillips Vineberg


Le rapport annuel de Davies est toujours très attendu car il brosse un tableau très complet de l’évolution de la gouvernance au Canada durant la dernière année.

Le document qui vient de sortir est en anglais mais la version française devrait suivre dans peu de temps.

Je vous invite donc à en prendre connaissance en lisant le court résumé ci-dessous et, si vous voulez en savoir plus sur les thèmes abordés, vous pouvez télécharger le document de 100 pages sur le site de l’entreprise.

Cliquez sur le lien ci-dessous. Bonne lecture !

Rapport de Davies sur la gouvernance 2016

 

Davies Governance Insights 2016, provides analysis of the top governance trends and issues important to Canadian boards, senior management and governance observers.

insights_governance_2016_fr_thumbnail

The 2016 edition provides readers with our take on important topics ranging from shareholder engagement and activism to leadership diversity and the rise in issues facing boards and general counsel. We also provide practical guidance for boards and senior management of public companies and their investors on these and many other corporate governance topics that we expect will remain under focus in the 2017 proxy season.

 

Deux livres phares sur la gouvernance d’entreprise


On me demande souvent de proposer un livre qui fait le tour de la question eu égard à ce qui est connu comme statistiquement valide sur les relations entre la gouvernance et le succès des organisations (i.e. la performance financière !)

Le volume publié par David F. Larcker et Brian Tayan, professeurs au Graduate School de l’Université Stanford, en est à sa deuxième édition et il donne l’heure juste sur l’efficacité des principes de gouvernance.

Je vous recommande donc vivement ce volume.

Également, je profite de l’occasion pour vous indiquer que je viens de recevoir la dernière version  des Principes de gouvernance d’entreprise du G20 et de l’OCDE en français et j’ai suggéré au Collège des administrateurs de sociétés (CAS) d’inclure cette publication dans la section Nouveauté du site du CAS.

Il s’agit d’une publication très attendue dans le monde de la gouvernance. La documentation des organismes internationaux est toujours d’abord publiée en anglais. Ce document en français de l’OCDE sur les principes de gouvernance est la bienvenue !

Voici une brève présentation du volume de Larcker. Bonne lecture !

Corporate Governance Matters: A Closer Look at Organizational Choices and Their Consequences (2nd edition)

This is the most comprehensive and up-to-date reference for implementing and sustaining superior corporate governance. Stanford corporate governance experts David Larcker and Bryan Tayan carefully synthesize current academic and professional research, summarizing what is known and unknown, and where the evidence remains inconclusive.

Corporate Governance Matters, Second Edition reviews the field’s newest research on issues including compensation, CEO labor markets, board structure, succession, risk, international governance, reporting, audit, institutional and activist investors, governance ratings, and much more. Larcker and Tayan offer models and frameworks demonstrating how the components of governance fit together, with updated examples and scenarios illustrating key points. Throughout, their balanced approach is focused strictly on two goals: to “get the story straight,” and to provide useful tools for making better, more informed decisions.

Book cover: Corporate Governance Matters, 2nd edition

This edition presents new or expanded coverage of key issues ranging from risk management and shareholder activism to alternative corporate governance structures. It also adds new examples, scenarios, and classroom elements, making this text even more useful in academic settings. For all directors, business leaders, public policymakers, investors, stakeholders, and MBA faculty and students concerned with effective corporate governance.

Selected Editorial Reviews

An outstanding work of unique breadth and depth providing practical advice supported by detailed research.
Alan Crain, Jr., Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Baker Hughes
Extensively researched, with highly relevant insights, this book serves as an ideal and practical reference for corporate executives and students of business administration.
Narayana N.R. Murthy, Infosys Technologies
Corporate Governance Matters is a comprehensive, objective, and insightful analysis of academic and professional research on corporate governance.
Professor Katherine Schipper, Duke University, and former member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board

Le point sur la gouvernance au Canada en 2016 | Rapport de Davies Ward Phillips Vineberg


Le rapport annuel de Davies est toujours très attendu car il brosse un tableau très complet de l’évolution de la gouvernance au Canada durant la dernière année.

Le document qui vient de sortir est en anglais mais la version française devrait suivre dans peu de temps.

Je vous invite donc à en prendre connaissance en lisant le court résumé ci-dessous et, si vous voulez en savoir plus sur les thèmes abordés, vous pouvez télécharger le document de 100 pages sur le site de l’entreprise.

Cliquez sur le lien ci-dessous. Bonne lecture !

Rapport de Davies sur la gouvernance 2016

 

Davies Governance Insights 2016, provides analysis of the top governance trends and issues important to Canadian boards, senior management and governance observers.

insights_governance_2016_fr_thumbnail

The 2016 edition provides readers with our take on important topics ranging from shareholder engagement and activism to leadership diversity and the rise in issues facing boards and general counsel. We also provide practical guidance for boards and senior management of public companies and their investors on these and many other corporate governance topics that we expect will remain under focus in the 2017 proxy season.

 

Livres phares sur la gouvernance d’entreprise


On me demande souvent de proposer un livre qui fait le tour de la question eu égard à ce qui est connu comme statistiquement valide sur les relations entre la gouvernance et le succès des organisations (i.e. la performance financière !)

Voici un article de James McRitchie, publié dans Corporate governance, qui commente succinctement le dernier volume de Richard Leblanc.

Comme je l’ai déjà mentionné dans un autre billet, le livre de Richard Leblanc est certainement l’un des plus importants ouvrages (sinon le plus important) portant sur la gouvernance du conseil d’administration.

Une révision du volume de Richard Leblanc | Handbook of Board Governance

The Handbook of Board Governance

 

Mentionnons également que le volume publié par David F. Larcker et Brian Tayan, professeurs au Graduate School de l’Université Stanford, en est à sa deuxième édition et il donne l’heure juste sur l’efficacité des principes de gouvernance. Voici une brève présentation du volume de Larcker.

Corporate Governance Matters: A Closer Look at Organizational Choices and Their Consequences (2nd edition)

Je vous recommande donc vivement de vous procurer ces volumes.

Enfin, je profite de l’occasion pour vous indiquer que je viens de recevoir la dernière version  des Principes de gouvernance d’entreprise du G20 et de l’OCDE en français et j’ai suggéré au Collège des administrateurs de sociétés (CAS) d’inclure cette publication dans la section Nouveauté du site du CAS.

Il s’agit d’une publication très attendue dans le monde de la gouvernance. La documentation des organismes internationaux est toujours d’abord publiée en anglais. Ce document en français de l’OCDE sur les principes de gouvernance est la bienvenue !

Bonne lecture !

Un guide utile pour bien évaluer les risques organisationnels | En reprise


Voici un article très intéressant sur l’évaluation des risques publié par H. Glen Jenkins* et paru dans Inside Counsel (IC) Magazine.

Il s’agit d’un bref exposé sur la notion de risques organisationnels et sur les principaux éléments qu’il faut considérer afin d’en faire une gestion efficace.

Je vous invite à prendre connaissance des autres publications sur le site de IC, notamment Evaluating and managing litigation risk.

Bonne lecture !

Risk assessment: A primer for corporate counsel

 

The scope of legal responsibilities for in-house counsel varies depending on the size and complexity of the company. For instance, an attorney located at corporate headquarters could be chiefly responsible for issues affecting the shared services that are available and used by corporate headquarters, as well as every business unit and division. And yet at other times, in-house counsel’s concerns may be restricted to matters affecting only the parent company or a specific liability issue faced by only one business unit.

 

risk management flow chart concept handwritten by businessman

In each instance, however, in-house counsel are generally concerned with specific legal tasks and proactive risk management.

What exactly does risk management mean, and what does it encompass? Furthermore, once the definition of risk management has been established and accepted by the company’s management team, how can in-house counsel efficiently and comprehensively assess all possible risks?

Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines risk as “the possibility that something bad or unpleasant will happen.” Whenever many of us in the accounting and legal profession hear the word “risk,” we inherently may succumb to the aforementioned particular negative connotation of risk. How many times have we heard the phrase, “Risk is a part of life,’ and how often have we associated those five words with an undesirable implication?”

 

Alternatively, A Positive View of Risk

Taking risks does not always have to be painstakingly negative. It is unlikely that many will disagree with the Institute of Risk Management’s (IRM) assertion that “avoiding all risk would result in no achievement, no progress and no reward.” This statement undoubtedly portrays a different perspective of risk, indicating the potential of a positive outcome.

IRM goes on to define risk as “the combination of the probability of an event and its consequence. Consequences can range from positive and negative.”

Therein lies the basic premise of risk management. If the consequences of risk can be both positive and negative, it would seem only prudent to try and effectively manage risk to have the highest probability of a positive outcome.

Applying IRM’s definition of risk, together with the premise that avoiding all risk would result in no achievement, no progress and no reward, we intrinsically recognize that not all risks are bad and not all risks are to be avoided.

Over the course of three successive articles on risk, we will take a closer look at how in-house counsel works with internal and external resources to help identify, evaluate and categorize risk.

 Risk Assessment: The Starting Point for Successful Risk Management

Risk assessment is the identification, analysis and evaluation of risks involved in a given situation. Risk assessment also implies a comparison against benchmarks or standards, and the determination of an acceptable level of risk. The evaluation of risks should also provide management with a remediation or control for the identified hazard.

The word “risk” alone without any context is a vague and ill-defined term. There is safety risk, country risk, political risk, health risk and the ongoing list is virtually boundless and it is next to impossible to comprehensively assess all possible risks.

According to Tori Silas, privacy officer and senior counsel with Cox Enterprises, Inc., Cox uses the external resources of multinational accounting and advisory companies to assist with its risk assessments. Using best practices they have developed by analyzing business processes and assessing risk for companies on a global level, these organizations assist in the identification of risks in particular areas of the business, and provide a framework within which to rate risks and prioritize remediation efforts associated with those risks.

Assessment Begins with Knowing Who Decides Acceptable Levels of Risk

As an example of financial risk, according to a Tulane University study, the chances of getting hit by an asteroid or comet are 1,000 times greater than winning a jackpot mega millions lottery. Yet, some have accepted that level of risk and will habitually trade their money to play the lottery rather than investing their money or capital in an endeavor that has a much higher probability of building wealth. Whether right or wrong, a good or bad decision, those who make the choice of playing the lottery have intrinsically accepted the financial risk of losing their money in lieu of the near impossible odds to reap a grand reward.

No matter our opinion of playing the lottery, I think we would all agree that it would be highly unlikely to find a pragmatic business executive allotting some portion the company’s wealth and assets to invest in lottery tickets. But why not? Who decides the parameters of acceptable levels of risk for a business and against what benchmarks are those decisions made?

The business owners, board of directors and executive management define the business objectives, and establish the risk appetite and risk tolerances that are to be contemplated on an overall basis by management when making decisions and evaluating options and alternatives. Together they establish a system of rules, practices and processes by which their company is directed and controlled. This concept is often referred to as corporate governance. Businesses of all sizes embrace this concept, but small businesses may cloak this concept within the singular frame of mind of its ownership’s values, ideologies, philosophies, beliefs and individual business principles.

As the privacy officer for Cox Enterprises, Silas strives to make certain the employees of their consumer facing companies are aware of Cox’s obligations regarding data privacy and that they are appropriately trained to identify and mitigate risk related to and to protect any private consumer data they may have collected.

Corporate Governance

Since the purpose of a risk assessment is the identification, analysis, and evaluation of risks that could adversely impact the business meeting its objectives, the process of conducting a risk assessment should be integrated into existing management processes. According to Silas, Cox Enterprises also utilizes its own internal audit services department to examine functional processes and identify opportunities to strengthen controls and mitigate risks. It is recommended that risk assessments should be conducted using a top-down approach beginning with the top level of the company and filtering its way down through each division and business unit.

For example, a company may have three divisions: manufacturing, marketing and finance. Each of those divisions may operate in four global sectors. Using a top-down approach the three top divisions would conduct a risk assessment and each subdivision that is located in each global sector would conduct their own risk assessment. The top-down approach would then be complimented by bottom-up process where the risk assessments are sent up the business chain, gathered and compiled into an integrated risk assessment matrix.

Ten Tips for Conducting an Effective Risk Assessment

In quick summary, here are ten additional tips for conducting an effective risk assessment:

  1. Create, plan and conduct a formal risk assessment;
  2. Define the context and objectives of the risk assessment;
  3. Define and understand the organizations acceptable risk tolerance;
  4. Bring together the best team to conduct the risk assessment;
  5. Employ the best risk assessment techniques for the situation;
  6. Understand control measures to mitigate risk;
  7. Be objective and impartial conducting the risk assessment;
  8. Identify the environment that is conducive to risks;
  9. Identify who could be harmed; and
  10. Review, revisit and re-perform the risk assessment.