PRESENTATIONS
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| Background of Board of Directors Issues |
Interview with David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States
Accountability breakdowns at Enron, WorldCom, HealthSouth, Adelphia, and Xerox, just to name a few, ranged from complex transactions involving numerous parties to failure to follow basic accounting principles. Most, if not all, of these cases involved extreme greed by corporate management and inadequate oversight or appropriate corporate governance by the board of directors. While Congress and various regulatory agencies have taken actions to address the problems, management and the board of directors must set the appropriate tone at the top to achieve effective reform and excellence in corporate governance. This presentation, in an exclusive interview with the Comptroller General of the United States, explores the background of issues facing boards of directors of public companies today, as well as the primary roles and responsibilities of the board, and recommendations for appropriate board composition.
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| Overview of Board of Director Issues |
Interview with J. Michael Cook, retired Chairman and CEO, Deloitte & Touche LLP
This presentation, in an interview format, provides an overview of issues facing corporate boards of directors today. The presentation examines the expectations of boards of directors of public companies today and how a board normally fulfills its oversight responsibilities; changes in the way boards operate since Sarbanes-Oxley and what is behind some of those changes; and challenges of the difficulty in recruiting new board members and retaining existing members.
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| Fiduciary Responsibilities to Stakeholders |
Interview with David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States
The continuing saga of corporate failures and accountability breakdowns in the private sector can often be linked to the failures of boards of directors to fulfill their primary responsibilities over time. This presentation, in an exclusive interview with the Comptroller General of the United States, scrutinizes the reasons for those failures and examines how boards can be made more accountable for their decisions. The discussion also factors in the important role that pro-active non-government regulation (FASB, PCAOB, stock exchanges) should play in effective corporate governance.
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| Independence Issues |
Interview with David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States
Most public companies are required to have a board that is comprised of a majority of independent directors, but in reality, that often does not appear to be the case. Executives from different companies frequently sit on the boards of each other’s companies, as well as their own, thereby compromising the roles and responsibilities of a truly independent board. This presentation, in an exclusive interview with the Comptroller General of the United States, explores critical aspects of board independence and the important roles of outside advisors in the process.
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| Management Oversight by Board of Directors |
Interview with Glenn M. Renwick, President and CEO, Progressive Insurance
This interview-style presentation provides the perspective of the CEO of a Fortune 500 company in connection with management oversight responsibilities of a corporate board of directors. We explore the type and scope of oversight that management expects from the board of directors; board responsibility for performance appraisals of the CEO, as well as other executives, and the effectiveness of the evaluation process; the board’s role in planning and recruiting the successor for the CEO; and issues to consider in the separation of the roles of CEO and chairman of the board.
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