Reputation Risk Must Be Actively Managed

As the survivors begin to emerge from the carnage of the financial crisis of 2008, corporate reputations are once again viewed as a highly valued asset.  The primary challenge for these surviving companies is to rebuild trust while managing their reputations in a way that aligns with their corporate strategy.  Once they become misaligned, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to bring them back in sync.   Here is what Anthony Johndrow had to say in a recent article from Forbes magazine.

Today it’s about balancing the seven dimensions that make up corporate reputation (product/service, innovation, governance, workplace, citizenship, performance and leadership), namely going beyond product and service promises that are still rooted in 20th-century brand-building assumptions. The evolution of the role of chief reputation officer is still in its infancy, but one thing is clear: It’s not about just getting involved in social media, it’s about giving the company a voice in the formation of its reputation.

Every company has a reputation, regardless of whether or not it has a strategy behind it. Thus, today’s reputation stewards must give voice to their companies. If they do not, their reputations will be driven only by accident (as a result of company actions that don't benefit from expert CRO guidance--see recent financial crisis for numerous examples) and by conversations among people who might not be their best friends. That is a recipe for disaster, no matter who is keeping score.

Many companies may not go as far as creating a full-time chief reputation officer position.  However, it is critical that someone is on point for managing a firm's reputation and that it is actively monitored.  In the highly connected and media driven society that we now live, a company's reputation and brand value can be destroyed in an instant.

Many Companies Still Not Ready For SOX Audits

In last week's issue of Compliance Week magazine, a startling survey result was disclosed.  It seems that almost two-thirds of the smaller public companies that will be facing an audit of their internal control over financial reporting this year are not fully prepared (see chart below).  While some may be looking for the U.S. Congress to exempt them from compliance (a measure that is currently being discussed on Capitol Hill), others may simply be ill-equipped or misdirected.  Here is what was reported in the Compliance Week article.

Of the 210 accountants participating in the recent poll, one-third said their company is less than 25 percent complete in implementing Section 404. Inefficiencies were attributed to problems such as poor training and education in the area of processes and controls, lack of focus on project management and utilizing resources, and a “compliance at all cost” mentality that is focused on effectiveness but not efficiency.

At a recent conference of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Elisse Walter, a commissioner for the Securities and Exchange Commission, said the SEC does not support an exemption for smaller companies. “The SEC supports applying 404(b) to smaller companies, particularly as it applies to the financial crisis we’ve seen,” she said. “But now it’s in the hands of Congress.”

Time will tell the outcome of the congressional debate.  However, the companies that are behind schedule should not necessarily hope for a last-minute reprieve.  The best approach is to address the compliance requirements in a business-focused, practical manner that is effective, efficient and ultimately beneficial to the company's long-term well-being.  If your company is looking for cost-effective solutions, visit www.WheelhouseAdvisors.com to learn how we can help.

Federal Reserve Chairman Kicks Off Year of Change

Kicking off the new year here in Atlanta yesterday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered a speech to the American Economic Association on lessons learned from the financial crisis of 2008.  The focal point of the speech was the role that both monetary and regulatory policy played in the creation of the housing bubble that led to the meltdown.  He admitted that regulatory supervision should serve as the first line of defense in preventing asset bubbles with monetary policy serving as an emergency brake.  Here is his view on the performance of regulatory supervision leading up to the financial crisis.

Even as we continue working to stabilize our financial system and reinvigorate our economy, it is essential that we learn the lessons of the crisis so that we can prevent it from happening again. Because the crisis was so complex, its lessons are many, and they are not always straightforward. Surely, both the private sector and financial regulators must improve their ability to monitor and control risk-taking. The crisis revealed not only weaknesses in regulators' oversight of financial institutions, but also, more fundamentally, important gaps in the architecture of financial regulation around the world. For our part, the Federal Reserve has been working hard to identify problems and to improve and strengthen our supervisory policies and practices, and we have advocated substantial legislative and regulatory reforms to address problems exposed by the crisis.

Based on the view of Chairman Bernanke and many others throughout the world, 2010 will certainly be a year of change as it relates to regulations and risks.  Is your company prepared to address these changes proactively with minimal disruption to business as usual?  Or, will your company be forced to react and change on the fly?  If you are not certain of the answers to these questions, Wheelhouse Advisors can help.  Visit www.WheelhouseAdvisors.com to learn more.

New SEC Rules Require Enhanced Risk Management Disclosure

This week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") issued new disclosure rules that will have a significant impact on corporate governance and risk management practices at all U.S. public companies.  The rules become effective February 28, 2010 and require enhanced public disclosure of the following:

• The relationship of a company's compensation policies and practices to risk management.


• The background and qualifications of directors and nominees.


• Legal actions involving a company's executive officers, directors and nominees.


• The consideration of diversity in the process by which candidates for director are considered for nomination.


• Board leadership structure and the board's role in risk oversight.


• Stock and option awards to company executives and directors.


• Potential conflicts of interests of compensation consultants.

For some companies, these new rules will have minimal impact based on their enhanced risk management practices.  However, for others, it may mean a great deal of work must be completed in the next several months.  If your company needs assistance implementing cost-effective, practical risk management solutions, email us at NavigateSuccessfully@WheelhouseAdvisors.com or visit www.WheelhouseAdvisors.com to learn more.

Maximize Your GRC Technology Investment

As we move into a new year, more companies are looking to integrate their risk management initiatives to simplify and streamline how they address risk and compliance activities.  In a recent article by Forrester Research, analyst Chris McClean discusses how Governance, Risk and Compliance ("GRC") software solutions can help companies in their pursuit of integration.  Here are the three primary benefits that companies have realized from their investment in technology.

1. Greater process efficiency -- Compliance requirements continue to swell, and the risk landscape is getting more complex. Above all else, customers cited process automation as the core value of their GRC platform implementations. Workflow management capabilities help keep everyone on task, and centralized content management and reporting reduce the need to jump back and forth between different systems. In addition, ongoing improvements in automated controls and control-testing functionality generate even greater efficiency gains. The manager of corporate compliance for a large pharmaceutical company told Forrester: "Managing all GRC initiatives in one platform saves time, resources and money. The ability to build a solid foundation for our compliance program in a relatively short time frame allows us to focus on the acute compliance issues facing our industry."

2. Convergence of GRC efforts -- As well as increasing efficiency, converging the various efforts relevant to governance, risk and compliance fosters cooperation between business functions and improves overall GRC insight. Comparing exposure across different categories of risk or using risk assessments to generate audit scopes are just two examples of GRC convergence benefits. An operational risk management director for a large financial services company said that one of the biggest benefits of implementing a GRC platform was the ability to "integrate the risk disciplines, including internal audit, ORM [operational risk management], SOX and compliance."

3. Consistency of processes and methodologies -- Getting different functions to work with each other is one thing, but getting them to use the same processes and methodologies is much harder. GRC platforms allow organizations to create standard templates for documenting and assessing risks, controls, incidents and other elements of GRC. Consistency also leads to convergence and efficiency and is often an initial driver for the development of a GRC program. The director of risk and compliance for a top high-tech company succinctly explained to Forrester that one of the most important values of GRC technology was the creation of a "consistent way to manage compliance, operational and ERM [enterprise risk management] projects." Pay close attention to this aspect of GRC value. As risk and compliance become more complex, consistency will quickly become a necessity.

Wheelhouse Advisors can help your company identify the right technology solution and implement a program that will maximize the benefit of your technology investment.  Visit www.WheelhouseAdvisors.com to learn more.

The Role of IT and Risk Management in the Financial Crisis

Information Technology (IT) continues to play an ever larger role in the overall risk profile for major corporations across the globe.  A recent article in The Economist discusses the role IT played in the recent financial crisis.  While the financial services industry invests massive amounts in IT, the industry still does not invest enough in risk management tools that will help avert future crises.  Here is what the article noted.

No industry spends more on information technology than financial services: about $500 billion globally, more than a fifth of the total (see chart below). Many of the world’s computers, networking and storage systems live in the huge data centres run by banks. “Banks are essentially technology firms,” says Hugo Banziger, chief risk officer at Deutsche Bank. Yet most in the industry agree that its woeful IT systems have, in Mr Banziger’s words, “exacerbated the crisis”. The industry spent billions on being able to trade faster and make more money, but not nearly enough on creating the necessary transparency. “Banks had lots of tools to create leverage, but not many to manage risk,” says Roger Portnoy of Daylight Venture Partners, a venture-capital firm that invests in risk-management start-ups.

Wheelhouse Advisors provides solutions to financial services companies looking to strengthen their risk management practices with better information technology tools.  Together with our strategic partners, Wheelhouse Advisors can deliver cost-effective solutions that can be easily implemented within a complex environment.  Visit www.WheelhouseAdvisors.com, to learn more about our services and our strategic partners.

Just Keep Swimming

Children and parents familiar with the movie "Finding Nemo" may remember the lovable character Dory who possessed an enduring level of optimism, but a bad case of short-term memory loss.  As we continue to emerge from the financial crisis, many people are developing this "Dory Syndrome" in anticipation of good economic times ahead. However, the risks that we faced last year have not yet been fully resolved.  Here is what was reported in today's Wall Street Journal.

While policy makers breathe a collective sigh of relief, they're making little progress in addressing deeper flaws that the crisis laid bare: an unwieldy banking system, unreliable financial plumbing and a global economy that encourages and depends on heavy borrowing by the U.S.

Bankers and regulators say that fixes require careful consideration. But as the darkest days of the crisis fade from memory and the world's biggest banks get back on their feet, political impetus for reform may be waning. "We're wasting the crisis," said economist Richard Portes of the London Business School.

Our collective short-term memory seems to be failing us as we heed Dory's advice from the movie - "Just keep swimming!"  While certainly good advice to those looking to simply survive a crisis, we cannot deny the looming risks that remain ever-present.