Former global CEO of Deloitte speaks on the developments in corporate governance in the United States

22 Mar 2006    Category: Media Releases

22 March 2006 

The Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting Centre (CGFRC) and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (ICPAS) are pleased to present a forum on “Auditors and Audit Committees – Partners in Corporate Governance”, supported by the CEO Forum and the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID), on Wednesday, 22 March 2006 at the Sheraton Towers Singapore. 

The guest speaker is Mr James E Copeland, Jr, the former Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte & Touche, USA and its global parent, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.   He currently serves as Senior Fellow for Corporate Governance with the US Chamber of Commerce, as Global Scholar at Georgia State University’s Robinson School of Business, and as a member of the Boards of Directors for Coca-Cola Enterprises, ConocoPhillips and Equifax, Inc.  He is also the Chairman of the Audit Committee at Equifax, and the Chairman of the Compensation Committee at Coca-Cola Enterprises. 

In his presentation, Mr Copeland deliberates on the following topics: 

§         The nature of the new relationship in the US among the auditors, audit committees and management in a post Sarbanes-Oxley world, from the perspective of an auditor and audit committee member

§         The emerging concept of enterprise risk management and his suggestion on the process for enterprise risk management if he was the Chairman and CEO of a company

§         The nature, root causes and direct cost of fraud and some useful fraud prevention and detection recommendations for audit committees 

Mr Copeland talks about the “expectation gap” problem – how the market is no longer expecting assurance from an audit, but insurance.   In his opinion, the audit committee has some level of responsibility for the prevention, detection and investigation of fraud.  He suggests that the bulk of the efforts should be devoted to prevention, because even if a fraud is detected promptly and properly investigated, the damage is done, money has been lost and lawsuits are filed. 

The forum ends with a panel discussion chaired by Associate Professor Mak Yuen Teen (Co-Director, CGFRC, NUS Business School) with Mr James E Copeland, Jr; Dr Ernest Kan Yaw Kiong (Vice President, ICPAS); Mr Steven Lim Kok Hoong (Member, A*Star Audit Committee and Chairman, Audit Committees of several public-listed companies); and Mr Soh Gim Teik (CFO, Sincere Watch Ltd).

-Ends- 

About CGFRC (NUS Business School)

The Corporate Governance & Financial Reporting Centre is a unit of NUS Business School.  The centre’s mission is to research, disseminate and promote best practices in corporate governance and financial reporting.  It is one of the few centres in the world for the promotion and development of good corporate governance and better financial reporting.

About ICPAS

The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (ICPAS) is the national organisation for the accountancy profession in Singapore.  With a membership of more than 17,000 members, ICPAS’ mission is to develop, support and enhance the integrity, status and interests of the accountancy profession in Singapore. 

For further information, please call: 

Ms Rosalind Wong                                                   Ms Lalanika Vasanthi

Communications Manager                                        Administrative Officer           

ICPAS                                                                    CGFRC, NUS Business School        

T: 6749 8060 ext. 813                                               T: 6516 7609          

HP: 9758 9175                                                         F: 6778 4275

F: 6749 8061                                                           E: cgfrc@nus.edu.sg           

E: rosalind.wong@icpas.org.sg