KPMG's Audit Committee Institute

Analysis from Audit Committee Insights July 2008 Better Risk Intelligence Front and Center for Audit Committees John Farrell, KPMG’s national ERM partner, says ERM oversight responsibility is with the full board, but the conversation often starts with the audit committee.

Click to take ACI's QUICK POLL on Risk Managment and see the results! VIEW RESULTS FROM PREVIOUS SURVEYS!

Survey Finds Risk Oversight is Top Audit Committee Priority

Oversight of risk management has moved into the top spot on audit committee agendas for 2008, according to new survey findings from KPMG's Audit Committee Institute (ACI) and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).

Read more about current audit committee priorities, key challenges, and emerging practices in ACI’s new survey publication: The Audit Committee Journey: Charting Gains, Gaps, and Oversight Priorities.

Roundtable Report: Current Business Environment Puts Risk Management, Oversight to the Test

If oversight of risk management wasn't at the top of the audit committee’s agenda before the "perfect storm" hit—subprime crisis, credit crunch, and market volatility—it probably is now. This Roundtable Report recaps ACI’s Spring 2008 Audit Committee Roundtable Series, where audit committee members, directors, and senior executives in 30 cities around the country discussed oversight challenges posed by the current business environment.

   SEC Advisory Committee Issues Final Recommendations August Issue No. 8-27

This edition of KPMG’s Defining Issues describes the recommendations in the final report of the SEC’s Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting. Its major recommendations to reduce accounting complexity include reducing industry-specific accounting guidance, applying a “judicious approach” to new requirements to apply fair-value measurements, and reducing exceptions, “bright lines,” and accounting alternatives.

Ten To-Do's for Audit Committees in 2008

ACI offers 10 suggestions for audit committees as they carry out their 2008 agendas, including being a catalyst for improving risk management and oversight, taking a hard look at the audit committee's performance, and closely monitoring management's disclosure committee.