ZCCI In The Media
ZCCI Director Don Schepers on NBCNY
Chris Glorioso of NBCNY investigation into personal investment of Congress featuring Robert Zicklin Center for Corporate Integrity Director Professor Donald Schepers
Behind the U.N. Oil-for-Food Scandal
In an effort to address the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people while maintaining sanctions against the regime, the United Nations established the Oil-for-Food Programme. Although initially viewed as temporary, the Programme lasted for seven years and comprised more than $100 billion in oil and humanitarian goods transactions. As now well chronicled, the Programme became riddled with fraud. Saddam Hussein ultimately turned the Programme to his own advantage, extracting surcharges and kickbacks from companies doing business under the Programme.
Transparency Value: Using XBRL for Financial Analysis
XBRL promises to be a once in a career leap forward in financial reporting that will enable much more timely, efficient, accurate, less costly and comprehensive financial analysis than ever before available. XBRL, or eXtensible Business Reporting Language, is an XML-based format for the electronic communication of business information that individually "tags" the content of reports to allow for hyper-detailed automated analysis and comparison of financial reports without the need for re-keying of information. It has been adopted by the FDIC and by the SEC in a voluntary trial program for filings to the EDGAR system.
Cleaning Up Wall Street
Former top-rated telecom analyst Dan Reingold presented a candid look at the major ethical issues facing today's financial markets. Specifically, he addressed the role of insider trading and corporate fraud on Wall Street and examined how these forces can distort markets and cheat the majority of investors. Mr. Reingold also discussed policy recommendations aimed at raising the level of integrity in financial markets.
Does Wall Street Value Corporate Governance?
Sarbanes-Oxley 2002 (SOX), coupled with changes in NYSE registration requirements, have imposed stricter requirements for more independent governance on publicly traded American companies. Hedge Funds trade on improvements in corporate governance. Yet academics and journalists debate the economic impact of governance. Some of the questions this panel addressed follow: What is "good governance"? What are the two or three indicators of good or bad governance? Are there “red flags” for poor governance? Do companies that have independent governance structures have higher stock prices or lower cost of debt? Do portfolio managers prefer companies with more independent governance structures? Is there a lower "headline risk" for better-governed firms? Can badly governed firms do well in the short run? Long run? What are the benefits and costs of separating management from governance? Are boards still too dependent on management? Do investors expect too much from boards? Can there be too much governance? Does "good governance" vary in different parts of the world? Is it valued differently in other parts of the world?
Academe Meets Practice
Morning Program - The Accounting Review Article of the Year 2004 Baruch Lev of New York University and Doron Nissim of Columbia University will present the results of their paper, "Taxable Income, Future Earnings, and Equity Values." The co-authors will be presented with The Stan Ross Department of Accountancy Prize for Outstanding Academic Contribution to Practice. The co-authors will be joined by a panel of financial executives and regulators to discuss its findings and implications to practice. Afternoon Program - Sarbanes-Oxley Act Compliance: Costs and Benefits Financial executives, academics and regulators will discuss the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley. Findings from FERF’s report titled Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 Implementation: Practices of Leading Companies will also be featured
Corporate Misconduct: Who Should Pay?
A group of prominent attorneys came together to face hard-hitting questions posed by panel moderator Gregory P. Joseph. The panel addressed the following topics: How much deterrence is too much? Is the government overreaching? The liability of Gatekeepers (accountants, lawyers and bankers). Can accounting firms be held liable without threatening their existence? The liability of directors and corporations. Criminal penalties. Where should the money go?
The Future of Corporate Reporting
New regulatory initiatives place a high priority on the importance of accurate and transparent corporate reporting. Will accurate, transparent business reporting restore investor confidence and provide the information required to make informed decisions? How will non-financial value drivers effect the future of corporate reporting? Will eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) allow investors and analysts to compare corporate SEC filings across industry groups?
Herz Makes Another Push for IFRS in N.Y.
The New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants Trusted Professional covers Baruch College's 9th Annual Financial Reporting Conference on April 29, 2010.
ZCCI and Baruch College to be featured in PBS Business Ethics Program
Catch ZCCI and Baruch College on WLIW21 on Thursday July 7th at 7:00 p.m. and Thursday July 14th at 5:00 a.m. or on Channel 13 Saturday July 16th at 1:00 p.m. and Sunday July 17th at 11:30 p.m.
Online Calculator for SEC Filings: A Killer App for CFOs?
CFO.com covers Robert Zicklin Center's XBRL and Financial Analysis Technology Conference.
Green Gamification Takes Root in the Big Apple
GreenBiz.com covers RZCCI's program Green Gamification: Combining Social Media & Game Mechanics to Promote Sustainability.
