LFCE Sarbanes-Oxley Seminar: "How to Deliver What the Street Wants"
Richard L. Keyser (left) fields a question during the seminar's panel discussion. Other panelists include Daniel C. McFall, Marian Powers,
and Brian Svenkeson.
In mid-January, Lake Forest Corporate Education celebrated the opening of our new headquarters in Conway Park with a “housewarming gift” to current and prospective clients: an up-to the- minute-timely seminar, “Sarbanes-Oxley: How You Can Deliver What the Street Wants in 2005.”
The seminar proved to be a hit, scoring an impressive 4.9/5.0 on the post-seminar evaluations.
S/Ox, as the act is known, was passed by Congress in 2002 after major accounting scandals at Enron and WorldCom. Its goal is transparency, and given the depth and breadth of the legislation, the LFCE S/Ox seminar was a draw with Chicago area executives.
Like all LFCE programs, the S/Ox seminar was designed to provide valuable insights for succeeding in a changed business environment, as well as practical tools to help executives make an immediate impact on their organizations. The seminar combined two engaging, interactive training sessions with an in-depth panel discussion featuring executive and financial experts with hands-on Sarbanes-Oxley experience.
The seminar was moderated by Len Walter, Business and Financial Editor, WBBM NewsRadio, and facilitated by two LFCE faculty members: PepsiCo’s Brian Svenkeson and Marian Powers, Ph.D., President, Needles & Powers, Inc. Panelists were Richard L. Keyser, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Grainger, and Daniel C. McFall, Assistant Corporate Controller, Baxter International, Inc.
In describing the new S/Ox culture, Walter proclaimed, “The Street demanded change and will get it. The work is enormous and costly, and you can’t get around it. Compliance is mandatory.”
“S/Ox,” explained Svenkeson, “is the most significant business legislation since the Securities Act of 1934. Compliance is costly and confusing. It’s like doing Y2K every year!” Yet Svenkeson also sees great opportunity with S/Ox. “Pursue one version of the truth with your data. Then move beyond compliance to better business performance,” he advised.
“S/Ox addresses past weaknesses in corporate governance which will ultimately yield better-run companies,” stated Powers. “While the cost of compliance is in the billions, this number is small compared to the loss in stock valuation due to erosion in investor confidence. While fraud will never be eliminated, S/Ox should restore investor confidence in the market.”
When asked how a company knows it is “done” complying with S/Ox, McFall replied, “You can never do enough. When controls are people-based, there will always be risk. Migrating from people-based to process-based systems will diminish that risk. Ultimately, good internal controls will protect all of us and we can get back to running our businesses.”
