Business Finance (09/08); Cummings, John

A new study from corporate ethics consultant LRN has found that companies have made improvements in ethics and compliance in the six years since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed. Of the 460 companies surveyed, 90 percent now conduct ethics and compliance risk assessments, many of which are integrated into enterprise risk management programs. The departments most often involved in the assessments are legal, internal audit, HR, and finance, the survey found. The use of formal CEO/management development programs has also increased, with close to 75 percent of companies now offering the programs. Respondents cited finance as the lowest concern for ethics and compliance, indicating great improvement in that area, with the top three concerns now being electronic data protection, data privacy, and intellectual property, followed closely by foreign anti-bribery regulations, supply chain risks, and insider trading. Areas that still need improvement are protection activities at a companys international locations, with education for resellers, suppliers, and business partners taking place in less than 10 percent, 20 percent, and 30 percent of companies, respectively. Scandals such as the tainted pet food problem in China are evidence that this is an area companies need to address.(www.businessfinancemag.com)

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