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2009 - January 2009

• Taking back the farm

  • Credit crisis renews calls for regulatory change
  • Powerful new group takes aim at SOX repeal
  • IPOs have all but dried up in the US – SOX blamed
  • Further turmoil might spur success where others have failed
  • Partial rollback more likely than complete overhaul
  
  By Michael Reilly

• Proxy season survival kit

  • Bailout preconditions likely to spread to other industries
  • Compensation and risk management will take center stage in 2009
  • Many shareholder activists are being forced to the sidelines
  • Increase in takeover action will cause issuers to seek better protection
  • Engagement between shareholders and issuers is key to success
  
  By Brendan Sheehan

• Walking into a live minefield

  • Corporate blogs offer great opportunity and great risk
  • Employees need guidelines and training
  • Communication must be targeted to specific audience
  • Legal liability is still largely untested
  • GC and corporate secretaries fret about regulatory violations 
  
  By Erik Sherman

• Human capital

  • Recent attacks highlight need for security awareness
  • Basic training can keep employees healthy and productive
  • Companies have duty of care to provide safe working environment
  • High-risk destinations require special instruction
  • Well-defined disaster recovery plans are essential to effective response 
  
  By Brendan Sheehan

• Curbing corruption

  • DoJ offers up pre-closing plan to protect acquiring companies
  • Internal as well as external compliance monitoring is important
  • Pre-closing procedures remain crucial
  • Third parties are still a major risk area
  • Data privacy proves major hurdle in international M&A 
  
  By Janine Armin

• Fiction becomes fact

  • News aggregator contributed to United Airlines stock collapse
  • Old bankruptcy story presented as new by Google
  • Companies need crisis plan for quick response
  • Dating information is integral to avoiding miscommunication
  • Consistent information flow keeps news fresh 
  
  By Tim Human

• Field guide to investors

  • Surveillance firms dig to compile investor profiles
  • Executives use reports to get better read on investor interests
  • Reports need to be combined with other sources to be accurate
  • Surveillance is a useful cross-check to broker-generated meetings
  • Different firms choose unique points of focus for investor profiles
  
  By Anna Snider

• Best of the best

  Great corporate governance and risk management are ideals all public companies strive to achieve. But what goes into a great governance program? This question was answered at the inaugural Corporate Secretary Magazine Awards where the best practitioners across a range of important governance elements were recognized. The next 11 pages feature the first of a two-part series of interviews with the winners of these prestigious awards in which you will discover what makes the best governance programs in the US tick.