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Governance & effectiveness
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Leading the board on ESG
Lead directors play a role in guiding discussions on environmental, social and governance issues, corporate purpose, and the implications for their companies.
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Calibrating board operations during COVID-19
Five areas for boards to consider as they recalibrate their operations and oversight during COVID-19.
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Sharpening the board’s oversight of human capital management
Directors must look beyond the C-suite when evaluating opportunities and risks associated with the firm’s human capital.
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The value of veterans in the boardroom
The KPMG Board Leadership Center explores the skills and experience that retired general and flag officers can bring to the boardroom.
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Major shift or business as usual
The evolving role and purpose of the corporation in society—the focus of the recent Business Roundtable (BRT) statement—is an important topic for boards.
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Why data governance should be part of board conversations
To help develop a more rigorous approach around data governance, we recommend three areas of board focus.
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It’s time to reassess ESG and sustainability reporting
The BLC’s Dennis Whalen writes about increasing stakeholder demands for more transparent, higher quality ESG reporting.
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Getting strategic on environmental, social, and governance issues
In a Q&A with the KPMG Board Leadership Center, Bob Langert, former vice president for Sustainability at McDonald’s, offered insights for directors and management on addressing ESG issues.
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A geopolitical lens: October 2019
Eurasia Group’s Ian Bremmer analyzes current geopolitical trends and what they mean for companies and boards.
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What is your company’s engagement strategy?
As companies prepare for their 2020 annual meetings, shareholder engagement and communication should be top of mind.
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The pitfalls of performance targets
While performance targets are powerful tools in driving the right culture, they can also pose major risks.
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The state of board gender diversity
Susan Angele and Annalisa Barrett look at the current state of gender diversity on corporate boards.
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Should your board include a CHRO?
Board Leadership Center Senior Advisor Annalisa Barrett evaluates the case for adding a director with human resources experience to the board.
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Reassess engagement plans amid corporate purpose debate
Board Leadership Center senior advisor Stephen L. Brown looks at the implications for investor engagement in light of the Business Roundtable’s revised statement on corporate purpose.
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A geopolitical lens: July 2019
Eurasia Group’s Ian Bremmer analyzes current geopolitical trends and what they mean for companies and boards.
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Make time for robust strategy discussions
Allocating time to strategy discussions is essential, but it is just the first hurdle in getting the strategy process right.
Financial reporting & controls
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Securing the new business reality through pragmatic cybersecurity
The longer-term implications of a “distance everything” business environment require a vigilant focus on cybersecurity.
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Q2 2020 Focus: Financial reporting and auditing update
This quarter, and in the months ahead, a number of developments impacting financial reporting will need to be front and center for audit committees.
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Why data governance should be part of board conversations
To help develop a more rigorous approach around data governance, we recommend three areas of board focus.
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Q3 2019 Focus: Financial reporting and auditing update
This quarter, and in the months ahead, a number of developments impacting financial reporting will need to be front and center for audit committees.
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Q2 2019 Focus: Financial reporting and auditing update
This quarter, and in the months ahead, a number of developments impacting financial reporting will need to be front and center for audit committees.
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Q4 2018 focus: Financial reporting and audit update
This quarter, and in the months ahead, a number of developments impacting financial reporting will need to be front and center for audit committees.
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Q3 2018 focus: Financial reporting and audit update
This quarter, and in the months ahead, a number of developments impacting financial reporting will need to be front and center for audit committees.
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Tax reform: Key areas for audit committee focus
In the absence of timely guidance from the government, tax and finance departments will face a number of challenges in preparing the company’s remaining interim and year-end financial statements and tax return filings.
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BEPS, transparency, and country-by-country tax reporting
The obligation to report country-by-country (C by C) tax information to all jurisdictions is on the immediate horizon.
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Transparency and management's disclosure committee
Many audit committees are taking a closer look at their interactions with management’s disclosure committee, including their understanding of its operations—particularly how controls and procedures are updated in light of changing and expanding disclosure requirements.
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Considering the audit committee’s disclosures
What enhancements to audit committee reports could help investors better understand the committee’s work?
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Four key challenges for global audit committees
What’s changing (and what’s staying the same) for audit committees of global companies.
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Evaluations add value for private company boards
There are several reasons why evaluations can be critical to enhancing oversight and improving board effectiveness.
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Bridging the GAAP
It is critical for the audit committees to consider non-GAAP financial measures on its agenda.
Private company
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Questions for the board with a SPAC in sight
Directors and management of private companies considering a sale to a special purpose acquisition company should be aware of the opportunities as well as the oversight-related challenges and tradeoffs a transaction may present.
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Closing the gaps in portfolio company board effectiveness
Investors’ ability to assess strategy and operations at their portfolio companies is largely dependent upon the effectiveness of their portfolio company boards.
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On the 2020 private company board agenda
Drawing on insights from our work and interactions with public and private company directors and business leaders, we’ve highlighted seven items for private company boards to consider as they focus their 2020 agendas on the critical challenges at han
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Defining ESG metrics that matter for private equity portfolio companies
While the impact on private company boards, management, operations, and disclosure varies—and largely dependent on ownership—a shift is apparent in how institutional investors are directing capital and increasing expectations for private company reporting on ESG.
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On the 2019 private company board agenda
Drawing on insights from our work and interactions with directors and business leaders over the past 12 months, we’ve highlighted seven items for boards of private companies to consider as they focus their 2019 agendas on the critical challenges at hand and on the road ahead.
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Matrix thinking
For young and growing companies, particularly those backed by venture capital funds, board building is often more informal and less strategic. Yet a long-term approach to building a strong board as the company grows can make a difference.
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Getting ahead of sexual harassment risk
Discussion about board oversight of sexual harassment issues often comes up only after public allegations have thrown the company into crisis.
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Getting a start-up CFO up to speed
For a CFO of a new start-up company, this is a time of tremendous opportunity. Roles and responsibilities are being formalized, processes and controls are being implemented, and cultures and capabilities are being transformed.
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Accounting for growth
As an increasing number of firms are driven by intangible, knowledge-based assets and are more frequently funded through private investors, accounting choices are expected to play a more significant role in a company’s success.
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Expediting the CEO assessment
Given the expected five- to seven-year holding period for portfolio companies, boards may be able to avoid having to make a switch in two years by being more proactive in assessing the CEO early in the ownership period.
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Diversifying portfolio company boards
Diversifying the composition of private-equity portfolio company boards is a significant challenge, yet opportunties to change are just as abundant for these firms as they are public company boards.
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The challenge of managing investors and time horizons at a private company
Conflicting views aren't always counterproductive and, in fact, can contribute to an engaging and robust discussion.
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After the jobs act: The impact on private companies
Three years after the JOBS Act was signed into law, we talk with Kate Mitchell, partner and cofounder at Scale Venture Partners, about the impact on private companies and their governance.developments.
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Exceptional private boards get the basics right
Without a regulator or stock exchange to impose oversight guidelines, private companies often “write their own rules” when it comes to governance.
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Culture as a blindspot: transparency in the private company boardroom
For all its focus on the business and the marketplace, the board itself can be vulnerable to its own blind spot: boardroom culture.
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Why good governance attracts investors
In a start-up climate that is becoming more attuned to company culture, many venture investors we work with say that a working knowledge of corporate governance for early-stage company founders is a critical factor for funding negotiations
Technology & emerging risks
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Securing the new business reality through pragmatic cybersecurity
The longer-term implications of a “distance everything” business environment require a vigilant focus on cybersecurity.
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Why data governance should be part of board conversations
To help develop a more rigorous approach around data governance, we recommend three areas of board focus.
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Data rich and regulation wary
Consumer data is a valuable asset for most organizations looking to extend their customer reach and competitive advantage
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Social media: A double-edged sword, to be handled with care
A social media governance framework can be used to address a range of internal and external risks.
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Cyber risk areas of focus for the audit committee
What information is key to assessing whether management has its arms around cyber risk? Certainly, the audit committee needs to hear from a Chief Information Security Officer or Chief Information Officer who is knowledgeable and can help them see the big picture. But what should be the key areas of focus? While the answer will vary depending on the situation, we suggest four areas of focus.
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Blockchain: Where the board should start
The potential impact of blockchain—on how business transactions and legal contracts are executed and recorded, IP/data protection and privacy, fraud prevention, voting, auditing, and more—is so fundamental and wide-reaching that observers and early adopters are comparing the current blockchain ecosystem to the early days of the Internet