Developments in Best Practices, Compliance, and Legal Standards

The 2003 report Corporate Governance Best Practices: A Blueprint for the Post-Enron Era was intended as a sourcebook of leading governance practices for board members and management. Considerable developments have occurred in the field of corporate governance since that piece was published. In addition to bringing the 2003 report up-to-date, this report aims to provide boards and management with a compendium of the leading corporate governance practices.

Topics covered:

• Setting a New Standard for Corporate Governance
• Corporate Governance Practices
• Nominating Corporate Governance Committee Practices
• Compensation Committee Practices
• Audit Committee Practices
• Disclosure, Compliance and Ethics
• Strategy and Enterprise Risk Oversight

Special features - Appendices:

• Legislation and Stock Exchange Standards Comparison Chart
• Corporate Governance Principles (Pfizer Inc.)
• Independence Comparisons: Criteria for Director Independence
• Appointment of Lead Independent Director (Intel Corporation)
• Sample Corporate Governance Committee Charter (General Electric Corporation)
• Guidelines for Selection of an Independent Compensation Consultant (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.
• Sample Director Self-Assessment Worksheet
• Sample Chief Executive Officer Evaluation Form
• KPMG Audit Committee Institute: Basic Principles for Audit Committees
• Sample Audit Committee Charter and Responsibilities Checklist (Microsoft Corporation)
• Audit Committee Financial Expert Decision Tree (AICPA Audit Committee Toolkit)
• Excerpt from Internal Control: Guidance for Directors on the Combined Code Report by The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
• Hypothetical "Dashboard" to Track Strategic Measures and Underlying Strategic Performance Measures