Parkview Risk Advisors, established in 2009, is a business advisory firm that partners with you to solve your performance challenges through process design, improvements, standardization and establishment of internal controls and monitoring mechanisms.

Parkview's expert team brings former Big 4 and regional consulting firm leaders to provide exceptional value to cost ratio. Our team combines expertise in governance, business, operational, financial and technology processes, risks and controls to offer a holistic solution.

COSO Thought Paper on "Risk Appetite"

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) is an organization that provides thought leadership and guidance on enterprise risk management (ERM), internal controls and fraud deterrence to industry as well as internal audit and risk management professionals.    COSO released a thought paper in January 2012 aimed at helping ERM professionals better develop, communicate, implement and monitor “risk appetite”.

The title of this thought paper is Enterprise Risk Management – Understanding and Communicating Risk Appetite.   Its purpose is to introduce and provide ERM professionals thought leadership on performing more relevant and meaningful risk management.   The paper was written by Larry Rittenberg, the Ernst & Young Professor of Accounting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Frank Martens, a director in the Advisory Practice of PwC.

COSO’s Enterprise Risk Management — Integrated Framework defines risk appetite as follows: "The amount of risk, on a broad level, an entity is willing to accept in pursuit of value. It reflects the entity’s risk management philosophy, and in turn influences the entity’s culture and operating style. … Risk appetite guides resource allocation. … Risk appetite [assists the organization] in aligning the organization, people, and processes in [designing the] infrastructure necessary to effectively respond to and monitor risks”. 

The thought paper provides examples of statements of risk appetite and highlights the concept that risk appetite should be developed, communicated and monitored by management, supported by the board as a tone-at-the-top, and woven into the fabric throughout the organization.  The paper stresses that this reflects the entity’s risk management philosophy, and in turn influences the entity’s culture and operating style.   

Occupational Fraud 

Occupational Fraud is defined by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) as: “The use of one’s occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the employing organization’s resources or assets.” 

Over the past five years the economy has taken a noticeable downturn.  This has resulted in, among many things, corporations being susceptible and vulnerable to fraud and has heightened management’s awareness to fraud risk.  Fraud is in fact on the rise.  Today’s fraudster is sophisticated, intelligent, operates globally and is well equipped with modern technology.  The fraudster has by now built a callous to Sarbanes-Oxley and is most likely already developing workarounds to the new Dodd-Frank legislation. 

Read on here ......

Potential SOX Changes, Good for IPO Market?

In a rare show of bipartisan support, Congress is considering passing a new Sarbanes-Oxley legislation this year, which could motivate  private companies to go public. This legislation would apply to companies with under $1 billion in annual revenue and would enable these companies to comply with SOX after they have had their IPO.

Under terms of the bill, S1933, “emerging growth” companies would be required to ultimately be fully compliant with Sarbanes-Oxley, except they would be afforded more time. Companies with less than $1 billion in revenue in its most recent fiscal year would have five years to comply with Section 404(b) of SOX.  Simply stated, there would be change to the compliance requirements, but the bill would provide a spring board and ease the way for companies to become compliant.