Navigating Through a Financial Fraud Investigation
Should independent directors engage business advisers to conduct an independent investigation?
When a financial fraud allegation is raised against a publicly listed company, independent directors (“IDs”) are often faced with the question of whether to conduct an independent investigation or accept management’s response to the allegations. The advantages of the latter include cost effectiveness, saving time and being able to provide a direct response to the allegations. Is this really the case though?
Management’s remuneration is often pegged to certain key indicators of the company’s performance. Hence, having management respond to a financial fraud allegation, reduces the independence of their responses. IDs are bound not just ethically, but also by relevant local rules, regulations and laws to address the crux of the issue: Did management know about the fraud and what actions did they take to prevent and remediate the situation?
In this seminar, we will walk through a case study to understand the IDs’ potential legal obligations and critical steps to take when they receive a financial fraud allegation:
- How should IDs evaluate the fraud allegation: internal checks or a quick business intelligence inquiry?;
- Decision making on whether to undertake an independent investigation
and implications to key stakeholders such as regulators, shareholders,
external auditors, business partners etc.;
- Obligations of INEDs as
an individual: What are the laws and regulations applicable to the
INEDs, which impact them as an individual;
- Commissioning an independent investigation: what goes on in an investigation; and
- Wrapping up an independent investigation: Key questions to answer, reporting to the regulators and communication strategy.
|
CPD Hours : 2
| SID Member: |
S$60.00 (excl. GST) |
| |
S$64.20 (incl. GST) |
| |
|
| Non-SID Member: |
S$90.00 (excl. GST) |
| |
S$96.30 (incl. GST) |
SID Corporate Member may utilise their complimentary vouchers.
Terms and Conditions for SID Courses/Events
Online registration not available.