In this interview, Courion Vice President Kurt Johnson explains the system access risks that exist when companies do not turn off past employees' user accounts.

Difficult economic times can be the breeding ground for increased fraudulent activities. According to a new report from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), there was a double-digit increase in the percentage of suspicious activity reports (SARs) filed from 2007 to 2008 in all of the fraud categories FinCEN examined. Some of the suspicious activities to watch out for include transactions being conducted in bursts of activities within a short period of time, especially in previously dormant accounts, and unusual mixed deposits of money orders, third party checks, payroll checks, etc., into a business account.

Management teams looking to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of their internal controls frameworks should ask themselves four important questions.

Government relations is an important part of JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s governance strategy, and while the company's work in the area may stand out within its industry, a new report on board composition suggests that public policy expertise -- and experience -- represents an increasingly sought-after directorship competency.

As companies fight through this economic crisis, they need to keep in mind how important it is to strike a balance between business needs and effective and efficient internal controls. It takes vigilance and commitment to balance strategy, customer service, profitability, risk management, productivity, cost control, and employee empowerment. Inflexible business models and processes, such as those at General Motors, combined with cost-cutting that adversely impacts internal controls can come back to haunt companies.

Although the typical executive search process is rigorous, involving extensive interviews (not to mention psychological screenings, exhaustive background scrutiny, and reference checks) with three, five, or even more final candidates, the search for a member of the board of directors is relatively easy -- most nominating committees are presented with only one candidate.

The number of businesses snared by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act will likely rise again this year. Will your company be one of them?

Does the idea of taking on a performance management project intimidate you? Never fear. Read Ventana Research's white paper "The Right View of Performance Management: Reasonable scope, incremental change and dashboards provide tangible benefits" in the BPM Resource Center to alleviate your worry.

The 6th Annual BPM Summit brought together some of the business world's foremost practitioners to explore the transformational role of finance in the enterprise. If you missed the live event, you can still enjoy access to the audio and slide shows from the keynote presentations at our on-demand archive.