Date: April 20, 2015
Singapore, 20 April 2015 – The Protiviti-SAC COSO Academy (“COSO Academy”) wishes to announce that the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) (“SIAS”) has joined as a Strategic Partner. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed today by Mr Uantchern Loh, Chief Executive of Singapore Accountancy Commission (“SAC”), Mr Sidney Lim, Managing Director of Protiviti South-East Asia (“Protiviti”), and Mr David Gerald, President & CEO of SIAS.
Mr David Gerald said, “SIAS has always worked to promote the adoption of sound corporate governance practices among Singapore companies and to educate the investor community on the importance of these best practices. We are pleased to offer our support to the COSO Academy in its efforts to raise awareness of the COSO Frameworks in Singapore.”
Mr Uantchern Loh said, “We warmly welcome SIAS as our newest strategic partner. Our partnership with SIAS offers a solid platform to promote the COSO Frameworks to investors and the business community in Singapore.”
The COSO Academy conducts workshops with the aim to impart tools and knowledge for organizations to adopt best practices in corporate governance, and to strengthen internal controls and risk management processes to benefit shareholders and investors. Following the success of its first workshop on the COSO Frameworks for Directors in January, the COSO Academy will be conducting two workshops on the COSO Frameworks for Directors and internal audit and risk management professionals on Thursday 23 April 2015.
Mr Sidney Lim added, “We look forward to working with SIAS on their investor education programmes and identifying opportunities to showcase the effectiveness of the COSO Frameworks to the business community.”
The COSO Frameworks is relevant for businesses of all sizes, including government agencies and charities. It comprises the Enterprise Risk Management – Integrated Framework and the Internal Control – Integrated Framework. While sufficiently robust to be applied separately, the two COSO Frameworks facilitate and support the governance process when implemented effectively and delivers the most structured and balanced approach to achieving business objectives and the protection of enterprise value.
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For more information, contact:
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Janice Teo
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About the Protiviti-SAC COSO Academy
The Protiviti-SAC COSO Academy was launched by global risk and business consultancy Protiviti and Singapore Accountancy Commission on 3 December 2014. The COSO Academy offers company directors, senior management executives and practitioners in Singapore access to insights and tools to better understand how the COSO Frameworks can work for their organizations. For more information, please visit www.cosoacademy.com.
The COSO Academy is supported by The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (www.coso.org), which is jointly sponsored by the American Accounting Association (AAA), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Financial Executives International (FEI), the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), and The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA).
About the Securities Investors Association (Singapore)
The Securities Investors Association (Singapore) or SIAS, a non-profit organization, is the largest organized investor lobby group in Asia, with almost 71,000 retail investors as members. It is run by a Management Committee comprising professionals who are volunteers. It actively promotes Investor Education, Corporate Governance and Transparency and is the watchdog for Investor rights in Singapore. To-date, SIAS has successfully organized over 700 investor education programmes ranging from basic investment seminars for novices to certificate courses for investment savvy investors. SIAS is “the voice” for minority shareholders and has already locked horns with corporations falling short of good Corporate Governance practices. However, its preferred approach to resolve investors’ right issues is to do so in the boardroom and not in the courtroom. Many SIAS members have sought protection also from errant traders. SIAS conducts dispute resolution sessions regularly to assist members to resolve issues.
About the Singapore Accountancy Commission
Established in April 2013 as a statutory body of the Singapore Government, the Singapore Accountancy Commission (SAC) is the lead agency in spearheading the development of the accountancy sector in Singapore. The SAC’s Vision is for Singapore to be the Leading Global Accountancy Hub. This will be achieved through developing for Singapore a vibrant accountancy sector that enables the economy to grow, businesses to thrive and talent to flourish. In fulfilling this mission, the SAC seeks to uphold the values of being relevant, insightful, collaborative and advocative. For more information, please visit www.sac.gov.sg.
About Protiviti
Protiviti (www.protiviti.com) is a global consulting firm that helps companies solve problems in finance, technology, operations, governance, risk and internal audit, and has served more than 40 percent of FORTUNE 1000® and FORTUNE Global 500® companies. Protiviti has been named to Fortune magazine’s 2015 100 Best Companies to Work For® List.
