The demise of several Fortune 500 companies underscores the essential need for corporations to evaluate their corporate governance practices. Experience dictates that the future viability of public corporations hinges on a strong and well executed corporate governance plan. Corporate governance represents the legal and operational procedures that public companies institute to balance the relationship between the corporation and its constituencies, including the shareholders, the board and its committees, executive officers, employees, and customers. Corporate governance addresses such issues as board committee composition, audit guidelines, and policy manual development.

Corporate boards are far more sensitive to the “public exposure” aspects of corporate governance than ever before. This is due to several factors:

	When a company’s performance declines or fails over a period of time, weak corporate governance practices are often publicly cited. The collapse of Enron, for example, is largely blamed on a poor set of internal audit and control procedures. These breakdowns were compounded by the fact that the board of directors did not possess the requisite skills to understand or supervise the complex financial transactions of their company. There was no accountability. Corporate boards are now keenly aware of their responsibility and their respective personal liability to ensure that the internal operations of a corporation are properly supervised and that the risks to the organization are identified and managed within acceptable limits.
	Institutional investors hold approximately 50% of all listed corporate stock in the United States. Corporate governance is increasingly becoming one of the decision criteria by which portfolio managers invest in public corporations. Corporations that operate within the established guidelines of good corporate governance will be motivated to publicize their record in order to build shareholder confidence, boost stock price and maintain and attract new investors.
	The staggering impact of the Enron bankruptcy, along with the downfall of other large corporate entities, has caused regulators to reevaluate enforcement of corporate governance guidelines. Now is the time for companies to privately assess their own practices, prior to required regulatory disclosure.

Riskon is well positioned to assist corporations in conducting “self audits” of their corporate governance practices. Riskon’s governance consultants not only have the proficiency to expose the gaps between a corporation’s current governance practices and best practice guidelines, but they also have detailed knowledge of structured finance, quantitative modeling and risk analysis in the financial markets. These combined skills provide clients with a value added benefit as they undertake the initiatives to close the gaps. The consulting services Riskon offers corporate boards and independent directors include:

	Quantitative Evaluations;
	Qualitative Assessments; and
	Remediation Strategies.

Riskon establishes an open dialogue with its clients to determine their specific areas of concern within their organizations. Riskon differentiates itself from other governance consulting firms in that Riskon customizes its proposals to meet the customer’s stated concerns and is not limited by one specific prepackaged model. It needs to be acknowledged up front that the value derived from performing a governance audit is contingent upon the degree to which executive management is involved in exploring the corporation’s current practices and the priority placed on making any necessary changes.

The synergies generated from Riskon’s expertise in corporate governance, executive search, and the financial markets, offer clients a full suite of corporate governance services, from policy remediation and director training, to director replacement. All services are performed adhering to the highest standards of quality, integrity, and discretion.