PWC Confidentialy Agreement

The link below is PWC's standard Non Disclosure Agreement. It outlines confidential materials or knowledge that PWC, and other parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict from generalized use.

An NDA creates a confidential relationship between the parties to protect any type of trade secrets.
http://jesse1.viigonet.com/Viiscripts/NDA_PWC.pdf

SarBox Thought Leadership

PwC Banking & Capital Markets industry specialists hosted an interactive conference call to discuss Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404. The call was designed primarily to help companies benchmark their status and process as we approached the end of Year 2 and began planning for Year 3, both from a practical execution standpoint and as part of the migration to sustainability.

Sarbanes-Oxley Year End Preparation:
Click here for the pdf, or copy and paste the following url into your browser.
http://www.pwc.com/extweb/pwcpublications.nsf/docid/FD8FB6E9995DEF8A85257118007BE2AF/$File/soxhighligts.pdf

Sustainability from the Start

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the US Congress's sweeping reaction to a series of corporate scandals, is having a profound impact on US companies. Section 404, which places new obligations on companies to assess and report on the effectiveness of internal controls, has been particularly challenging. European and other non-US companies with a US listing have a period of grace and now must implement this part of the Act for fiscals years ending after 15 July 2006. But the fundamental nature of the change they are facing leaves no room for relaxation.

In Spring 2005, PwC brought senior executives from US and European energy and utility companies around the table to gain first-hand insights into 404 compliance. The US executives were just beginning to prepare for the second year for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. The European companies were exploring the most effective means of achieving first-time compliance.

The message from the US executives is 'make no mistake, this is a reform of immense scale and complexity'. Oil and gas and utility companies operate in an increasingly complex environment where internal control deficiecies can have an important impact on the accuracy of financial reporting. Reserves reporting, decommissioning, customer account collection difficulties, energy trading, taxation and carbon allowances are just a few of the areas posing specific challenges.

The section 404 requirement to report on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting will increase the pressure on oil and gas and utility companies to prove that their governance and control practices are up to the challenge through the detailed documentation of internal control processes and the identification and correction of deficiencies.

Sustainable from the Start:
Click Here for the PDF, or copy and paste the url into your browser.
http://www.pwc.com/Extweb/pwcpublications.nsf/docid/90C70AE37CD23A4B8525702A004A4626/$FILE/sustainable_start.pdf

FS Briefing Programme

Creating Value: Effective risk management in financial services

This briefing, the 15th report in the PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Financial Services Briefing Programme, examines risk management issues within the financial services industry. Financial institutions have devoted considerable time and resources to risk management over the past few years, often in response to regulatory initiatives such as Basel II, Sarbanes-Oxley and others. But how effective is the risk management function at adding value to the business?

Click Here for the PDF, or copy and paste the url into your browser.

http://www.pwc.com/extweb/pwcpublications.nsf/docid/47A1B25A679C22D18525729400182A60/$File/fs_risk_briefing.pdf

SarBox - Benefits for Private Co's

This article notes that one of the greatest risks for private companies is an improperly functioning control environment.

A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers Trendsetter barometer survey of nearly 350 fast-growth CEOs found that one in four of the fastest-growing, privately held businesses in the country have voluntarily adopted some of the Sarbanes-Oxley "best practices" that have emerged from their public sector counterparts.

Why would they do this? To help create better companies—ones that are attractive to public and private investors, merger & acquisition prospects, customers and other stakeholders. In many private companies, internal controls remain informal. However, inadequate control systems leave companies vulnerable to a broad spectrum of risks.

Private companies reaping the benefits of Sarbanes-Oxley

Click Here for the PDF, or copy and paste the url into your browser.

http://www.pwc.com/extweb/pwcpublications.nsf/docid/CEA8FB685C018B26852572AA0052CEDF/$file/business_to_business.pdf

Shared Perspectives: SarbBox and the Utility Industry

A summary of the discussions from PwC's recent Utility Industry discussion forums on Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 compliance best practices. More than a hundred executives representing 47 utility companies engaged in a series of open-forum discussions to explore ideas and opportunities that could make compliance with Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley “better, faster and more efficient.”

Click Here for the PDF, or copy and paste the following link into your browser -


http://www.pwc.com/extweb/pwcpublications.nsf/docid/47FE3CCC6DFA9EEB85257339006BE525/$File/2007-404_best_prac_forum_shared-pers.pdf