Insurance Execs To Help Fashion Ethics Guidelines
NU Online News Service, Dec. 26, 4:30 p.m. EST–Insurance industry executives have joined with other notable business heads and thinkers to develop "an enterprise-wide roadmap" to address ethics and corporate governance issues.
The Open Compliance & Ethics Group Project, or OCEG, is an effort by a diverse group of industry heads to publish recommended standards and best practices to help U.S. businesses reduce corporate and investor risk.
"In light of increased regulation, heightened investor scrutiny, and the changing landscape of risk, many corporations are seeking to implement ethics and compliance education programs to achieve effective corporate governance," said Ray J. Groves, co-chairman of OCEG and chief operating officer of insurance broker Marsh Inc., a subsidiary of New York-based Marsh and McLennan Companies, in a statement.
"Yet, currently there is no universal framework that can guide organizations on how to implement such programs nor are there metrics to measure their efficacy. The OCEG Project is designed to help solve this issue," said Mr. Groves.
Charles "Chuck" Ames, co-chairman of OCEG and vice chairman of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, said the group has brought together leaders from various corporate disciplines to "provide a roadmap" to help business organizations deal with the potential risk and litigation they face from the actions and activities of their directors, officers and employees.
"While restoring confidence in the investment community is extremely important, we must also address the confidence of employees, which is at an all-time low," said Mr. Ames. "Implementing OCEG guidelines sends a strong message to all constituencies."
Others included in OCEG from the insurance industry include:
? Bill Cotter, chief underwriting officer at AIG's National Union, based in New York City.
? Jack Hampton, executive director of the Risk and Insurance Management Society, based in New York City.
? Jack Jennings, senior vice president of Hobbs Group, a subsidiary of insurance broker Hilb, Rogal & Hamilton based in Glen Allen, Va., and executive advisory counsel of St. John's University School of Risk Management in New York City.
? Joseph J. Plumeri, executive chairman and chief executive officer of Willis Group Holdings Ltd., headquartered in London.
? Christopher E. Watson, chairman and chief executive officer of Gulf Insurance, based in New York City.
Additional participating executives include:
? Ron Berenbeim, director of ethics research of The Conference Board.
? Alfred Berkeley, vice chairman of NASDAQ.
? Richard Braddock, chairman of Priceline.com.
? Alexander F. Brigham, president and chief executive officer of Corpedia Education, Inc.
? John J. Castellani, president of The Business Roundtable.
? Charles Elson, executive director of the Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.
? Bob Felton, managing partner for the Corporate Governance Practice at McKinsey & Company.
? Stephen J. Friedman, senior partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, president of the Practicing Law Institute, and a former commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
? Peter Gleason, chief operating officer of the National Association of Corporate Directors.
? Joseph Hardiman, former chief executive officer of NASD and NASDAQ, and former president of Alex. Brown.
? Richard Koppes, co-chairman of Stanford Law School Executive Education and director of the Investor Responsibility Research Center; as well as former deputy executive officer of CALPERS.
? Peter Kreindler, senior vice president and general counsel for Honeywell International Inc.
? Patricia Leonard, chief operating officer of the American Management Association.
? Leo C. O'Neill, president of Standard & Poor's.
? Andrall E. Pearson, founding chairman of Tricon.
? Gerald Rosenfeld, chief executive officer of Rothschild.
? Doug Shulman, president of NASD Regulatory & Compliance Services.
? Richard Steinberg, managing partner for corporate governance practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Scott Mitchell, president of OCEG, said the job of the organizations will be to take theories and ideas and create a "coherent framework, guidelines, and a benchmark for organizations to use across all areas of enterprise risk."
OCEG said it plans to publish open guidelines on how businesses can approach corporate compliance, ethics, and governance education.
The organization, based in New York City and Phoenix, said it plans to publish its work in early 2003.
More information about the group and volunteering is available at www.oceg.org.
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