（2008）On Principles, Risks, Controls and Fraud.pdfVIP

On Principles, Risks, Controls and Fraud Thomas Ray Chief Auditor and Director of Professional Standards Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Keynote Speech Compliance Week 2008, June 5, 2008 I’m really pleased to have been invited to participate in Compliance Week 2008. I really feel honored to share this podium with people such as Harvey Pitt, [SEC Enforcement Director] Linda Thomsen, and [SEC CIFR Chairman] Bob Pozen, as well as to participate in a conference that has such a great group of speakers and discussion participants. So again, I want to thank [Compliance Week publisher] Scott Cohen and [editor-in-chief] Matt Kelly for inviting me to participate in this really great conference. One minor note about my biography—I’ve been chief auditor for about two and a half years, but I’ve been with the PCAOB for five years as of a couple days ago, first as deputy chief auditor. Now, this morning after Harvey’s presentation, Scott referred to me as “The Great Tom Ray.” And I’ve never been referred to as “the great” Tom Ray before, at least not that I know of, but I do accept the compliment. Thank you. But I think the problem is, it conjured up images of, in my mind, a magician or a mind reader or something like that, and I don’t have any skills in magic or mind reading. Well, unless of course you consider moving from AS2 to AS5 a magic trick. Now [audience laughs] … thank you [more laughs]. Now, one of the underlying themes of this conference is risk; obviously, risks that affect the achievement of a company’s objectives and goals, and also the response to those risks. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is one of those private regulatory bodies with which you are blessed, and to which Harvey Pitt referred to again this morning. Now, the PCAOB is a relatively new actor in this area of risk. We have been operational for just over five years. In a sense, our mission is