Counting the Cost

I was recently at the inaugural screening of the film ‘Counting the Cost’ , a film written and produced by Duncan Wiggetts for DLA Piper . It portrays the actions of the non-executive directors as they cope with undetected fraudulent conduct of some members of the management team. It’s not a true story, but given that the film is so well written (and acted) it could easily be mistaken for real life. The film looks at the challenges around preventing and detecting fraud and the importance of effective controls.

An esteemed panel were invited to provide their feedback and comments to a mixed audience of some 100 Lawyers, Accountants and Non-execs. Introduced by Graham Durgan of the Non Executive Directors Association (NEDA) and moderated by Duncan Wiggets and Neil Gerrard from DLA Piper, the panel included the likes of Donald Brydon , Chairman of Smiths Group and Royal Mail and Robert Wardle, a former Director of the Serious Fraud Office.

The event provided a lively debate, particularly when the post mortem revealed charges of dishonesty, fraud, conspiracy to defraud, fraudulent trading and bribery against the CFO.

Non-executives today are expected to act with a high degree of independence and have the skills and capability to manage the interests of stakeholders and shareholders alike. This has recently been highlighted in the case of Torex Retail, where Edwin Dayan, former Chief Technology Officer and Christopher Ford, former Finance Director of subsidiary Xn Checkout Limited, were charged by the Serious Fraud Office with conspiracy to defraud, false accounting and misleading an auditor.

These are the challenges we face in an increasingly regulated market requiring greater privilege and disclosure.