This outstanding book describes SOX—including recent efforts to clarify Section 404 compliance—supplemented with plenty of information on US securities law and the corporate governance debate. The book targets board members, CEOs and other decision makers. It delves less into practicalities than the more middle-manager oriented Welytok (2006), but it provides more context. It reads like a lawyer explaining SOX to an astute CEO. It isn't focused on just SOX, but goes where it needs to go. Read both books. They offer complementary perspectives ...

This is not so much a book on corporate risk management as it is a book on raw-materials price risk management. Discussions are packaged with talk of enterprise risk management and value creation, but credit risk, operational risk and liquidity risk barely receive a mention. The book largely sets the stage for a discussion of risk capital and the author's proposal for a slight modification of that concept. The rest of the book will teach you little that a half hour of web surfing won't ...

In 2004, COSO released their framework for corporate enterprise risk management. This supplements their earlier framework for internal controls but has been less broadly adopted. This book explains the new framework. Discussing corporate risk management is always difficult because each corporation is different. Both COSO ERM and this book are painfully high-level—far removed from any particular corporation's needs. That being said, they offer ideas for any risk professional to mull over ...

Shrugging off derivatives books that make finance seem like a branch of mathematics, Triana's instead takes you along for the ride as derivatives salesmen engage corporate treasurers, learn their needs, structure solutions, gain management approval, and hope they don't put the structure out for competitive bid. There is history, anecdotes and plenty of nuts-and-bolts on accounting and such. If you are entering a career in derivatives or work in corporate treasury, you will find this an enjoyable and informative read. Supplement with Partnoy (1997) ...

Little more than a pamphlet, this short paperback is chock full of information. Its focus is energy trading, transaction and risk management (ETRM) software—the front-, middle- and back-office software of utilities and energy traders. The book gives a detailed history of ETRM software and its vendors through deregulation, Enron's collapse and the aftermath. A godsend for anyone planning an implementation, I recommend it to everyyone involved in energy risk management ...

Targeting corporate managers, this is a whirlwind tour of US and global compliance laws, regulations and published best practices for finance, information technology, operations and sourcing of supplies—SOX, Basel II, COBIT, OECD Principles, etc. Coverage is not uniform—plenty on SOX but little on Basel. I like how integrated some discussions are, but they are just summaries. Turn elswhere for depth ...

With a distinct flavor of behavioral finance, this book asks why, when faced with a choice, managers sometimes choose a risky course of action over a less risky one. The book is based around the results from two surveys of corporate managers. It may appeal to researchers in behaviorial finance ...

Most books on corporate risk management are pretty useless. They take techniques of bank risk management and warm them over for corporate use—as if every corporation's risks fit neatly into the Basel framework of market risk, credit risk or operational risk. There is actually very little useful material out there. I think the reason is because every industry—indeed, every corporation—is different. The risks faced by an overnight delivery firm are fundamentally different from those ... Read more

For Mary Pat McCarthy, this is her fourth business advice book in five years. She seems to have a formula: find a co-author or two with specific expertise; interview a bunch of business and non-business leaders; read some books, magazines and websites; grab quotes from Mark Twain and George S. Patton; shake 'n bake ... and out comes a book. This one advises senior managers and board members on risk management ... Read more

For corporations or trading organizations with energy/commodity exposures, the question of what risks to hedge and exactly how to hedge them is fundamental to corporate strategy. Using the Metallgesellschaft debacle as a focal point, Christopher Culp and Merton Miller have compiled a collection of important papers on corporate hedging ... Read more