STE-II set for May 12-13, 2005: summary of 2004 offering for senior tax executives released.

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Tax Executives Institute will hold its second Senior Tax Executive Conference on May 2-13, 2005. The two-day program will focus on issues of special concerns to heads of tax departments and other senior tax executives, including corporate governance, financial accounting changes, and the prospects and opportunities of forthcoming tax reform proposals.

In announcing the program, Michael P. Boyle, chair of TEI's Continuing Education Committee, noted that the Institute's May 2004 conference has been sold out. "We are gratified, first, that our initial foray into this area was oversubscribed and, second, that our sessions were so well-received. From Sarbanes-Oxley to FSC/ETI, state and local planning to new IRS initiatives, and the use of technology to recruiting a world-class tax staff, our speakers hit on all cylinders. We're delighted to build upon our success by holding a second STE conference in the spring of 2005."

The details of the conference, including its location, have not all been worked out, but Mr. Boyle said the program would include plenary sessions, breakouts, and ample networking breaks. "A hallmark of TEI for 60 years has been affording in-house tax professionals an environment in which they can ask questions, share insights, and refine their vision. This program will continue that tradition."

In announcing the 2005 conference, TEI released a partial summary of the 2004 offering. Mr. Boyle reported: "Following the first conference, we invited our speakers to prepare summaries of the principal points made during their sessions. Because of other commitments, not all the speakers were able to fulfill the Institute's request, but we thought it would be informative to release the summaries we have received to the membership at large." A sampling of the summaries appear below. (Other summaries will appear in future issues.) Note: An article adapted from the luncheon address by former Assistant Treasury Secretary Pamela Olson appeared in the May-June 2004 issue of The Tax Executive.

Corporate Governance--I (Marschall I. Smith & Mark A. Weinberger)

Tax Directors are spending much more time communicating with audit committees. Based on client feedback, Tax Directors are providing audit committees regular updates on such matters as income tax exposures, tax reserves, tax structuring, corporate tax strategy, and industry-specific tax issues and risks.

At a minimum, these updates are occurring annually; often, they are occurring quarterly. This closer working relationship is a direct result of the Sarbanes-Oxley requirement that audit committees access appropriate sources of expertise about significant matters affecting financial reporting. The more specialized the particular area of focus--e.g., taxation--the more critical it is that audit committees, CFOs, and Tax Directors work together to promote transparency and to reduce overall enterprise risk arising from financial transactions.

Following are certain best practices relating to Tax Department interactions with audit committees:

1. More focused discussion and inquiries at the audit committee level about tax exposures overall.

2. Audit committee discussion around such issues as the enterprise's tax strategy, tax structure...