Technical committee profile: Global Oversight Committee (GOC).

• Author: Heffes, Ellen M.
• Position: FeiNEWS

The reason FEI changed its name in 2000--from Financial Executives Institute to Financial Executives International--was to better prepare the association to respond to the increasing globalization of financial reporting standards, as well as the internationalization of business operations. Hence, the Global Oversight Committee (GOC) was formed by FEI's Executive Committee to drive efforts to make that "i" truly mean "international" by reaching out to senior finance organizations and international regulatory standard-setting bodies.

"Visibility for FEI is the main thing that that GOC is about," says the committee's current chair, David Morris, senior vice president of JPMorgan Chase Bank in New York. Morris has previously served as FEI's representative to the International Association of Financial Executives Institutes (IAFEI), which he had chaired. As such, he has extensive knowledge and experience in the workings of international finance networks and groups. Raising the stature of FEI around the world, Morris explains, is key so that as changes are occurring, "the organizations originating accounting or auditing standard-setting will come to us for input."

Whose interests does the GOC serve? "All members," Morris argues. "Obviously, a number of FEI members are with companies that are currently impacted by international accounting and auditing standards." However, as convergence continues, all U.S. companies, no matter what size, will be impacted by the trickle-down effects of conveying accounting and auditing standards. For example, he explains, "European Union (EU) businesses of all sizes all are adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). So, small businesses in Europe are facing many of the convergence issues that someday those in the U.S. will also face."

As noted on FEI's Web site, the GOC is charged "to create a global forum of financial executives, initially from both sides of the Atlantic, willing to share best business practices, to engage in a business network, to follow a common code of ethics and to play an advocacy role in front of regulatory bodies." The committee's mission is three-fold: to "develop strategy for international growth; identify products and services to support globalization of FEI; and determine governance and organizational structure for a globalized FEI." The committee's FEI liaison is Grace Hinchman, Senior Vice President, Public...