Corporate Governance and Legal Audit

The rapid enactment and enforcement of legislation and regulations coupled with the globalization of the economy, has increased the need for specialized governance, compliance and investigative legal services marking a shift for business entities to focus on legal risk management.

We understand that business entities are faced with the need to acquire innovative solutions on risk management, effective corporate governance and compliance and we collaborate with them to take such approaches with an aim of staying ahead of uncertainties so as to maximize business opportunities and meet stakeholder expectations.

Our team provides assistance in some of the following matters:

Governance:

• Identifying and advising on the applicable laws and regulations relating to board leadership, division of responsibilities, company succession, audit risk and internal controls
• Executive compensation, benefits and appointment agreements, including alignment of compensation practices
• Management succession, continuity and evaluation
• Review of corporate charters, bylaws and board governance policies
• In partnership with other stakeholder organizations, analyzing the systems and processes in place and designing and implementing models for their regulatory and compliance structures

Legal Audit

We objectively examine the processes, policy documents, records, practices and acts of our clients with a view of assessing compliance with the legal and regulatory framework to which they are subject to.

The scope of a legal audit will largely depend on the size and complexity of the business entity.

Smaller and Medium Business Entities

We will conduct a detailed legal evaluation of:

• Organizational structure
• Company assets
• Human resource policies, employee handbooks and processes
• Contracts: employment, vendor, sales; as-well-as any other contracts or legal agreements and documentation
• Non-disclosure and non-compete agreements
• Review of Intellectual Property (trademark and copyright registrations as-well-as licensing agreements)
• Legal requirements relating to financial reporting & statements, accounting practices and internal controls
• Shareholder, operating and joint-venture agreements
• Commercial property and equipment leases
• Current and past litigation
• Types of insurance and coverage
• Compliance with industry specific regulations
• Document retention policies and data security
• Internal and external communication
• Tax compliance
• Health and Safety at the work place

Large Business Entities

The scope of the audit will be based on the entities’ industry and past legal issues. This will be through the submission of a Request for Proposal (RFP).