Companies these days have an incentive to be more aggressive when it comes to internal investigations.

The fact remains that regulators, including the SEC, are likely to look favorably on internal attempts to uncover, report and remediate fraud. So the best offense in many ways is a good defense.

Cfo.com offers a commentary with some interesting advice for companies mounting internal probes. Two big tip: Involve outside counsel as appropriate and tightly control all work with an eye on fees. Outside counsel is “more likely to have broad experience with fraud issues and related government regulations than lawyers who have worked for only one company at a time. A more important distinction is the clear attorney-client privilege between the company and outside counsel. This privilege will protect the investigation and its findings, at least to some extent.”

You may need to bring in additional third parties with specific forensic skills.

“Part of the art of working with outside consultants is controlling their fees. While outside counsel will likely be in charge of the scope of the investigation, the board of directors or company executives will also have some say over how the investigation progresses. The company does not need to write a blank check to consultants. The best consultants are those who analyze the company’s situation and offer a measured approach to their work.”

This is common sense. Once the investigation is concluded of course, executives face some tricky decisions about what to do with the results. That could carry some profound decisions that could make or break the company. Before you get to that point, you need the facts.

For more:
- here’s the article

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