Video: Deloitte Financial Advisory Services Establishes Deloitte Forensic Center

NEW YORK, June 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP (Deloitte FAS) today announced the formation of the Deloitte Forensic Center (DFC), a think tank aimed at exploring new approaches for mitigating the costs, risks and effects of fraud, corruption and other issues facing the global business community.

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Unique to the marketplace, the DFC aims to advance the state of thinking in areas such as fraud and corruption by exploring issues from the perspective of forensic accountants, corporate leaders, and other professionals involved in forensic matters. The DFC will strive to provide multidisciplinary analyses that companies and official organizations will find practical and helpful. A particular focus will be placed on the use of technology as a means of providing solutions to fraud and corruption detection, mitigation, and prevention. In addition to encouraging a public dialogue on these issues, the DFC also hopes to contribute to the development of the forensic accounting profession and to raise its profile in discussions of issues of public importance. The DFC will accomplish its goals by bringing together leading professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds including business, academia, law, government and regulatory affairs.

Deloitte FAS also announced that Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank (1979-1987) has volunteered to advise the DFC on the selection of topics for study. While Mr. Volcker will advise the DFC, Deloitte FAS notes that he will not have responsibility for the development of its research and conclusions.

The DFC's agenda will include independent and jointly developed research, business and academic forums and peer discussions as well as industry benchmarking initiatives

"The problems of fraud and corruption are, in fact, matters of increasing concern to official international institutions as well as businesses. I hope the work of the Deloitte Forensic Center and others can contribute to more effective economic development practices," said Volcker.

The day-to-day operations of the DFC will be spearheaded by Frank Hydoski and Toby Bishop, a director and partner, respectively, in the Forensic & Dispute Services practice of Deloitte FAS. Hydoski is internationally recognized as the former chief of forensics for the Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program. He also led a multi-national team investigating assets of Holocaust Victims in Swiss banks. Bishop is former president and chief executive officer of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and a member of the Antifraud Programs & Controls Task Force of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

The DFC will form working groups, comprised of Deloitte FAS and non-Deloitte FAS professionals, including corporate executives, attorneys, former government officials and academics that will research and analyze the topics selected. The working groups will be formed for single topics and will be in place only until they report their results. The DFC anticipates that two to three topics will be explored within the next year by the individual working groups.

Frank Piantidosi, CEO and chairman of Deloitte FAS, notes that the DFC concept was a response to a commonly expressed need by corporate leaders, government officials, attorneys, academics and forensic accounting colleagues for a forum to raise and discuss fraud and corruption issues. "Business leaders had a common concern: how can I better manage my business or solve my client's problems in an age where fraud and corruption are a constant issue? Interestingly, we found they all wanted to know things like whether existing fraud prevention techniques were effective; what are the advances in detecting or ruling out corruption?; what are the improvements in anti-money laundering methodologies?; how do you manage FCPA investigations?; and what are the latest developments in forensic technology tools and software? It was also clearly apparent that these business leaders felt no forum currently existed that brought the best minds together to address such issues."

Commenting on the potential impact of the Deloitte Forensic Center, Hydoski stated, "I've experienced first hand from my work with the Oil-for-Food investigation the human implications of fraud and corruption. We all need to be vigilant to help companies and organizations avoid the types of mistakes -- both intentional and unintentional-that have leapt to the front page of many newspapers around the world. The DFC will bring together leaders across industries and disciplines who can collaboratively help shape strategies and leverage technology for detecting, mitigating, or preventing fraud and corruption that affect not only reputations and global economic activity, but the lives of real human beings."

Bishop added, "Fraud and corruption today create such a high cost and potential threat to organizations and to our society that new approaches to detecting, mitigating and preventing both are needed. Couple this with an increasingly strict regulatory environment and the need for a leading think tank that can bring people together to create fresh insights is readily apparent."

For more information, visit http://www.deloitte.com/us/forensiccenter

Deloitte FAS, a subsidiary of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, offers advice to clients on critical financial and economic events and transactions through the service lines of Forensic & Dispute Services, Valuation Services, Reorganization Services, and Corporate Finance. About Deloitte

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