Public audit firms operate in an environment with more regulatory and media scrutiny than in the past. And, of course, the accounting and operating issues that auditors are expected to understand and evaluate have grown more numerous and more complex.

Founded in 2003, Glass, Lewis & Co. can help auditors assess the business, legal, corporate governance and financial statement risk at public companies they audit or seek to audit across the globe. Using Glass Lewis' research, an accounting firm can monitor its existing client base for early signs of problems and can quickly assess potential issues at prospective clients.

Our online Monitor and Risk Monitor tool issues real-time warnings when financial information or other company disclosures signal possible weakening of company performance or when other developments, such as litigation, selling by insiders, related-party transactions or compensation arrangements, could harm shareholders or foretell larger problems to come. Public audit firms are using this service to keep abreast of issues in their audit client base and ensure the audit staff is evaluating the most pressing issues at their clients.

Our Trend Reports are written to keep institutions that operate in the capital markets on top of major trends and developments, especially around accounting and audit-related issues. For example, we have written the definitive study on financial restatements, including a detailed assessment of why companies restate, which companies most often restate and which auditors have the fewest problem clients.

And our proxy research provides an overview of corporate governance and the quality of the board's oversight.

The specific services used by our public auditor clients include:

The Monitor is a web-based tool that enables investors to monitor continuously public companies for signs of unusual risk. The Monitor alerts users when financial information or other company disclosures signal possible weakening of company performance or when other developments, such as litigation, selling by insiders, related-party transactions or compensation arrangements, could harm stakeholders or foretell larger problems to come. Risk Monitor is a web based application that provides a near real-time ranking of a company's relative risk. Risk Monitor uses quantitative tools to analyze millions of data points to identify patterns that have been historical indicators of risk. It then ranks public companies based on their relative risk profile. The risk profiles, generated in near real-time, summarized as percentile-based scores, are calculated by tracking more than thirty data patterns that Glass Lewis has identified as predictive of risk to shareholder value. Glass Lewis publishes comprehensive studies on accounting issues and regulatory developments that disproportionately affect certain companies or industries. These Trend Reports allow stakeholders to remain abreast of major developments that can impact public companies and their value. A list of recent Trend Reports is available. Glass Lewis is the leading, independent provider of global corporate governance and proxy research. Proxy Paper features contextual, objective analysis of corporate governance issues and voting recommendations on all proposals contained in thousands of global proxies.