PCAOB Board Member Bill Gradison To Address Compliance Week's ``Compliance Solutions'' Conference.

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 29, 2003

Compliance Week, a 30,000-circulation newsletter on corporate governance and compliance issues, has announced that Bill Gradison, a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, will deliver a keynote speech at its "Compliance Solutions" conference, a two-day symposium on "best practices" and practical recommendations for complying with the latest securities and governance regulations.

Mr. Gradison, a former nine-term United States Congressman from Ohio, was appointed to the PCAOB in October of 2002. The Board, established by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, will oversee the audits of the financial statements of public companies through rigorous registration, standard setting, inspection and disciplinary programs. Mr. Gradison, who has served in numerous public sector roles, including Under Secretary of the Treasury, is also currently the Senior Public Policy Counselor at law firm Patton Boggs.

"We are fortunate to have one of the most distinguished members of the standard-setting community addressing the attendees of Compliance Solutions," said Scott S. Cohen, editor of Compliance Week. "Mr. Gradison's comments will be particularly important considering the timing of the conference, which coincides with the accounting firm registration deadline, and the expected release of certain accounting-standard definitions."

Compliance Solutions, to be held at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA on October 8 & 9, brings together top regulators, corporate executives, governance experts and compliance providers to outline best practices and practical recommendations for complying with the latest public company regulations. The website for the conference is at http://www.csboston.com.

Mr. Gradison's address will be followed by sessions that have been crafted for senior finance, legal, investor relations, audit and IS executives responsible for compliance and disclosure at U.S. public companies. Among dozens of sessions are the following topics:

-- Internal Controls Best Practices, from Documentation to

Monitoring

-- Information Dissemination Under Reg. G: A Step-by-Step

Approach

-- Transformation Through 404: A Long-Term Approach

-- Records Management, Retention, and Enterprise Controls

-- Communication and Disclosure in the Post-SOX Era

-- Audit vs. Non-Audit Services: Navigating the Fine Line

Additional confirmed speakers for the workshop include some of the country's most distinguished and knowledgeable experts on securities law and governance matters, including

-- Standard setters, like Richard Steinberg, developer of the

COSO internal auditing standard and former Corporate

Governance Leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers;

-- Corporate executives, like Paychex audit committee member and

former Thomson Financial CEO David Flaschen, and Tiffany VP

Investor Relations Mark Aaron;

-- Organizational leaders, like Financial Executives

International (FEI) President and CEO Colleen Sayther, and

National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) President and CEO

Lou Thompson.

-- Regional experts, like Scott Harshbarger, former Massachusetts

Attorney General and governance advisor to corporate boards;

-- Other executives, regulators, and expert advisors.

Compliance Solutions will also feature an exhibitor pavilion, which will showcase solutions for public companies to help them comply with the regulations. Featured exhibitors include Deloitte & Touche, EMC, OpenPages, FileNet, and many others.

Details and registration information for can be found at http://www.csboston.com. For more information contact Frank Hertz at 888-519-9200 or [e-mail].

About Compliance Week

Compliance Week is a newsletter on corporate governance and compliance that reaches over 33,000 financial, legal and investor-relations executives at U.S. public companies every Tuesday.

Compliance Week is an independent, unbiased publisher that does not provide any consulting, software or other services that could negatively impact its ability to serve its subscribers. The publication is therefore uniquely positioned to host a compliance conference without any hidden agenda.