Tarrant Apparel Group Selects Nth Orbit's Certus Software for Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance

Business Wire, Dec 8, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 2003

Complete Compliance Framework, Ease of Use, and Sophisticated

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Nth Orbit, Inc., announced today that Tarrant Apparel Group (Nasdaq:TAGS), a leading provider of private label casual apparel, has purchased its Certus(TM) internal controls and assurance software for the clothing maker's Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts.

Tarrant is a leading provider of men's, women's and children's casual, private label apparel. The company has strong relationships with specialty retail, mass merchants and national department stores including: Express, Wet Seal, Chicos, Limited Too, Federated, Kohl's, J.C. Penney, K-Mart, Sears, Mervyn's, and Walmart. In addition, Tarrant produces finished garments for several international designer brands. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles and operates a Hong Kong based global sourcing network.

"We selected Certus over other compliance software because it allows us to more efficiently complete the assessment and documentation effort," said Barry Aved, Tarrant Apparel Group's president. "Moreover, it provides us with a framework for sustaining compliance by enabling us to easily respond to business changes and by simplifying employee participation and compliance dramatically. We are very pleased with our choice of Certus and with the value that Nth Orbit brings to our company through its expertise and its Leadership Forum."

"I am delighted that Certus will be a central part of Tarrant's compliance practices," said Vani Kola, CEO of Nth Orbit. "Tarrant, like many Certus customers, needs to distribute the responsibilities for compliance across diverse operations yet have the ability to monitor and report on controls locally and centrally. Certus is the only product that combines the ability to delegate control ownership and responsibilities while providing detailed management reports and visibility by business unit, location, process, account and control."

Certus capabilities slated for use at Tarrant include the ability to:

-- Tailor the Certus COSO library to the company's own control framework

-- Document risks and control activities

-- Document controls and identify gaps

-- Automate sub-certifications and self-assessments

-- Perform continuous monitoring

-- Test procedures and regimens

About Tarrant Apparel Group

Founded in 1985, Tarrant Apparel Group is a leading provider of private label and branded casual apparel. The Company serves specialty retailers, mass merchants/national department stores and branded wholesalers by designing, merchandising, sourcing, and manufacturing casual apparel for women, men and children. Through its subsidiary Private Brands, Inc., the Company designs, markets and manufactures its private brands for global distribution to leading retailers. The Company recently announced the launch of Private Brands developed with premier retailers in strategic relationships, including American Rag, CIE, with Federated Merchandising Group, and No Jeans with Wet Seal. Tarrant is also the exclusive jeanswear producer for Seven 7, which is sold in Express stores.

About Certus

Certus addresses the full range of compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, including Sections 302 and 404, and is designed to allow companies to implement the full COSO framework. Certus enables sustainable compliance from risk assessment, controls documentation, gap management, remediation, testing, and ongoing monitoring. Companies can quickly implement Certus and leverage work already done to accelerate compliance and reduce overall costs. By allowing employees to respond to compliance activities entirely through their Microsoft Outlook or other popular email tool, Certus dramatically reduces the costs of training and rollout while enabling distribution and delegation of compliance responsibilities across the enterprise. Sophisticated reporting provides aggregate and detail visibility of the project and controls by account, process, status, location, and business unit so controllers and compliance teams can manage effectively while chief financial executives can certify reliably. Certus can be easily integrated into your current IT infrastructure.

About Nth Orbit

New standards -- and new standard-bearers -- for corporate governance are emerging as companies respond to Sarbanes-Oxley. Nth Orbit is the early leader in solutions for compliance and controls, and it is rapidly setting the standard for the industry. Customers such as Conexant, Suntron, Tarrant Apparel Group, The Greenbrier Companies, and Great-West Life recognize Certus as a visionary product and the only complete solution available. In addition to its software product, Nth Orbit advances governance practices through its Leadership Forum, an exclusive executive resource that offers expert seminars, workbooks, and research. Through its software products, expert services and Leadership Forum, Nth Orbit provides its customers with the essential elements for achieving authentic governance excellence. Nth Orbit is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. For more information, please visit www.nthorbit.com.