Rule of Law: The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 is a United States federal law that protects federal whistleblowers who work for the government and report agency misconduct. (www.wikipedia.org/whistleblower.com). The Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act calls for whistleblowing in the context of publicly traded…
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) originated on July 29, 2002 due to fraudulent bookkeeping practices and misleading financial reports from large corporations. These practices created a number of accounting scandals, which resulted in this in the government creating such an act. The purpose was to prevent and punish corporate corruption and, along the way, try to repair investor confidence. The law was passed by congress after well-known companies (Enron, Peregrine Systems and Tyco International, to name a few) caused great humiliations to its investors, which in result cost them billions of dollars. The share prices of the affected companies collapsed, which shook public confidence in the nation’s securities markets.…
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was created in response to the series of misleading and fraudulent activities of publicly traded big business’s in the 1990s. During this time, multiple large publicly-traded businesses increased their stock prices by “publishing false or deceptive financial statements” (Lasher, 2008, p. 187). The most publicly charged company was Enron, which was then followed by Xerox, WorldCom and Global Crossing. This resulted in millions of dollars of stock market value disappearing in what seemed to be overnight. It is in response to these events that Congress drafted and passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.…
In recent years there have been many highly publicized financial accounting scandals. Enron, WorldCom, and AIG are a few of the well- known corporate companies that have been involved in financial reporting scandals. United Sates regulators and lawmakers made known their concerns of mistrust in corporate accounting, because of unethical financial reporting. In 2002 Congress formed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to certify that publically traded companies were reporting their finances honestly. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act specifies the requirements for financial reporting for public Corporations. The Securities and Exchange Commission oversees the financial reports from these companies. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act calls for all publicly traded corporations to…
In the United States, the public capital markets are controlled basically by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The laws that helps and provides the SEC the permission to define the form and content of the financial reports filed with the Commission. The SEC is accountable for administering federal securities laws written to give protection for investors. (Skousen, K. Fred, 1991). At the beginning of the 21st century, the finding of accounting malpractices among many popular American companies bought demand for SEC activities. However, in 1934 the federal agency established to accomplish the provisions of the SEC Act and to safeguard…
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 directed the SEC to adopt a new rule to require national securities exchanges and national securities associations to prohibit listing an issuer’s security unless the issuer complies with audit committee requirements relating to independence; overseeing the independent auditor; establishing procedures to handle complaints regarding accounting, internal accounting controls, or auditing matters; the authority to engage counsel and other advisers; and funding for the independent auditor and outside advisers as the committee deems necessary [See Exhibit…
Some investors that are misled lost chunk if not all of their investments. The public, investors, employees, pension holders and politicians were so outraged and wanted to why Enron's failings were not spotted earlier. Enron did not do these all alone, they have accomplice in the name of another giant accounting/auditing company called Arthur Andersen where they helped the firm overlooked significant debts that are not the Enron’s financial statement. They knew that Enron was over its head but they let the company conceal its debt over a long period of that which eventually led to the downfall of the company. The highlight of this section is that Enron’s top managements self interest, greed led to presenting the investors and board of directors misleading financial statements. Because of their greed and self interest, a crime was committed that led to prosecution of some of the Enron’s top managers. For example, Former Enron executive Michael Kopper pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. While Andrew Fastow Former CFO was charged with securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. To avoid another Enron, the US Congress passed a law called Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002…
The Act holds a company 's executive officers and financial officers responsible for the accuracy of the company’s financial information. Also it requires companies to report clear financial information and ensure their financial records are valid. Moreover, the Act gives the external auditor more access to the financial data and protects corporate whistle blowers (Magloff, 2013). Any false or misleading information in the company’s financial statements is considered as a crime. Public companies are required to comply with the Act. The Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act creates additional costs for a company for audits and internal control software or plans. Therefore, the Act results a barrier for foreign companies to operate within the United States and some small-sized and medium-sized companies consider not to go public (Slaughter,…
In the summer of 2012, JPMorgan Chase, the largest leading U.S. bank, make known trading losses from investment verdict made by its Chief Investment Office (CIO) of $5.8 billion. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was provided falsified first quarter reports that concealed this enormous loss. The duty of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors, uphold fair, organize, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. Obligatory public companies to disclose meaningful financial information to the public is an effective move toward the SEC takes in order to assure the securities of this nation (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).…
Chapter 5: the Sarbanes- Oxley act of 2002 involved the public anger that started when Enron, WorldCom, and other big companies scandals. This is when there was support for white collar crime when it came to accounting standards. Under the law of federal sentencing rules to make sure that white collar criminals are being punished. (Barnes, 2012). 1. For someone to alter or get rid of documents and there intensions to obstruct or effect the crime/case. 2. The CEO (chief executive officer) and the CFO (chief financial officer) must clarify that repots have been submitted to the SEC (securities and exchange commission.) it is a crime if the CEO and CFO make a report that is false. 3 CEO and CFO must reimburse the company for any raises and if…
The Alien and Sedition acts were passed by the Federalists in the United States congress in 1798, and they were signed into the law by President John Adams. The alien and sedition acts were four laws, one of which was called the Naturalization Act, another was the Alien Act, the two others were the Alien Enemies Act, and the Sedition Act. The four acts were passed in order to try controlling the activities of the foreigners in the United States during impending war.…
The Sarbanes-Oxley act arose as a result of several corporate accounting scandals that became public in late 2001 and early 2002. These scandals involved many publicly traded companies such as Enron, which “boosted profits and hid debts totaling over $1 billion by improperly using off-the-books partnerships”; WorldCom, which “overstated…
In 1939, Social Security was modified to add benefits to the spouse or minor children of a retired worker. It also added a survivor’s benefit, paid to the family in the event of the premature death of a covered worker. With the 1939 amendment, the idea of economic security became a family-based program rather than an individual-based one. The next significant change to the SSA occurred in 1950, when the first cost of living adjustment (COLA) was added to the program. This was a one-time increase in benefits of 7.7%; the next COLA occurred in 1952, a 12.5% increase. In 1954, a stipulation was added that would freeze a worker’s record during the years he was disabled and unable to work. This amendment avoided a worker’s receiving reduced or no benefits in the event of a…
Throughout the past several years major corporate scandals have rocked the economy and hurt investor confidence. The largest bankruptcies in history have resulted from greedy executives that “cook the books” to gain the numbers they want. These scandals typically involve complex methods for misusing or misdirecting funds, overstating revenues, understating expenses, overstating the value of assets or underreporting of liabilities, sometimes with the cooperation of officials in other corporations (Medura 1-3). In response to the increasing number of scandals the US government amended the Sarbanes Oxley act of 2002 to mitigate these problems. Sarbanes Oxley has extensive regulations that hold the CEO and top executives responsible for the numbers they report but problems still occur. To ensure proper accounting standards have been used Sarbanes Oxley also requires that public companies be audited by accounting firms (Livingstone). The problem is that the accounting firms are also public companies that also have to look after their bottom line while still remaining objective with the corporations they audit. When an accounting firm is hired the company that hired them has the power in the relationship. When the company has the power they can bully the firm into doing what they tell them to do. The accounting firm then loses its objectivity and independence making their job ineffective and not accomplishing their goal of honest accounting (Gerard). Their have been 379 convictions of fraud to date, and 3 to 6 new cases opening per month. The problem has clearly not been solved (Ulinski).…
As per scope of examination a company can lose a substantial amount of revenue through occupational fraud and abuse. There is several deterrence methods can be implemented by a company to avoid frauds and abuse by employees. This misleading financial statement fraud may impact our company’s investment potential, credit worthiness, business operation, and employee morale (Wells, 2005). The SEC Acts of 1933 and 1934 were passed by Congress of United States to provide sources of potential liability for accountants to ensure protection for investors and for facilitation of orderly capital markets (Lowers, Ramsey, Sinason & Strawser, 2007). These acts enforce accountability on accountants to practice integrity when working for clients and…