Red Flag #5: Poor Corporate Governance Several weaknesses exist in JP Morgan’s corporate governance structure.
Red Flag #5: Poor Corporate Governance Several weaknesses exist in JP Morgan’s corporate governance structure.
The purpose of this article analysis is to identify situations that may lead to unethical practices and behavior in accounting. Brooke Corporation and founder Robert Orr are an example of how Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) laws have not been as effective as most want to believe as based on the article, “Eight Years after the Fact is SOX working? A Look at the Brooke Corporation” by Beth Hazels. Brooke Corporation was, “once the largest franchisors of property and casualty insurance in the United States” (Hazel, p.19) until both company and founder filed for bankruptcy in 2008. Robert Orr and Brooke Corporation committed fraud on their financial statements as well as misappropriated commissions and funds due to their franchisee agents, customers and lenders during their 24-year reign of deceit. Lawsuits alleging anywhere from “fraud and civil racketeering to business valuations and financing were brought up against Brooke corporation and most were dropped. Brooke was also in violation of several SOX laws that have yet to be raised against them” (Hazel, p.23).…
Descriptions of the main aspects of the regulatory environment which will protect the public from fraud within corporations are going to be provided in this paper. A special attention to the Sarbanes – Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) requirement; along with an evaluation of whether Sarbanes-Oxley Act will be effective in avoiding future frauds based on their implemented rules and regulations.…
In the beginning years of the new century a series of huge corporate frauds predominated the business sections and front pages of dominant newspapers, shaking public confidence in the integrity of corporate America. Those scandals also raise serious questions about the integrity, acuity and prudence of business leaders and accountants who structure and document business transactions, approve required financial disclosures, and, in the case of accountants, certify the accuracy of required reports (Enrione, Mazza, & Zerboni, 2006).…
Based on the eyewitness testimony and preliminary investigation, five notable members of senior management were alleged participants in WoolEx Mills’ fraud scheme involving financial irregularities. Four of the five members of senior management included: the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), the Head of Manufacturing and Sourcing, and the Head of Sales. The fifth perpetrator’s position was not indicated in the fraud case study. Depending on the circumstances of the fraud case, more employees may have been involved in the perpetrating or concealing of fraudulent activity. As part of the company turnaround, the five members of senior management were suspended and only ethical individuals…
The goals of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act are expansive, including the improvement of the quality of audits in an attempt to eliminate fraud in order to protect the public’s interest, as well as for the protection of the investors (Donaldson, 2003). Prior to the implementation of SOX auditors were self-regulated with consumers reliant on their honesty and integrity. However, the auditing profession failed at self-regulation, thus necessitating the implementation of a security measure that would protect the investors and the public and restore confidence in the accounting profession. SOX was the response by the federal government, augmenting the role of auditors in enforcing federal securities laws against fraud and theft within public companies. (Coates, 2007) Additionally, SOX emphasizes executive responsibility and the improvement of disclosures and financial reporting (Donaldson, 2003).…
The moral tone of the case study we were given to read, written by Michael Lewis, almost seemed to be a defense as to why what Jonathan had done should have been acceptable. Lewis seemed to portray Jonathan as just a kid doing what all financial analyst and stock gurus do daily, but since Jonathan was 15, and doing it well, then the Securities and Exchange Commission was “picking” on him. At times in the story their was a sense on emotional disarray, and no one wanting to be the blame or accept responsibility for the situation, especially between Jonathans, his mother, and father.…
Professional auditing standards discuss the three key “conditions” that are typically present when a financial fraud occurs and identify a lengthy list of “fraud risk factors.” Briefly explain the difference between a fraud “condition” and a “fraud risk factors,” and provide examples of each. What fraud conditions and fraud risk factors were apparently present in the Madoff case?…
Enron’s failure spotlighted corporate America’s moral failures and tremendously injured those that condoned and benefited from the unethical practices. This failure resulted in a major overhaul of accountability guidelines of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Code of Ethics was promulgated along with other support mechanisms that monitor a company’s ethics program that extends to the core values of company management and personnel. Of the five components of ethical behavior, honesty is perhaps the most complex and difficult to implement since the ultimate decision to disclose information to the public relies mostly on the individual’s ethical values or interpretations that can be manipulated to produce a desired…
inviolate or the disclosure of which would be embarrassing or would likely be detrimental to…
The American government has taken significant measures to protect the public from fraud with-in corporations. Many federal laws have been enacted, regulatory bodies created and empowered to monitor and enforce those laws. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (SOX), of 2002 was an attempt to address several violations to the public trust from corporations that continued to occur despite the previous attempts to govern corporate responsibility to the public. This act specifically tried to reduce unethical corporate behavior and increase public confidence in the financial reporting of corporations (Kimmel, Weygandt, & Kieso, 2011). This paper will address if the requirements of SOX will be enough to prevent future fraud in the corporate environment.…
“The paper describes the main aspects of the regulatory environment which will protect the public from fraud within corporations. It pays particular attention to SOX requirements and specifically evaluate whether SOX will be effective in avoiding future frauds” (University of Phoenix, 2014).…
3-6 Explain the relationship between an employee’s position and the level of theft (according to…
This is an ethical review of the film Wall Street (Stone and Weiser). It examines ethical dilemmas Bud Fox faced and what made him vulnerable to crossing the ethical line, as well as what factors led to Fox 's attempt to repair the ethical breach. It examines Gordon Gecko 's thoughts on a person 's vulnerability to making an ethical breach and how this related to Bud Fox. Finally, it will take a look at factors in the film that relate to the Enron and WorldCom cases.…
The Board of Directors and Management team engaged in several conflict of interest actions. They were the first company to be charged under the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002; which holds financial executives more accountable by making them review and sign the financial statements. The SEC charged and found guilty, fifteen executives with accounting fraud they also admitted that they were a part of the fraud. If they had co-operated with the authorities the fraud would have been detected. Nobody wanted to decrease their wealth that occurred due to their unethical practices. According to (Lublin & Carms, 2003 para1) one of the directors, made a statement that they were not aware of what was going on. Their loss of accountability and transparency is obvious. They became oblivious to the fact that they were cheating investors of millions of dollars. Confusion is apparent because they did not know what was ethical anymore.…
The code of ethics of the company consists a large portion of text about the general code of ethics which is applied to every individual unit, but it emphasis less on the code for investment banking industry, such as insider dealing, money laundering,…