从安然事件看重要性原则的滥用及其治理

安然公司滥用重要性原则的案例 安然公司的崩溃引起了人们对许多会计和审计问题的思考,该公司1997年的一项未调整事项成为其中最令人关注的问题之一。在当年的审计中,安达信曾建议安然公司将当年的利润从1.05亿美元调减0.51亿美元。但安然公司拒绝调整,而安达信最终也将这项未调整事项判断为"不重要"。     

从“安然事件”看注册会计师审计的独立性

美国安然事件中,由于安达信会计事务所同时提供审计业务和非审计业务而引发人们对审计独立性的质疑,那么,我国现阶段注册会计师审计中审计业务与非审计业务是否也要剥离,作者的回答是否定的.     

从安然破产案看会计审计诚信度建设

通过分析2001年12月美国能源业巨头安然公司申请破产保护案涉及到的会计和审计问题，提出了一个规范审计事业发展的理论模型，随后指出我国会计事业诚信建设需要注意的问题。     

反数字游戏:从安然公司会计造假事件引起的反思

美国上市企业安然（Enron)公司，一夜之间轰然崩塌，创下美国历史上最大宗的公司破产案记录。安然公司的破产，抛却政治等其他方面的原因，单就作为国际五大会计师事务所之一的安达信替安然公司会计造假事件，反思我国上市公司会计现状，并从会计理论与实务的角度对我国上市公司会计造假问题进行深入剖析和探讨，提出根治我国上市公司会计造假的若干对策。     

解析安然的关联交易结构

2001年安然公司的倒闭成了美国历史上最大的企业破产事件。事情虽已过去多年．但安然所使用的造假手段仍然具有很深刻的研究价值，其中鲜为人知的操作手段对我国证券监管机构和会计服务机构具有借鉴意义。     

后安然时代的会计与审计——评美国《2002年萨班斯—奥克斯利法案》及其对会计、审计发展的影响

针对安然等公司会计造假案件所暴露的会计、审计、公司治理、证券监管等问题 ,美国国会作出了迅速反应 ,制定了《2 0 0 2年萨班斯—奥克斯利法案》。法案对会计行业的监管、审计独立性、财务信息披露、公司责任、证券分析师行为、证券交易委员会的权利和职责、违法违规行为的法律责任等方面进行了重大改革和重新规范。本文重点阐述了该法案所规定的会计、审计框架及其对后安然时代会计、审计发展的影响。     

透视安然事件中法务会计在证据收集以及法庭辩论方面的作用

2001年12月2日,美国企业500强排名第7的能源巨头安然公司正式向纽约破产法院申请破产保护,2002年1月初,安然公司的股票被纽约股票交易所摘牌,被迫实行柜台交易;2002年初,损失惨重的股东向安然公司和安达信提出集体诉讼,指控其财务舞弊和证券欺诈;2002年10月,安然舞弊案件的主谋之一法斯托被联邦调查局正式逮捕。安然公司这一个曾经辉煌无比的明星公司的轰然倒下,给美国股市造成了沉重的打击。在安然事件的催生下制定的《2002年萨班斯——奥克斯利法案》代表了一个新的资本市场监管时代的到来,对会计审计发展的意义尤为重要。一般在财务舞弊…     

从安然事件透视注册会计师的独立性

独立性是注册会计师职业道德体系极为重要的组成部分,无论是CICPA还是中国注册会计师协会,所发布的职业道德准则中的第一条都规定注册会计师应保持独立、客观和公正的态度。而美国安然公司破产一案,不仅严重动摇了美国证券市场的信心,在美国政坛也引起轩然大波,甚至已成为全球关注的焦点。安然事件以及安达信国际会计公司的分崩离析,使得对注册会计师审计的独立性讨论再次升温。无独有偶,我国银广厦事件也暴露了注册会计师的独立性问题。透过这些审计失败案的立     

雷曼与安然会计操纵案件的比较与启示

2O1O年3月11日,美国破产法院指派的调查人沃鲁卡斯发布了长达2200页的调查报告,其中长达300余页的对雷曼会计操纵的描述最引人注目.这种会计操纵令人不得不联想到2001年破产的安然公司的会计舞弊案.21世纪经济报道以"安然幽灵再现?"为题对这一事件进行报道.那么,雷曼与安然的会计操纵有哪些相同和不同之处呢?     

从“安然”与“银方厦”事件探讨我国的审计改革

美国能源业巨头安然，终因造假账而轰然倒下，有独无偶的是我国的“银广厦”事件，同样因造假而倒闭。安然公司的轰然倒塌也带倒了与之有密切联系的安达信。银广厦的审计公司是深圳中天勤。中天勤作为他的审计公司却连续几次出具了无保留意见的审计报告，在客观上给了银广厦不断造假的机会。经过此事件，中天勤这个曾是全国最大业务量的事务所解体。总结“安然”与“银广厦”这两个典型案例，对我国审计界目前存在的问题和症结是有启发的。     

What can we learn from a singular case like Enron?

This story narratively contends that lessons to be learnt from Enron collapse far exceed punishments of illegal behaviors as well as some new auditing and accounting regulations. But this requires to convince the external validity of a singular case. Usual ways of claiming external validity doesn’t appear to suit this situation. Participants then try Deleuze’s concept of repetition and examines the insight this permits to gain on Enron possible lessons. This external validity criteria is finally discussed, still grounded on Enron case.     

The regulatory framework for financial reporting and auditing in the United Kingdom: the present position and impending changes

This paper provides an overview of the current regulatory framework for financial reporting and auditing in the United Kingdom. The framework remained stable for 10 years following significant reforms in 1990-1991. A further process of change is now taking place. These changes arise from three sources: refinements in the UK's regulatory framework, the European Commission's drive for a single capital market, and political interest in accounting regulation following the Enron collapse. The present position is explained and the future implications of recent and impending changes are considered.     

CAP Forum on Forensic Accounting in the Post‐Enron World: Education for Investigative and Forensic Accounting*/FORMATION ET JURICOMPTABILITÉ

Recent financial scandals have raised the awareness that accountants should be alert to potential fraud and other economic disputes and can provide significant assistance in preventing, investigating, and resolving such matters. Forensic accountants provide these services with knowledge of court requirements and proceedings so that effective legal action is possible, even though most actions are concluded without the involvement of the courts. Although forensic accounting was growing in importance even before Enron and the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act, the ensuing tightening of the securities regulations in both Canada and the United States triggered recognition that accounting students and professionals need a fuller understanding of fraud and other economic crimes, and how to find, prevent, and resolve them, as well as the career choices that could be involved. While some of this material is covered in auditing texts and courses, emerging expectations will require the enhancement and restructuring of forensic accounting education within university programs, and will encourage more interest in graduate specialist professional designations. This paper has two objectives: to offer insights into the design and delivery of forensic accounting programs, and into the availability of professional programs; and to provide some exploratory evidence on the type of services currently rendered by investigative and forensic accountants in Canada.     

Does the market dole out collective punishment? An empirical analysis of industry,geography, and Arthur Andersen’s reputation

Arthur Andersen’s reputation was tarnished following news that its Houston office had shredded documents related to the auditing of energy giant Enron. Earlier studies documented widespread spillover of the reputation effect, suggesting a strong commonality in Big 5 audit practices. We examine whether the market is more discriminating in its assessments. We focus on the roles industry specialization of auditors and the geography of clients’ audit offices play in accounting for the contagion. Our results are supportive of investors who differentiate audit practices by industry and who account for the location of the specific office where the audit work is done. We find that losses suffered by energy firms or firms located close to Houston are equivalent to approximately 90% of the aggregate abnormal losses suffered by Big 5 clients. Our evidence suggests the possibility of more localized impact of accounting scandals and supports accounting regulations targeted at individual industries.     

Judges' attitudes toward the public accounting profession: An update

This study examines U.S. judges' attitudes toward the public accounting profession and the extent to which they have changed over the last 16 years: (a) early in the decade of the 1990's (1993), (b) late in the decade of the 1990's, but before the Enron and subsequent corporate accounting debacles (1997), (c) three years after the Enron debacle (2003), and (d) following the recent market collapse related to the failures of our financial institutions (2009). As previously reported (Reckers et al., 2004) attitudes of judges toward the public accounting profession are known to be representative of the views of other stakeholders (lawyers, jurors and MBAs) and would be expected, and have been found, to be relatively stable over time. Nonetheless attitudes are subject to change if given a substantial stimulus and the corporate debacles at the beginning of this decade, the corresponding CPA firm litigation and the demise of Arthur Andersen arguably constituted such a stimulus. It was reported that a significant erosion of judges' attitudes toward the public accounting profession could be measured in 2003 (Reckers et al, 2004). Given that judicial attitudes have been found to be significantly correlated with judgments rendered in a laboratory experiments, sharp erosion of attitudes is a concern. Judges were re-examined in 2009 to determine if attitudes had potentially rebounded. Reasons to expect attitudes may have rebounded include (a) expectations related to federal reforms of the auditing profession (e.g., SOX, PCAOB), (b) lack of recent accounting scandals, and (c) the financial institutions debacles of 2008. In comparison to the perceived abuses of the financial industry revealed in 2008, the earlier accounting abuses may have faded away.     

To tell the truth: A discussion of issues concerning truth and ethics in accounting

Such major scandals as the savings and loan failures in the late 1980s and 1990s, the Enron, Global Crossing, WorldCom and Tyco corporate scandals, Arthur Andersen’s demise, and the current crisis of the financial system have all been linked directly or indirectly to false, misleading, or untruthful accounting. Thus, in a pragmatic sense the question of the veracity of accounting or what it could mean for accounting to be true seems to exist. The assertion of a false or misleading financial report implies some belief that there could exist a true or not-misleading report. Accounting-standard setters have finessed this issue by agreeing that “decision usefulness,” not truth, is financial reporting’s ultimate objective. Over time they have gravitated to a coherence notion of truth to provide rationales for accounting policy. The result has been a serious conflict between the content of financial accounting and the auditing of that content. In this paper we describe this conflict and its consequences and, relying on John McCumber’s work, provide an argument about how accounting scholars and practitioners might begin to think more cogently about what a truthful type of corporate reporting might be. We suggest that accounting-standard setters have too narrowly construed what accounting’s role in democratic society is and how the contradictions of current standard-setting jeopardize the essential professional franchise of accountants, the audit function.     

审计独立性与会计信息质量

审计独立性对会计信息质量的影响间接却又十分重要。本文从独立性的界说出发,分别从代理理论、会计规则制定权合约安排以及国内外的相关案例分析了独立性与会计信息质量的关系,并结合我国现阶段的具体情况,提出了提高审计独立性的两点对策强化注册会计师民事法律责任的制度约束;逐步取消有限责任的事务所组织形式。     

The Uses of Advanced Information Technology in Audit Planning

Expert systems, intelligent databases and other forms of advanced information technology are quickly becoming pervasive tools in accounting and auditing. All the major public accounting firms are either using such systems in their auditing practice or have them under development. This paper describes the use of several systems used for audit planning. These are divided into three functional areas: audit risk assessment, internal control evaluation and audit program development. The advantages and disadvantages of these systems as they relate to auditing are discussed.     

How accounting and auditing systems can counteract risk-shifting of safety-nets in banking: Some international evidence

This paper suggests that accounting and auditing systems can be effective devices to counteract tendencies for firm risk-taking associated with bank safety nets. Results are obtained from an international sample of publicly traded banks after controlling for other regulatory control devices for bank risk such as restrictions on banking activities, minimum regulatory capital requirements and official discipline. The efficacy of accounting and auditing systems in controlling bank risk diminishes with bank charter value and increases with moral hazard stemming from a country's deposit insurance. The results also indicate that accounting and auditing systems are complements for minimum capital requirements, but substitutes for restrictions on bank activities and official discipline.