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会计舞弊财务舞弊外文文献翻译

会计舞弊财务舞弊外文文献翻译(含:英文原文及中文译文)文献出处:Badawi I M. Global corporate accounting fraud sandaction for reforms[J]. Review of Business, 2005, :26(:2).英文原文GlobalCorporate Accounting Frauds and Actionfor ReformsIbrahim BadawiSt.John’sUniversityAbstractThe recent wave of corporate fraudulentfinancial reportinghas promptedglobal actions for reforms in corporategovernance and financialreporting, by governmentsand accounting andauditingstandard-setting bodies in theU.S.and internationally, includ ingtheEuropean Commission; the InternationalFederation ofAccountants; the Organization for Econ omicCooperationand Development;and others,in order torestoreinvestor confidence in financi alreporting, theaccounting professionand global financialmarkets.IntroductionDuringthe recent series of corporatefraudul ent financial reporting incidentsin the U.S.,simila rcorporate scandals were disclosed in several other c ountries.Almost all casesof foreign corporateaccountingfrauds werecommitted byentitiesthatcond ucttheir businessesinmore than one country, and most of these entitiesare alsolisted on U.S. stockexchanges. Followingthe legislative and regulatory reforms of corporate America,resulting from the SarbanesOxley Actof 2002,reforms werealso initiatedw orldwide. Theprimary purpose of this paper is twofo ld:(1) to identify theprominent American andforeign companiesinvolved in fraudulent financial reporting and the natureof accounting irregularities they committed;and(2) to highlight the globalreactionfor corporate reforms whichare aimedat restoring investor confidence infinancial reporting,the public accountingprofession and global capital markets.Casesof GlobalCorporateAccounting FraudsThelist of corporate financial accounting scandals in the U.S. isextensive, and each one was the result of one ormore creative accountingirregularities. Exhi bit 1 identifies a sample of U.S. companiesthat committed such fraud andthe nature oftheir fraudulent financial reporting activities.Who Commits Financial Fraud and HowThere are three groups of business people whocommit financial statement frauds. They rangefrom senior management (CEOand CFO); mid- and lower-level manag ement; and organizational criminals[6,16]. CEOs and CFOs commit accounting frauds to conceal true busin essperformance, to preserve personal status andcontrol and to maintain personal incomeand wealth. Mid- and lower-level employees falsifyfinancial statements related totheirarea ofresponsibility (subsidiary,division or other unit) to conceal poorperformance and/orto earnperformance-basedbonuses. Organizational criminalsfalsifyfinancial statements toobtainloansor to inflate a stockthey planto sellin a “pump-and-dump”scheme. Methodsof financialstatement schemes range fromfictitiousor fabricated revenues; altering the times at which revenues are recognized;improper assetvaluationsand reporting;concealing liabilitiesand expenses; and improperfinancia lstatement disclosures.Global Regulatory Action forCorporate and Accounting ReformsIn responseto corporateand accounting scandals,theeffectsofwhich arestill beingfelt throughouttheU.S. economy, and in orderto p rotect public interestand torestore investorconfidence in the capital market, U.S.lawmakers, in a compromisebythe House andSenate, passed theSarbanes-OxleyAct of 2002.President Bush signed thisAct into law (Public Law107-204) on July 30,2002. The Act resultedinmajorchangesto compliancepractices oflarge U.S. and non-U.S.companies whose securitiesare listed or traded on U.S.stoc kexchanges, requiringexecutives, boards of directors and external auditors to undertake measures to implement greater accountability,responsibility and transparency of financial reporting. The statutes oftheAct, and thenewSEC initiatives that followed [1,4,8,12,15], are considered themost significantlegislation and regulationsaffecting the corporate community andtheaccounting profession since 1933.Other U.S. regu latorybodies such as NYSE, NASDAQ and the StateSocietiesof CPAs have alsopassed new regulations which place additionalburdens on publiclytraded c ompanies and their external auditors.TheSarbanes-Oxley Act (SOA)is expressly applicab le to any non-U.S.companyregistered on U.S.exc hanges under either the Securities Act of1933 orthe Security Exchange Actof 1934,regardless of countryof incorporationor corporate domicile.Furthermore, external auditors ofsuch registrants,regardless oftheir n ationality or placeofbusiness,are subject tothe oversight of the Public Company Accounting OversightBoard(PCAOB) andtothe statutoryrequ irements of the SOA.TheUnited States’ SOA has reverberated around the globe through the corporate and accounting reforms addressed by theInternational Federation ofAccountants (I FAC);the Organization forEconomic Cooperation and Development(OECD);the European Commission (UC);and authoritative bodies within individual Europeancountries.International Federation ofAccountants (IFAC)The IFAC is a private governance organizationwhos emembersare thenational professional associations of accountants.It formallydescribes itself as the global representativeof the accountingprofession, with the objectiveof servingthe publicinterest,strengtheni ng the worldwide accountancyprofession and contributingtothedevelopment of stronginternationaleconomiesbyestablishing and promoting adherence to high quality standards[9].The Federation represents accountancy groups worldwide andhas served as a reminder thatrestoringpublic confidence in financial reportingandthe accountingprofession shouldbe considered a global mission.Itis also considered akey player inthe global auditingarena which,among other things,constructs internationa lstandards on auditing and has laiddown an internationalethical code forprofessional accountants [14].TheIFAC has recently secureda deg reeof supportfor its endeavors from someof theworld’s most influential international organizationsin economic and financial spheres, including globalFinancialStability Forum(FSF), the International Organizationof SecuritiesCommissions(IOSCO), the World Bank and, most significantly, the EC. In October 2002,IFAC commissioned aTaskForce on Rebuil ding Public Confidencein Financial Reporting to use a global perspectiveto considerhow to restore thecre dibilityof financial reporting and corporate disclosure.Its report, “Rebuilding PublicConfidence in FinancialReporting: An International Perspective,” includes recommendations for strengtheningcorporate governance, and raising the regulating standards of issuers. Among its conclusions andrecommendationsrelated to audit committees are:1.All public interestentities shouldhave an independent audit committee or similar body.2.The auditcommittee shouldregularly reportto the boardandshould addressconcerns about financial information,internal controls or theaudit.3. The audit committee mustmeet regularly and have su fficient timeto perform its roleeffectively.4.Audit committees should havecoreresponsibilities, including monitoringand reviewing the integrityof financial reporting, financial controls,the internal audit function, as well asforrecommending,working with and monitoringthe externalauditors.5. Auditcommittee membersshould be financially literate andamajority should have“substantialfinancialexperience.” Theyshould receivefurthertrainingas necessary ontheirresponsibilities and onthecompany.6. Audit committees should have regular private “executive sessions” with the outside auditors and the head of theinternal auditdepartment.These executive ses sions should not include members of management. T here should be similar meetings with thechief financialofficer and otherkey financial executives,butwithout othermembers of management.7. Auditcommittee members shouldbeindependentofmanagement.8. Thereshouldbe a principles-based approach to defining independenceon an international level. Companies should disclose committeemembers’credentials, remuneration andshareholdings.9. Reinforcing therole of the auditcommitteeshould improve the relationshipbetweenthe auditor and thecompany. The auditcommitteeshould recommendthe hiringand firingofauditors and approv etheir fees, as well as review theaudit plan. 10.The IFAC Code ofEthics should be the foundation for individual national independencerules. It should be relied on in making decisions onwhether auditors should provide non-audit services.Non-audit services performed by the auditor shouldbe approved by theaudit committee.11.Allfees, forauditand non-audit services, shouldbe disclosedto shareholders.12.Key auditteam members,including the engag ement andindependentreview partners, shouldserve nolonger thansevenyearson theaudit.13. Two years should pass before a key auditteam m embercantake a position at the companyasadirector or any otherimportant management position Organizationfor EconomicCooperation and D evelopment (OECD)The Organizationfor Economic Cooperation and Developm ent(OECD) is a quasi-think tankmade up of 30member countries, including the United Statesand United Kingdom, andit has working relationships with more than70 othercountries.In 2004, the OECD unveiledthe up dated revisionof its “Principlesof CorporateGove rnance” that had originally been adopted by its membergovernments(including the U.S. and UK)in 1999.Although theyare nonbinding, the principlesprovide a reference for national legislationandregulation, as well as guidance for stockexchanges, inves tors,corporations andother parties [11,13]. The p rinciples have longbecome an internationalbenchmark forpolicymakers, investors,corporations and other stakeholders worldwide. Theyhaveadvanced the corporategovernance agenda and provided specificguidanceforlegislative andregulatory initiativesin both the OECDand non-OECDcountries.The 2004 updatedversion of “Principles of CorporateGovernance” includes recommendations on accounting andauditing standards,the independence of board mem bers and the need for boardsto act in the interest of the company and the shareholders.Theupdated version also setsmoredemandingstandards in a number of areas thatimpact corporate executive compensation andfinance,such as:1.Granting investors the right to nominateco mpanydirectors, aswell as a moreforcefulrolein electingthem.2. Providing shareholderswith a voice in the compens ation policy for board membersand executives,and giving these stockholders theability to submit questionstoauditors.3. Mandatingthat institutionalinvestorsdisclos etheir overallvoting policiesandhow theymanage material conflictsof interest that may affec tthe way the investors exercise keyownership functions, such as voting4. Identifying theneed for effective protection of creditor rights and anefficientsystem fordealing withcorporate insolvency.5. Directing ratingagencies,brokers and other providers ofinformationthat couldinfluenceinvestor decisions todisclose conflicts ofinterest, and how thoseconflictsare beingmanaged.6.Mandating boardmembers to be more rigorous indisclosing related party transactions, andprotecting socalled “whistle blowers” by providing theemployeeswith conf identialaccess to aboard-level contact.U.S.-EUCooperation for Corporate Reforms Initially, the European Union resentedapplicability of U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Actreforms to European companies a nd accounting firms operating in the U.S. However, after aseriesof negotiations, theU.S.andEU auth oritieshave agreed to cooperate anddecided to d evelop acompatible set of regulations.The regulatorybodies on bothcontinents have undertaken a two-waycooperative approach basedon effective equivale nceof regulationandoversight authorities.Fu rthermore, member states of theEuropean Union have prop osed a code of conduct on theindependentauditors which includesafive-year auditorrotation requirement.Furthermore,the national governments ofthe individual European countrieshaveproposed reforms of their corporate laws. For example,in July2002, the Britishgovernment released a white paper proposing changes to theCompany Law,which includ edharsherpenaltiesformisleading auditors;redefining the roles of the directors; andcreating standards for boards in accounting supervisionand other disclosure issues.The British government isalso reviewing the roles of non-executive directors andis consi dering the regulation of auditcommittees.中文译文全球企业会计欺诈与改革行动易卜拉欣·巴达维圣约翰大学摘要最近一波企业欺诈性财务报告激发了全球公司治理和财务报告改革,政府和会计和审计机构在美国和国际上的标准制定机构,包括欧盟委员会,国际会计师联合会;经济合作与发展组织;以恢复投资者对财务报告,会计行业和全球金融市场的信心。

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