More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay on roles and responsibilities of the audit committee
Safeguards in place for the sarbanes oxley act
Safeguards in place for the sarbanes oxley act
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) Name Name of Institution Introduction The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is a legislation aimed at increasing the accuracy of financial statements that were issued by companies that are publicly held (Livingstone, 2011). The passing of this act was a response to some of the financial malpractices that took place at companies such as WorldCom and Enron. According to Livingstone, making ethical decisions is critical because ethical lapses can lead to severe unforeseen consequences (Livingstone, 2011). This paper will discuss the effects of the Act on the audit committees of public company boards of directors as well as outside independent audit firms. The main advantages and disadvantages of the Act and recommendations of the changes that should be made to the act will also be included. Audit Committee of Public Company Boards of Directors According to section 301 of the Sarbanes-Oxley act, all the members of the audit committee will be members of the board of directors of the public company and be required to be otherwise independent (AICPA, 2004). In addition to this, Keinath and Walo (2004) state that one member of this committee will need to be an expert in the field of financial management. These requirements are likely to introduce changes in the composition of the audit committees of some public companies. According to a survey conducted by Keinath and Walo, 10% of companies did not have at least one member with expertise in financial management in their audit committees meaning they would have to alter the composition in order to ensure compliance to the Act. In addition to this, some companies made exceptions when it came to ensuring that members of the audit committees were independent (Keinath a... ... middle of paper ... ...Retrieved November 9, 2013 http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2007/05/07/focus3.html?page=all Keinath, A.K. Walo J.C.(2004) Audit Committee Responsibilities. The CPA Journal, November 2004 Issue. New York: The New York State Society of CPAs. Livingstone, L. (2011) Ethics Made Easy. North Charleston: CreateSpace Summary of the Provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (2004) AICPA. Retrieved November 9, 2013 http://www.aicpa.org/InterestAreas/ForensicAndValuation/Resources/FraudPreventionDetectionResponse/Pages/Summary%20of%20the%20Provisions%20of%20the%20Sarbanes-Oxley%20Act%20of%202002.aspx The Sarbanes-Oxley Act at 10: Enhancing the reliability of financial reporting and audit quality (2012). Ernst & Young. Retrieved November 9, 2013 http://www.ey.com/publication/vwluassetsdld/soxat10_jj0003_july2012/$file/soxat10_jj0003_july2012.pdf?OpenElement
The specific obligations in this case would include monitor corporate governance activities and compliance with organization policies, and assess audit committee effectiveness and compliance with regulations
Internal controls are in place to protect entities against theft from dishonest workers and outside predators. They are also an accurate series of checks and balances and are in place to find discrepancies.
Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Dodd-Frank Act are some of the most important regulations in the modern financial environment. The significance of these regulations is attributed to their focus on promoting the vitality of financial markets through addressing complexities in financial procedures and preventing financial wrongdoing. The enactment of these regulations was fueled by some financial irregularities in the corporate world and some major players in the financial markets. Despite the strong link between these laws and the financial markets, they have some similarities and differences in light of their respective objectives.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, (1999). Nyse chair richard grasso, nasd chair frank zarb, and blue ribbon panel co-chairs ira millstein and john whitehead announce "ten point plan" to improve oversight of financial reporting process(Press release 99-14). Retrieved from website: http://www.sec.gov/news/press/pressarchive/1999/99-14.txt
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).
The audit committee a part of the board of directors plays an important role in preventing fraud. They are directly responsible for overseeing the work of any public accounting firm, such as PwC, employed by the company. They also must preapprove all audit services provided by the auditors.
The oversight responsibilities of the board, the CAE lacking of expertise or broad understanding of financial controls and responsibilities, and the understaffed internal audit functions lacking of independence and direct access to the board of directors contributed to the absence of internal controls. To begin with, the board should be retrained to achieve financial literacy to review financial reporting. Other than attending formal meetings, the board of directors should be more involved with the management. For the Audit Committee, the two members who were recruited as acquaintances to Brennahan need be replaced with experts who are more sufficiently knowledgeable about accounting rules beyond merely “financially literate”. Furthermore, the internal audit functions need to expand with different expertise commensurate with the expanded activities of the organization, testing financial reporting rather than internal controls from an operational perspective. The CAE should be more independent and proactive to execute audit plans, instead of following orders from the CFO, and initiate a direct and efficient communication between internal audit and audit
PCAOB members should not consist of all individuals from the investment community as past experience with members of one exclusive community has proved to be ineffective in accurate oversight of business financial practices. The purpose of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) is to protect investors and the public by ensuring that audit reports of U.S Public companies are independent and accurate. The selection of members must include and assessment of integrity and competency that is scrutinised for the public interest. Part of that scrutiny is the make up of the board members, their professions, experience
HCA’s Audit and Compliance Committee is responsible for assisting the Board of Directors in making decisions with integrity (“Charter,” 2015). The Audit and Compliance Committee is responsible for ensuring that the Board has all information regarding laws and regulations
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), Pub. L. No. 107-204, 116 Stat. 745 (codified as amended in scattered sections of 15 U.S.C.)
The collapse of the insurance giant HIH in Australia has led to considerable changes in financial report auditing. Many of these changes focus on the presence and extent of the auditor independence. A major issue with the Auditor independence is the threats to independence are usually restrained and difficult to measure. One of the reasons that lead most corporates to failure is bad management. As the board of directors, they were the people who made the final decision.
Corporate governance changed drastically after the case of Andersen Auditors, Enron’s auditing service showed that they contributed to the scandal. Andersen was originally founded in 1913, and by taking tough stands against clients, quickly gained a national reputation as a reliable keeper of the people’s trust (Beasley, 2003). Andersen provided auditing statements with a ‘clean’ approval stamp from 1997 to 2001, but was found guilty of obstructing justice by shredding evidence relating to the Enron scandal on the 15th June 2002. It agrees to cease auditing public companies by 31 August (BBC News, 2002).
Conflict of interest is a big problem between Enron and its auditing firms. It is believes that Enron’s auditors was hide many information and external auditors never aware or hide the losses in Enron. From audit committees to transparency committees would increase the likelihood that a firm’s key business ricks are transparent to investors (Healy & Palepu 2003, p. 21). Besides, a transparency committee can also help with internal auditor appreciate its primary responsibility lies with the board, not for personal interest and pleasing the leader.
Organizations that only have top management as the board members are more susceptible to accounting malpractices. Members of the board should preferably own shares in the company to ensure diligence when it comes to the interests of the company. Apart from the Board of Governors, there should also be an audit committee in place to oversee the financial dealings of the bank. Members of the board and the audit committee should have basic financial knowledge. Some of the members should also be experts in finances so that they can detect any anomaly that may take place in terms of financial reporting. An overhaul of the regulatory framework is required to empower authorities to intervene immediately, and make improvements. New technology is required. Manual antiquated processes should be eliminated because this causes greater human error and poor
On the other hand, there are other evidence which casted doubts on the benefits of an independent board. Persons (2005) found that a board which largely comprised of independent directors has no significant effect on the likelihood of financial statement fraud in the US. Instead, the study highlighted that the likelihood of financial statement fraud is lower when audit committee is comprised solely of independent directors. Despite audit committee is a subset of the main board which depends on the board composition, this finding may indicate the independence of audit committee rather than the board itself is more effective in addressing fraud risk.