...Case 1.1 Enron Corporation Saint Leo University 1. a. Andersen auditors – the auditors from Andersen failed to properly perform their professional auditing duties. b. Enron Board of Directors and top executives – the Enron executives focused on creating the foremost corporation, and with that goal performed many actions that would lead to the demise of Enron. Specifically, Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, and Andrew Fastow are the masterminds behind the scheme. c. Accounting regulators – at the time of Enron, there was not as much regulation as there is post-Enron, so while there was no one specifically at fault for catching Enron in their actions, there should have been more regulation put in place as there is today to prevent this fraud. 2. a. Executive professionals search/human resource services – a company’s auditing firm cannot also provide employee search services for them. The potential executives have a large amount of power in the company, therefore relating the two can serve as a powerhouse for internal fraud. b. Software design services – if the company’s auditor is the designer of the software being audited, there would be a large amount of bias on the auditor’s part to put the software in a positive light. This would make it difficult for the company to see where real improvements need to be made. c. Investment adviser – essentially the auditor’s job description is to evaluate the firm’s financial escapades. If an auditor suggests a certain investment...
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...Case 1.1- Enron Corporation 1) The Enron debacle created what one public official reported was a “crisis of confidence” on the part of the public in the accounting profession. List the parties who you believe were most responsible for that crisis. Briefly justify each of your choices. * Both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting Standards Board had a hand in lack of the public’s confidence in the accounting profession. Due to the lack of regulation for SPEs at the time of Enron scandal, companies found it easy to exploit the “3 percent” loophole, which allowed them to avoid having to consolidate the SPEs balance sheets with their everyday operations. This, in turn, allowed companies to move liabilities off balance sheet without having to make too many disclosures. The lack of directive by the SEC and FASB made it acceptable for companies to report inflated gains on various misleading transactions. * Next, the audit firms that deviated from their fiduciary duty to their clients and the public contributed greatly to the crisis in the accounting profession. There is an inherent conflict of interest when a firm begins providing audit services and a wide range of consulting services; the firm loses its objectivity when it helps a client to pursue aggressive, irresponsible accounting tactics. In the Enron case, Andersen was complicit in the aggressive accounting schemes and nefarious financial reporting for its SPE transactions...
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...Synopsis Enron was believed to be the company to take over the world in the 1990’s. The company was growing at exponential rates that were unheard of at the time. It was ranked among the 7 top corporations in the world peaking at a net worth of $70 billion. The company’s overwhelming wealth and success gave birth to some overconfident and ultimately greedy people within the company. In the end, Enron fell due to falsification of financial records, reporting profits well in excess of the actual. “On Dec. 2, 2001, Enron declared bankruptcy. Thousands of people were thrown out of work, and thousands of investors -- including most of the company's employees -- lost billions of dollars as Enron's shares shrank to penny-stock levels (http://www.npr.org/news/specials/enron/).” Enron is considered to be the largest corporate fallout in US history. The overconfidence of executive leaders, falsification and manipulation of financial statements, and Andersen’s hidings of the true audit findings, eventually led to the demise of this innovative corporation. Questions 1. The Enron debacle created what one public official reported was a “crisis of confidence” on the part of the public in the accounting profession. List the parties who you believe are the most responsible for that crisis. Briefly justify each of your choices. Executive management of Enron- When misstatements and irregularities emerged and were made clear to the public, the executives of Enron lost the confidence of the...
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...downfall of Enron. When he became the CFO in 1998, he came up with the plan to make the company appear in great shape by using the mark-to-market accounting practice. The company would build an asset, such as a power plant, and immediately claim the projected profit on its books, even though it hadn't made one dime from it. If the revenue from the power plant was less than the projected amount, instead of taking the loss, the company would then transfer these assets to an off-the-books corporation, where the loss would go unreported. This type of accounting created the attitude that the company did not need profits, and that, by using the mark-to-market method, Enron could basically write off any loss without hurting the company's bottom line (Seabury, 2014). SEC and FASB are also key. In the early 1990s, the SEC and FASB had wrestled with the controversial accounting and financial reporting issues of SPEs. There was intense debate but the SEC and FASB did not offer guidance or a solution. SEC and FASB were fully aware there was concern with this reporting but did not take it very seriously and let it slide by. Arthur Anderson is also a key. The auditors did work for Enron but they are also to guide the company in the right direction of financials. With the use of the SPEs and mark-to-market accounting, it was kind of a loophole in financial reporting. Since can report and not report assets and liabilities in SPEs, auditors were aware of the shift of these items from Enron to the...
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...THE COLLAPSE OF ENRON & THE INTRODUCTION OF THE SARBANES OXLEY ACT BY TREVOR GARRETT 02/25/2011 Abstract Enron Corporation was one of the largest energy trading, natural gas and Utilities Company in the world that was based in Huston, Texas. The downfall of Enron is one of the most infamous and shocking events in the financial world, and its reverberations were felt around the globe. Prior to its collapse in 2001, Enron was one of the leading companies in the U.S and considered among top 10 admired corporations and most desired places to work at. Its revenues made up US $139 to $184 billion, assets equaled $62 to $82 billion, and the number of employees reached more than 30,000 people in 20 countries around the world. While on the surface it seemed like the perfect Corporation, internally it had highly decentralized financial control and decision-making structure, which made it practically impossible to get coherent and clear view on corporations' activities and operations. Enron manipulated its books and assets to help it report steady profit growth to Stock Exchanges and Credit-rating agencies. Investors generally are not willing to pay as much for the stock of a volatile trading operation, and this gave rise to manipulations. This paper briefly describes the legal and ethical breaches by Enron, the key factors and events that led to its collapse and the passing of the Sarbanes Oxley Act as a consequence of such a catastrophe. The paper also discusses the key components...
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...Enron Development Corporation: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India if you are Rebecca Mark in 1995, what will you do? After nine years of an obvious debacle, it seems that Enron and the Indian government have reached a state of impasse, where a sustainable long term relationship cannot be achieved. Enron has chosen to terminate the agreement by offering to the Indian Prime Minister Enron's 65% equity in DPC for US$1.2 billion and offshore debt for US$1.1 billion. Various political parties have consistently used Enron as an issue to gain the masses' approval and thus political power. Given the size and the "foreign" nature of the investment, Enron will constantly stir political unrest unless it gives in to the terms of the party in power. Difficulty in predicting and understanding local political conditions and coping with the constant threat of forced re-negotiation The agreement (PPA) was flawed from the beginning and unless the company sees the error of its ways, reviews from the World Bank and other committees would always reflect that there was a one-sided deal and would lead to a protracted debate of legitimacy. MSEB's capacity to pay DPC in the next few months is seriously doubtful. Though the Indian government has a guarantee, paying DPC will likely bankrupt MSEB and will lead to a threatening major dispute between MSEB and DPC. If Enron had wanted to cut its losses, it should have let the project end in Phase 1. It need not have negotiated for Phase 2 financing...
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...Research Proposal The Quality of financial Reporting after the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley Act Dr. Hassan Ahmed Assistant Professor at Cameron University Abstract The complexity of business environment necessitates a set of required disclosures in a timely fashion. The full disclosure principle under U.S. GAAP is based on a vague definition that cannot be clearly implemented. The cost of disclosures can be significantly large and can have a negative impact on companies’ future earnings (small businesses). The purpose of this article is to examine the disclosure establishment of pre and post Enron, the effect of those disclosures on both corporations and on potential investors and to examine whether financial reporting quality improved with the passage of SOX. A total of 360 audited annual financial statements of the 500 fortune companies were selected. The paper will specifically concentrate disclosures on financial statements, Notes, supplementary (required or voluntary), and other expanded disclosures required by the SEC. The findings will shed light on our understanding about the intended and unintended consequence of SOX. 1.0 Introduction/Literature Review The purpose of SOX Act is to increase corporate transparency and accountability (Friedman, The Business Forum). Though SOX did not address the full disclosure required by the FASB, it simply expanded disclosures by establishing responsibilities. The company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial...
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...White collar crime The phrase white collar crime was first used by Edwin Sutherland in 1939 during a speech to the American Sociological Society. He defined white collar crime as a "crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation."(Sutherland, “White-Collar Criminality."). Today, white collar crime refers to illegal offenses that are generally committed in the business or professional setting (white collar versus blue collar jobs) to achieve financial gain. Crimes that do not involve physical violence, and that relate largely to financial matters, are often called white collar crimes. Corporate corruption is out of control for two main reasons. First, big companies are now multinational, while governments remain national. Big companies are so financially powerful that governments are afraid to take them on. It is very important to study the cause and the possible solution for the increase in numbers of white collar crime; our focus needs to shift from Blue Collar Crimes to White Collar Crimes. U.S.A spends nearly $50 billion on fighting Blue Collar Crimes, not even quarter of that amount is spent on fighting White Collar Crimes. Hardly a day passes without a new story of malfeasance. Every Wall Street firm has paid significant fines during the past decade for phony accounting, insider trading, securities fraud, Ponzi schemes, or outright embezzlement by CEOs. A massive insider-trading ring is currently on trial in New York...
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...Ethics Case: Arthur Andersen’s Troubles Once the largest professional services firm in the world, and arguably the most respected, Arthur Andersen LLP (AA) has disappeared. The Big 5 accounting firms are now the Big 4. Why did this happen? How did it happen? What are the lessons to be learned? Arthur Andersen, a twenty-eight-year-old Northwestern University accounting professor, co-founded the firm in 1913. Tales of his integrity are legendary, and the culture of the firm was very much in his image. For example, “Just months after [Andersen] set up shop in Chicago, the president of a local railroad insisted that he approve a transaction that would have inflated earnings. Andersen told the executive there was “not enough money in the City of Chicago” to make him do it.”1 In 1954, consulting services began with the installation of the first mainframe computer at General Electric to automate its payroll systems. By 1978, AA became the largest professional services firm in the world with revenues of $546 million, and by 1984 consulting brought in more profit than auditing. In 1989, the consulting operation, wanting more control and a larger share of profit, became a separate part of a Swiss partnership from the audit operation. In 2000, following an arbitrator’s ruling that a break fee of $1 billion be paid, Andersen Consulting split completely and changed its name to Accenture. AA, the audit practice, continued to offer a limited set of related services, such as tax advice.2 Changing...
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...Enron Corp.: Credit Sensitive Notes Solution Posted on January 28, 2013 by admin — No Comments ↓ This case investigates an innovative bond issue by Enron. The coupon on the bond is indexed to the company’s credit rating, making it a credit derivative structure.« Hide by Sanjiv Das, Stephen Lynagh Source: Harvard Business School 16 pages. Publication date: Feb 28, 1997. Prod. #: 297099-PDF-ENG Case Study 2 – Enron and Arthur Andersen Enron Corporation Case Study 2 – Enron and Arthur Andersen Enron Corporation began as a small natural gas distributor and over the course of 15 years grew to become the seventh largest company in the United States. Soon after the federal deregulation of natural gas pipelines in 1985, Enron was born by the merging of Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, a Nebraska pipeline company. Initially, Enron was merely involved in the distribution of gas, but it later became a market maker in facilitating the buying and selling of futures of natural gas, electricity, broadband, and other products. However, Enron’s continuous growth eventually came to an end as a complicated financial statement fraud and multiple scandals sent Enron through a downward spiral to bankruptcy. During the 1980s several major national energy corporations began lobbying Washington to deregulate the energy business. Their claim was that the extra competition resulting from a deregulated market would benefit both businesses and consumers. Consequently, the national government began...
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...operated since 1993 as a nonconsolidated SPE. Enron wanted to create a larger unit with capital of $1 billion, and CalPERS asked to be bought out. Chewco was created as a vehicle to attract a a replacement for CalPERS and to buy out CalPERS’ interest in JEDI. Originally, Andrew Fastow proposed that he be appointed to manage Chewco temporarily unitl an outside investor, or counterparty, could be found. According to the Powers Report, Enron lawyers advised against this since his senior officer status would have required proxy disclosure. Instead, Michael Kopper, who worked at Enron for Fastow, a fact known only to Jeffrey K. Skilling on the board of directors, was appointed. Enron planned to guarantee loans for bridge financing to buy out CalPERS’ interest in JEDI, which had been valued at $383 million. The intention was to replace the bridge financing with the investment of an outside investor, but none was found. Enron’s financial year end passed on December 31, 1997; without an independent, controlling outside investor with at least 3 percent of the capital at risk, $11.5 million in this case (3 percent of $383 million), the activities of both JEDI and Chewco had to be consolidated into Enron’s financial statements and on a retroactive basis. Whether through negligence or inability to find a proper counterparty, the accounts of Enron had to be restated to include the dealings of JEDI. “In November and December of 1997, Enron and Kopper created a new capital structure for...
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...reforms since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt” by President George W. Bush when he signed it into law. The act contains 11 titles, or sections, ranging from additional corporate board responsibilities to criminal penalties, and requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to implement rulings on requirements to comply with the law. The act also covers issues such as auditor independence, corporate governance, internal control assessment, and enhanced financial disclosure. The bill was enacted as a reaction to a number of major corporate and accounting scandals including those affecting Enron, Tyco, WorldCom and Arthur Andersen LLP. These scandals cost investors billions of dollars when the share prices of affected companies collapsed and shook public confidence in the nation's securities markets. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and Its Effect on the Accounting Profession Enron, World Com and Arthur Andersen LLP, three names that have long become synonymous with deceptive accounting practices and lack of transparency, were but a few of the catalysts to the hastily enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. More commonly known as SOX, it was enacted on July 29, 2002 and signed into law on July 30, 2002 by President Bush. It’s also known as the 'Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act' (in the Senate) and 'Corporate and Auditing Accountability and Responsibility Act' (in the House). Sarbanes-Oxley’s named after sponsors U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes...
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...BACHELOR OF COMMERCE YEAR 3 - ACADEMIC CALENDER | | | Appendix A: ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET | | | | | | | | | | Date Received: ………………………….. | | | | Date Returned: ……………....………… | | | Programme | BACHELOR OF COMMERCE DEGREE | Module Name | BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 3 | Assignment Number | ASSIGNMENT 1 | Surname | De Villiers | First Name/s | Cornèl | Student Number | BCOM 1121041 | Date Submitted | | Postal Address | P O Box 252 | | Henties Bay | | Namibia | | 9000 | E-MAIL | | myregent email addresss | (Please note that confirmation of assignment receipt as well as | | return assignment will be forwarded to this e-mail address) | E-MAIL | renier@iway.na & Cornel.deVilliers@hbaymun.com.na | (alternate e-mail address) | | Contacte Numbers | Cell: 0812575079 | | Home: 064-500694 | | Work: 064-502022 | Alternate Contact: Name | Renier Henning de Villiers | Relationship | Husband | Contact Number | 0812403219 | | | I hereby confirm that the assignment submitted herein is my own original work. | | | | | Signature of Student: | ……………………………………………………………….Date: ……………………………….. | BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 3: ASSIGNMENT 1 Table of Content: Question: Page: Question 1 3-6 Question 2 7-9 Question 3 10-12 Question 4 13-14 Bibliography 15 QUESTION 1: (40) Read the...
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...Michael C. Knapp Cases in Auditing , 2003 Ethics case enron corporation John and Mary Andersen immigrated to the United States from their native Nor-way in 1881. The young couple made their way to the small farming community of Piano, Illinois, some 40 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. Over the pre-vious few decades, hundreds of Norwegian families had settled in Piano and sur-rounding communities. In fact, the aptly named Norway, Illinois, was located just a few miles away from the couple's new hometown. In 1885, Arthur Edward An-dersen was born. From an early age, the Andersens' son had a fascination with numbers. Little did his parents realize that Arthur's interest in numbers would become the driving force in his life. Less than one century after he was born, an accounting firm bearing Arthur Andersen's name would become the world's largest professional services organization with more than 1,000 partners and op-erations in dozens of countries scattered across the globe. think straight, talk straight Discipline, honesty, and a strong work ethic were three key traits that John and Mary Andersen instilled in their son. The Andersens also constantly impressed upon him the importance of obtaining an education. Unfortunately, Arthur's par-ents did not survive to help him achieve that goal. Orphaned by the time he was a young teenager, Andersen was forced to take a full-time job as a mail clerk and attend night classes to work his way through high school...
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...about the Enron Corporation and Arthur Anderson. This assignment is to identify the background of Enron and Arthur Anderson and Enron fail. Other than that, identify the business risks that faced by Enron. Moreover, determine the responsibilities of board of directors and steps to improve corporate governance. Besides that, differentiated between rules-based accounting and principle-based accounting and the uses. In addition, there are discussion about auditor should allowed to provide non-audit services. There are also critical discussion on the reason audit partners struggle with making tough accounting decisions and a good recommendation of changes to be made. 1.0 Background of Enron Corporation and Arthur Anderson and fall Of Enron. 1.1 Background of Enron Corporation Enron was established in the middle of a recession in 1985, when Kenneth Lay CEO of Houston Natural Gas Company (HNG), persuaded a joining among Inter North Incorporate (Peterson). There was a young consultant named Jeffrey Skilling who had a background in banking organization (Peterson). He planned an innovative solution for Enron profit in the natural gas business (Sridharan, Dickes, & Caines). For instance, Enron buy natural gas from suppliers and sell to customers with the higher price (Sridharan, Dickes, & Caines). It is because the demand of natural gas increased (Peterson). Kenneth Lay was very impressed with Skilling’s new solution in 1990 and employed Skilling to handle the Enron Finance...
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