Day: December 27, 2014

What if accountants are no longer ‘reliable’? A subtle word change in the IFRS accounting handbook could undermine the traditional role of accountants

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http://business.financialpost.com/2014/12/18/what-if-accountants-are-no-longer-reliable/

What if accountants are no longer ‘reliable’?

Umar Saeed, Special to Financial Post | December 18, 2014 7:07 PM ET
A subtle word change in the IFRS accounting handbook could undermine the traditional role of accountants

The moral hazard is alive and well. Companies constantly look to paint a rosy picture of performance by using whatever discretion is available in the accounting handbook. Often, management benefits personally from good company results. We rely on accountants and auditors to provide a check on management. Empowered by accounting rules written with the moral hazard in mind, auditors are armed to push their clients’ optimism back into line. Society expects accountants to produce reliable information because lenders, investors and other stakeholders depend on the final numbers to make decisions. Debt covenants, regulatory requirements, management bonuses – are all separate contracts that depend on accounting numbers. So why then is the international accounting handbook being re-written to eliminate this decades-old check on the moral hazard? Continue reading →

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No quid pro quo; Controversy arises again over whether to give parol to business leaders in jail for fraud, corruption or other corporate malpractices

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http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2014/12/202_170602.html

http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2998982

No quid pro quo

Dec 27,2014

Controversy arises again over whether to give parol to business leaders in jail for fraud, corruption or other corporate malpractices. Minister of Justice Hwang Kyo-an first raised the issue by stating, “Corporate leaders are eligible for parole as long as they meet the requirements.” Then Choi Kyung-hwan, deputy prime minister for the economy and finance minister, joined the chorus by suggesting to President Park Geun-hye the need for special treatment of tycoons given their power to get the lackluster economy back on track. Kim Moo-sung, chairman of the ruling Saenuri Party, also leaped on the bandwagon by gleefully agreeing to the idea. The ruling party sooner or later plans to propose the paroles after discussing the issue in a Supreme Council meeting and consulting with the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy.  Continue reading →

Fujian Zhenyun Plastics files for trading suspension on SGX; group “had encountered operational issues resulting in delays to the finalisation of the Group’s accounts

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http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/singapore/fujian-zhenyun-plastics/1551364.html#

Fujian Zhenyun Plastics Industry files for trading suspension on SGX

POSTED: 26 Dec 2014 21:22
The company’s shares have been on a trading halt since Tuesday (Dec 23). Market watchers say it is rare for companies to request for a conversion of trading halt to a suspension. SINGAPORE: China-based Fujian Zhenyun Plastics Industry has requested for a trading suspension of its shares on the Singapore Exchange. In a filing to the exchange on Friday (Dec 26), the company’s independent directors said the group “had encountered operational issues resulting in delays to the finalisation of the Group’s accounts”. As a result, its external auditor, Foo Kon Tan Grant Thornton LLP, was unable to proceed with its planned interim audit. The independent directors said they have initiated an internal inquiry into this matter. Continue reading →

Ex-Daido execs sentenced for fraud in falsifying documents and accounting records in the Daido financial statements and thus misled shareholders and investors about Daido’s true financial condition

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http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Ex-Daido-execs-sentenced-for-fraud-30250735.html

Ex-Daido execs sentenced for fraud

The Nation
December 27, 2014 1:00 am

The Criminal Court yesterday sentenced three former Daido executives – former president Shisiro Fukuda, Pisan Jaraslertrangsi, a former vice president for finance and accounting, and Kanchanok (or Natchaporn Likitsirisap or Rassarin Surapattanapaisan, a former vice president for project management – for collusively falsifying documents and accounts and defrauding Daido assets. Continue reading →

Pork Bellies and Public Company Audits: Have Audits Once Again Become Just Another Commodity?

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http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2184413

Pork Bellies and Public Company Audits: Have Audits Once Again Become Just Another Commodity?

Brant E. Christensen Texas A&M University – Department of Accounting

Thomas C. Omer University of Nebraska at Lincoln – School of Accountancy

Nathan Y. Sharp Texas A&M University – Department of Accounting

Marjorie K. Shelley University of Nebraska at Lincoln – School of Accountancy

September 5, 2014

Abstract: 
Prior research has established that from 2000 to 2007, auditors incorporated clients’ financial reporting risk in their pricing of audit engagements (Charles et al. 2010; Doogar et al. 2010, 2013). However, regulators have expressed concern that the economic downturn and pressure from clients to reduce audit fees has had a negative impact on auditor effort. Our evidence suggests a marked decline in the pricing of financial reporting risk during the 2006-2010 period, further suggesting a reduced focus on the risk of misreporting during that period. This decline is particularly evident among non-industry expert auditors. Connecting these findings to audit quality, we observe a higher likelihood of subsequent accounting restatements among clients whose financial reporting risk appears to be insufficiently incorporated in audit fees, particularly among clients of small audit firm offices. Our results are consistent with a return to the commoditization of financial statement audits and its negative impact on audit quality.

When It Comes to CEOs, Equity and Press Releases, Timing Is Everything

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http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/for-ceos-equity-and-press-releases-timing-is-everything/

When It Comes to CEOs, Equity and Press Releases, Timing Is Everything

Dec 23, 2014

Transparency is the cornerstone of corporate governance in the United States. Public companies must stick to a rigid schedule for reporting profits, losses and other financial data. And they must quickly disclose unscheduled events that current and potential shareholders will need to know about in order to assess the firm’s health and prospects.

It all seems quite simple.

But in practice, chief executives have some wiggle room: the power to choose just when to release certain types of information. New research by Wharton finance professor Alex Edmans and three colleagues shows that executives tend to use this flexibility to their advantage, releasing some types of information when it will boost the value of their own equity.

“When they expect to sell equity, they want the price to be high,” Twitter  says Edmans, who is also a finance professor at the London Business School. Continue reading →