Case study Solutions
$20.00
- a) Suppose you were the top partner at a major accounting firm at that time of Andersen’s collapse. What actions, if any would you take in response?
- b) In 2000, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed new regulations that limit consulting work by accounting firm This proposal was not passed by Congress. Do you think that the legislations were trying to act in the public interest when they failed to pass this proposal?
- c) The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) is the primary professional association for certified public accountants (CPAs). It has developed a Code of Professional Conduct that sets the standards of conduct for CPA People can file complaints about the ethical conduct of a CPA with the AICPA, which can levy sanctions and other penalties against its members. Do you think that the unethical conduct at Andersen (and possibly other accounting firms) was the fault of the AICPA for not setting and enforcing higher ethical standards among its members?
- d) The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 established a new five-person board to oversee financial accounting in publicly traded corporati The board is appointed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Prior to the creation of this board, the industry relied primarily on self-regulations through the AICPA. Do you think the establishment of the new oversight board was a good idea or should the profession have continued to be self-regulated?
- e) According to the Independent (Nigel Thorpe, “Greenspan Cautions on Over-Regulation, Thursday, September 26, 2002), Alan Greenspan, the (former) chairman of the Federal Reserve, warned against over-regulation in financial markets despite corporate scandals such as Enron and WorldC In his testimony before the Committee of Government Oversight and Reform, on October 23, 2008 he revised some of his beliefs. Do you think that financial markets and, in particular, rating agencies should rely on self-regulation?