Accountability for Restated Financial Statements On October 26, 2022, the SEC issued a final rule aimed at ensuring that executive officers do not receive “excess compensation” if the financial results on which previous awards of compensation were based are subsequently restated because of material noncompliance with financial reporting requirements. Such... Read more →

One’s Motive for Acting is the Key Is whistleblowing a moral practice? Different views exist on this important issue. Generally, the act of whistleblowing should be motivated by good intentions – i.e., to right a wrong. On the other hand, if the motive is to gain a financial reward or... Read more →

Missing the Red Flags I have previously blogged about the collapse of SVB and the Signature Bank. In today's blog, I will update the information and probe more deeply the failings of regulators and KPMG to heed the warning signs that trouble lied ahead. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank... Read more →

THE IMPORTANCE OF WHISTLEBLOWING POLICIES In a recent study by Ethisphere it was stated that younger workers are more willing to report workplace misbehavior than workers from other generations, yet they are less likely to report it. The reason given is that they lack the confidence in their employer’s anti-retaliation... Read more →

Holding CEOs Accountable for Fraudulent Activities I have previously blogged about the 324:1 ratio of pay packages, on average, for S&P 500 CEOs when compared to the average worker Pay. In this blog I look at claw backs, a provision that enables a company and/or the SEC to go after... Read more →

Book Review I want to share with my readers a review of my accounting ethics textbook that was just published in The CPA Journal. I am proud to say the review highly recommends the book. This is the sixth edition of my book that spans more than twenty years of... Read more →

Protecting the Public Interest I recently participated in the Ethics Symposium at the Annual Meeting of the American Accounting Association. A colleague of mine, Sri Ramamoorti from the University of Dayton, had very important comments about the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB),that regulates audits and auditors. In other words,... Read more →

Reporting Wrongdoing Enhances Workplace Ethics I have previously blogged about the speak up culture, a phenomenon that broadly encourages employees to bring matters of concern to top management so that corrective action can be taken when warranted. What is a Speak Up Culture? Tanya Finnie addresses the issue in a... Read more →

Is the SEC the Cause of the Problem? I have blogged before about the problems the Big Four accounting firms are having with respect to conflicts of interests and independence impairments. These concerns have moved the SEC to launch a probe into how firms manage conflicts of interest caused by... Read more →

Measurement of Audit Quality is the Key This blog is a continuation of one I posted earlier today and follows up on a blog posted a couple of weeks ago. The question of whether audits provide useful information and protect investors has been discussed for many years. It is an... Read more →