A Beginner’s Guide to the SBF Prosecution: Where the Legal Issues Lie

By John C. Coffee, Jr. December 21, 2022 by renholding

The spectacle of a shambling billionaire with an adolescent personality, an inconsistent memory, a fondness for using his depositors’ funds for his own personal purposes, and an eagerness to talk in self-destructive ways to the press has fascinated everyone. This …

Revisiting the Audit Expectations Gap

By Wendy Heltzer and Mary Mindak July 25, 2022 by renholding

As the regulation of public company audits evolves, questions persist over whether there is still a gap between the public and auditors over expectations for the responsibilities of auditors – what we call the expectations gap. In a recent study, …

ISS Discusses Why the Enron Scandal Still Matters to Investors After 20 Years

By Jeff Lubitz October 28, 2021 by renholding

In what is still regarded as the largest U.S. corporate fraud in history, the Enron scandal “celebrates” its 20th anniversary this month.

It was October 16, 2001 when Enron announced a $638 million third quarter loss, confirming a handful of …

An Important and Timely Book: John C. Coffee, Jr.’s Corporate Crime and Punishment

By Joel Seligman September 30, 2020 by renholding

During the last 15 years, a consequential U-turn occurred in federal white-collar criminal enforcement. Federal enforcement of white-collar crimes all but collapsed in the period of 2000 to 2007. In the first 11 months of 2008, the SEC prosecuted 133 …

SEC Commissioner Jackson Dissents from Proposed Amendments to Sarbanes-Oxley

By Robert J. Jackson, Jr. May 10, 2019 by renholding

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the Staff in the Division of Corporation Finance, including John Fieldsend, Elizabeth Murphy, Felicia Kung, Lindsay McCord, and Director Bill Hinman, for their work in developing today’s release. I also appreciate the

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The Legacy of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 15 Years On

By Paul Lanois February 9, 2017 by renholding

“What does Sarbanes-Oxley mean? That’s when two members of U.S. Congress fiddle and half a million accountants in Europe start dancing.”[1]

President Donald Trump pledged during his electoral campaign to repeal some of the reforms that came about …

Are We Wasting Our Time Teaching Business Ethics?

By Hershey H. Friedman and Miriam Gerstein October 21, 2016 by renholding

The Great Recession of 2008 had a devastating effect on the world economy. Millions of jobs were lost, trillions in financial assets evaporated, and millions of people lost their homes. Great companies such as Lehman Brothers went bankrupt and many …

Shades of Gray in Board Independence

By Joel Houston, Jongsub Lee and Hongyu Shan October 20, 2016 by renholding

A well-functioning independent board of directors is a pillar of effective corporate governance. However, establishing and maintaining a truly functioning board remains a challenge for many companies. In response to apparent breakdowns in corporate oversight, policymakers have taken steps to …

Using Benford’s Law to Assess Financial Reporting Quality

By Kurt Schulzke February 19, 2016 by ilyabeylin

Effective corporate governance relies on models—business models, financial models, and risk models, among many others—the primary fuel for which is timely, reliable information. In this connection, statistics luminary George Box famously wrote, “Remember that all models are wrong; the practical …

Corporate Governance Since the Managerial Capitalism Era

By Brian Cheffins August 20, 2015 by ilyabeylin

The term “corporate governance”, while now ubiquitous, was largely unknown in the U.S. until the 1970s and the rest of world until the 1990s. There has been little research done on why corporate governance rose to prominence when it did…

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