Sarbanes-Oxley Act: How Did We Get Here?
Author: Keating, Elizabeth
Source: The Aspen Institute Center for Business Education's Corporate Governance and Accountability Project
Year: 2006
Abstract:
This collection was prepared by Elizabeth Keating, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Harvard, as part of CasePlace.org's Corporate Governance and Accountability Project.
The Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act, known as “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”, was passed in 2002 following a series of corporate bankruptcies and allegations of executive management malfeasance, most notably Enron and WorldCom. The regulation of securities had not been this significantly altered since the securities legislation passed between 1933 and 1940 following the 1929 stock market crash. Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) substantially alters the requirements of a firm that is publicly traded in the United States. The prior legislation placed mandatory disclosure and audit requirements on publicly traded firms and greater demands on firms involved in investment management. SOX changed the role and regulation of audit firms, the composition and conduct of corporate boards and expanded audit and disclosure requirements.
This Teaching Module provides materials for introducing the motivation for and the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The materials can be used in core courses, such as accounting, management, or strategy, as well as advanced accounting courses. The teaching note describes the antecedents to SOX, the key provisions of the Act, a detailed description is provided of each cases and references in the Teaching Module, and suggested teaching plans.
The teaching note for this collection is available for download below to faculty members logged in.
On June 27th, CasePlace.org hosted an online web-conference with featured guest Professor Elizabeth Keating, author of this collection. The conference focused on the "Sarbanes-Oxley: How Did We Get Here?" Teaching Module and discussed how faculty members could incorporate materials from this collection into their core accounting, strategy, management and finance classes.
The powerpoint and audio for this conference are available here: Web-Conference: Sarbanes-Oxley: How did we Get Here .
Available to Faculty Only. Faculty Member? Sign in / Register Here
Related Documents
Restoring Trust at WorldCom
Author(s): Lorsch, Jay W.; Robertson, Ashley C.
Product Type: Cases
Examines the changes in corporate governance at WorldCom/MCI as proposed by the company's court-appointed corporate monitor, Richard Breeden...
Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Author(s): Paine, Lynn S.; Weber, James
Product Type: Cases
Describes the evolution and passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 from the perspective of the senior counsel on capital markets for the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services...
Broken Trust: Role of Professionals in the Enron Debacle
Author(s): Nanda, Ashish
Product Type: Cases
Discusses the role of professionals in the Enron debacle. Argues that professionals failed to prevent or predict Enron's collapse because of the conflicts of interest they faced...
WorldCom Inc.: Two Views
Author(s): Hawkins, David F.
Product Type: Cases
Financial analysis is one way to detect WorldCom's fraudulent accounting. This case presents two perspectives of WorldCom: the company as viewed by security analysts and the inside view of the accounting fraud. Also looks at the company's acquisition accounting to assess potential for abuse. Teaching Purpose: To assess the probability of accounting risk.
Accounting Fraud at WorldCom
Author(s): Kaplan, Robert S.; Kiron, David
Product Type: Cases
The case provides sufficient detail to allow for a full discussion of the pressures that lead executives and managers to "cook the books," the boundary between earnings smoothing or management and fraudulent reporting, the role for internal control systems and internal audit to prevent or rapidly detect accounting fraud, the expectations about governance processes performed by external auditors and the board of directors, and the pressure and consequences when middle managers follow orders that they know are wrong...
Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A)
Author(s): George, William; McClean, Andrew N.
Product Type: Cases
In 2000, Xerox faces bankruptcy amid a liquidity crisis, collapsed profitability, and an expanding SEC investigation. Traces the career and leadership development of Anne Mulcahy, a former sales executive unexpectedly named COO of the beleaguered company as a last effort to turn Xerox around....
Arthur Andersen LLP
Author(s): Hawkins, David F.; Cohen, Jacob
Product Type: Cases
This case highlights the history of Arthur Andersen and the collapse of the firm following the Enron Corp. audit and the Department of Justice obstruction of justice conviction. To encourage the discussion of the role of audit firms, the accounting industry, and internal controls.
The Enron Odyssey (A): The Special Purpose of "SPEs"
Author(s): Chacko, George; Dharan, Bala; Strick, Eli Peter
Product Type: Cases
The board has asked Ron Tolbert, an employee in the Risk Assessment and Control Group, to analyze three SPE transactions executed by Enron executives: the Destec, Rhythms, and Fishtail/Bacchus transactions, which were prominently featured in the Examiner's Report in the ensuing Enron bankruptcy...
The Enron Collapse
Author(s): Hamilton, Stewart; Inna, Francis
Product Type: Cases
Charts the collapse of Enron and examines the role of various parties, including senior management, the board, and the auditors...
The Lucent Accounting Scandal
Author(s): Gupta, V.; Aparna, K.
Product Type: Cases
The case discusses the accounting frauds committed at the US-based telecommunications giant, Lucent Technologies Inc (Lucent), during early 2000...
PowerPoint: The WorldCom Fraud
Author(s): American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Product Type: Multimedia
PowerPoint: Financial Statement Fraud (Enron & Others)
Author(s): American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Product Type: Multimedia
The Fall of Enron
Author(s): Palepu, Krishna G.; Healy, Paul M.
Product Type: Journal Articles
Restoring Trust
Author(s): Breeden, Richard C.
Product Type: Essays and Concept Papers
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Author(s): One Hundred and Seventh U.S. Congress
Product Type: Policy and Issue Reports
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)
Author(s): PCAOB
Product Type: Web Sites
Enron
Author(s):
Product Type: Web Sites
The Enron Case That Almost Wasn' t
Author(s): Barrionuevo, Alexei; Eichenwald, Kurt
Product Type: Magazine / Newspaper Articles
Symbol of an Era: Lay, Skilling Convicted of Fraud
Author(s): Emschwiller, John R.; McWilliams, Gary; Davis, Ann
Product Type: Magazine / Newspaper Articles
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Author(s): The SEC
Product Type: Web Sites
Webcast: Sarbanes-Oxley Act: How Did We Get Here?
Author(s): Keating, Elizabeth; The Corporate Governance and Accountability Project Team
Product Type: Multimedia
Faculty, if you missed the first part of Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Keating's Sarbanes Oxley Web-Conference (Sarbanes-Oxley: How Did We Get Here?), you can still access the powerpoint and audio presentations here...
Ebbers Convicted In Massive Fraud
Author(s):
Product Type: Magazine / Newspaper Articles