...Executive Summary In this case of accounting fraud at WorldCom, we have identified problems which had grew as the business scale of WorldCom (formerly known as LDDS) expanded, its direction of business started to drift away when its attempt to merge with Sprint was terminated by the U.S. Justice Department and the telecommunication industry started to deteriorate in 2000. The managers, particularly Bernard J. Ebbers and Scott Sullivan, struggled to maintain the company's main performance indicator, the Expense-to-Revenue (E/R) ratio in order to maintain its lucrative image. As the size of the organization increase through extensive mergers and acquisitions, the corporate culture of the company was all jumbled up and there were no uniformity in the management policies in each department. Furthermore, the company's focus on building revenue and disregarding the long-term costs had caused the company burdensome amount of expenses. While the telecommunication industry decline, the managers was forced to use extremity to sustain the good image of the business, thus started to manipulate the accounts, specifically through the release of accruals and capitalization of costs. The conduct was performed through monarch orders by the top management commanding the General Accounting Department to manipulate the accounts, restricting the scope of inquiry of the Internal Audit Department, misleading the External Auditor and also the Board of Directors. Executive Summary Table of Contents ...
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...Page 1 FOCUS - 1 of 3 DOCUMENTS Mondaq Business Briefing November 7, 2006 Canada: Why Bernie Ebbers is Serving a 25-Year Jail Sentence BYLINE: By Garfield Emerson LENGTH: 6613 words 1. Background On September 26, 2006, Bernard J. Ebbers ("Ebbers"), the former Chief Executive Officer of WorldCom, Inc. ("WorldCom"), reported to a federal prison in Oakdale, Louisiana, to begin serving his 25-year jail sentence from his conviction by a jury on nine counts of conspiracy, securities fraud and related crimes related to the bankruptcy of WorldCom in July 2002. Ebbers' appeals from his conviction and 25-year jail sentence were dismissed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on July 28, 2006.1 In its decision upholding the jury conviction and the 25-year jail sentence imposed by the trial judge, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit commented that Ebbers' actions that were specifically intended to create a false picture of profitability for WorldCom were "motivated by his personal financial circumstances".2 Ebbers personal finances imposed significant pressures on him to ensure that the WorldCom stock price did not fall and that WorldCom's guidance of its future financial performance and investors' expectations were met. Ebbers was a wealthy man with a significant personal business empire outside WorldCom. He had also accumulated millions of shares of WorldCom stock. However, he had borrowed over $400US million from banks, using his stock in WorldCom...
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...PLANMAN HR PLANMAN HR The Chief Executive Forum (CEF) is a Planman Consulting initiative to provide a platform for leaders to share their ideas with decision makers of corporate India. These professors, drawn from the best B-Schools of the world, are experts at the leading edge of management science and have implemented their ideas in some of the largest MNCs across the globe. The last few years has seen professors from MIT, Kellogg, the Harvard Business School, INSEAD, Columbia, Yale, Cambridge, LBS lend credibility to the Chief Executive forum. The monthly one day workshop conducted across the country, is focused on knowledge transfer and building capabilities for the corporates. The sessions are interactive and use a variety of learning methodologies including case studies, lectures, role plays, group activities. The forum also provides a medium for senior executive networking. The response from the industry has been overwhelming and has encouraged us to regularly organize the Chief Executive forum. The high standards set in the past push us to strive for the Chief Executive Forum to be rigorous and relevant to business context in future. Month July Programme A Marketer's View of Competitive Strategy Director PROF. JOHN A. CZEPIEL New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business Place Delhi Hyderabad Chennai Bangalore Delhi Pune Mumbai Bangalore Delhi Hyderabad Bangalore Chennai Date 12th July ’10 14th July ’10 16th July ’10 19th July...
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...Ethics in Accounting and the Fall of WorldCom Alison Painter Breeden Juanita S. Edwards, CPA ACC 557: Financial Accounting 23 January 2013 Ethics in Accounting and the Fall of WorldCom In 2002, WorldCom was the second largest telecommunications company in the United States, but because of management failures and an unethical accounting culture it went bankrupt. This paper contains a discussion describing corporate ethics currently used in business; WorldCom's background, and the ethical breach; how WorldCom's ethical issue was discovered, describing how management failed to create an ethical environment; and recommendations. A conclusion summarizes the paper. Corporate Ethics If a company is driven by its responsibility to its Shareholders, then it should base its decisions and actions on the best interests of the owners, and generate more profit. If the company is stake-holder driven then its decisions and actions should be based on what is in the best interest of those impacted by the business (Gruble, 2011). Gruble (2011) further argued that "The most widely accepted definition for business ethics says that it is a set of corporate values and codes of principles, which may be written or unwritten, by which a company evaluates its actions and business-related decisions.” WorldCom was a company driven by its responsibility to its shareholders to the point where it began to behave unethically and this ultimately led to its demise. WorldCom History and...
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...1666 K Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20006 Telephone: (202) 207-9100 Facsimile: (202) 862-8430 www.pcaobus.org ) CONCEPT RELEASE ON AUDITOR ) INDEPENDENCE AND AUDIT FIRM ) ROTATION; ) ) NOTICE OF ROUNDTABLE ) ) PCAOB Release No. 2011-006 August 16, 2011 PCAOB Rulemaking Docket Matter No. 37 Summary: The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("PCAOB" or "Board") is issuing a concept release to solicit public comment on ways that auditor independence, objectivity and professional skepticism could be enhanced. One possible approach on which the Board is seeking comment is mandatory audit firm rotation, which is explored in detail in this release. However, the Board seeks advice and comment on other approaches as well. The Board will also convene a public roundtable meeting in March 2012, at which interested persons will present their views. Additional details about the roundtable will be announced at a later date. Public Comment: Interested persons may submit written comments to the Board. Such comments should be sent to the Office of the Secretary, PCAOB, 1666 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006-2803. Comments also may be submitted by e-mail to comments@pcaobus.org or through the Board's Web site at www.pcaobus.org. All comments should refer to PCAOB Rulemaking Docket Matter No. 37 in the subject or reference line. Comments should be received by the Board no later than 5:00 PM EST on December 14, 2011. Board Contacts: Martin F. Baumann, Chief Auditor...
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...Company First Last 1 Solution, LLC 2 Dog RC 440 Mission Support Group 440th Mission Support Group 82nd Airborne A-‐Safe A-‐Safe A1 CONSULTING GROUP, INC. A1 CONSULTING GROUP, INC. A1 Supply Company A1 supply company A1 supply company AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust ABB Academy Securities Academy Securities Academy Securities Adaptiv Adaptiv Adaptive Therapies Adayana Government Group ADS Inc ADS Inc Advaero Technologies Advanced Electronic Services, Inc Advanced Electronic Services, Inc Advanced Technology, Inc. Advantage International Registrar, Inc. Advantage International Registrar, Inc. afpe All in One Drug Testing Services ALL STATE SUPPLY CO., INC. ALL STATE SUPPLY CO., INC. Almavision ALOTECH, INC. American Product Distributors, Inc. American Source, Inc. AMERICAN SYSTEMS American Systems American Systems Amidon, Inc. Amidon, Inc. Amidon, Inc. Amidon, Inc. Anderson Engineering & Associates, P.A. Anderson Engineering & Associates, P.A. Angler Environmental Anistar Technologies Anistar Technologies Apple Rock ARC ...
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...IBC If you would like to receive a printed version, please email your details to CRS@olamnet.com Olam AR 2014_IFC 250914_TH_NEW OK.indd 1 Olam A/R_Final cover Size: 662.5(W)x297(H)mm-ISO39L Olam International Limited Olam International Limited 9 Temasek Boulevard 9 Temasek Boulevard #11-02 Suntec Tower Two #11-02 Suntec Tower Two Singapore 038989 Singapore 038989 Telephone (65) 6339 4100 Telephone (65) 6339 4100 Facsimile (65) 6339 9755 Facsimile (65) 6339 9755 olamgroup.com olamgroup.com Transcending Boundaries Annual Report 2014 Annual Report 2014 olamgroup.com In an effort to reduce our printed material, we have produced this year’s Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Report on CD. Olam International Limited | Annual Report 2014 Connectivity in the Landscape DC PMS8400c NCL U315188 GP1B 01.10.2014 175# MY C K 2 U 14-023 01/10/2014 21:12 Our Vision To be a differentiated, leading, global agri-business. Our Governing Objective Maximising intrinsic shareholder value over time for our continuing shareholders, in an ethical, socially responsible and environmentally sustainable manner. Olam AR 2014_IFC 250914_TH_NEW OK.indd 2 Olam A/R_Final cover Size: 662.5(W)x297(H)mm-ISO39L Front Cover This year’s cover design celebrates Olam’s 25 years of growth. Our name means ‘transcending boundaries’ and this has inspired our journey since our inception in 1989 in Nigeria. DC ...
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...European Financial Management, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2007, 12–29 doi: 10.1111/j.1468-036X.2007.00415.x Behavioural Finance: A Review and Synthesis Avanidhar Subrahmanyam Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California at Los Angeles, USA E-mail: subra@anderson.ucla.edu Abstract I provide a synthesis of the Behavioural finance literature over the past two decades. I review the literature in three parts, namely, (i) empirical and theoretical analyses of patterns in the cross-section of average stock returns, (ii) studies on trading activity, and (iii) research in corporate finance. Behavioural finance is an exciting new field because it presents a number of normative implications for both individual investors and CEOs. The papers reviewed here allow us to learn more about these specific implications. Keywords: behavioural finance, market efficiency, cross-section of stock returns JEL classifications: G00, G10, G11, G14, G31, G32, G34 1. Introduction The field of finance, until recently, had the following central paradigms: (i) portfolio allocation based on expected return and risk (ii) risk-based asset pricing models such as the CAPM and other similar frameworks, (iii) the pricing of contingent claims, and (iv) the Miller-Modigliani theorem and its augmentation by the theory of agency. These economic ideas were all derived from investor rationality. While these approaches revolutionised the study of finance and brought rigour into the field, many lacunae...
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...AUDITING: A JOURNAL OF PRACTICE & THEORY Vol. 24, No. 1 May 2005 pp. 21ñ35 Recent Changes in the Association between Bankruptcies and Prior Audit Opinions Marshall A. Geiger, K. Raghunandan, and Dasaratha V. Rama SUMMARY: The intense legislative and media scrutiny after a series of high-profile corporate failures, coupled with the paradigm shift in the regulation of the auditing profession brought forth by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, suggests that auditorsí decisions would be more conservative in the period after December 2001. Based on analyses of 226 financially stressed companies that entered bankruptcy during the period from 2000 to 2003, we find that auditors are more likely to issue going-concern modified audit opinions in the period after December 2001. Since the post-December 2001 period coincides with recovery from a recession in the U.S., we also examine prior audit opinions for 93 companies entering bankruptcy in 1991 and 1992. We find that auditors were also more likely to issue prior going-concern modified audit opinions in 2002ñ03 than in the earlier recession recovery period. Following the technique used in Francis and Krishnan (2002), we document that the increase in going-concern modification rates for bankrupt companies after December 2001 is due to changes in auditor reporting decisions and not solely due to differences in client characteristics between the time periods studied. Keywords: bankruptcy; going-concern reports. Data Availability: Contact the authors...
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... Premier Foods (London: PFD, OTC: PRRFY) ….. 32 Also Inside Editor’s Commentary …………….. p. 4 Superinvestor Holdings Update …. p. 9 45 European MF Companies …… p. 10 Interview: Ciccio Azzollini ……… p. 12 Top 5 European Ideas ……………p. 16 Other European candidates …….. p. 36 Euro Book Value Bargains ……. p. 100 100 Cheap European ADRs …….p. 114 About Portfolio Manager’s Review Our goal is to bring you investment ideas that are compelling on the basis of value versus price. In our quest for value, we analyze the top holdings of top fund managers. We also use a proprietary methodology to identify stocks that are not widely followed by institutional investors. Our research team has extensive experience in industry and security analysis, equity valuation, and investment management. We bring a “buy side” mindset to...
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...CAPITAL ASSET PRICES WITH AND WITHOUT NEGATIVE HOLDINGS Nobel Lecture, December 7, 1990 by W ILLIAM F. S H A R P E Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Stanford, California, USA INTRODUCTION* Following tradition, I deal here with the Capital Asset Pricing Model, a subject with which I have been associated for over 25 years, and which the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has cited in honoring me with the award of the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. I first present the Capital Asset Pricing Model (hence, CAPM), incorpo1 rating not only my own contributions but also the outstanding work of Lintner (1965, 1969) and the contributions of Mossin (1966) and others. My goal is to do so succinctly yet in a manner designed to emphasize the economic content of the theory. Following this, I modify the model to reflect an extreme case of an institutional arrangement that can preclude investors from choosing fully optimal portfolios. In particular, I assume that investors are unable to take negative positions in assets. For this version of the model I draw heavily from papers by Glenn (1976), Levy (1978), Merton (1987) and Markowitz (1987, 1990). Finally, I discuss the stock index futures contract - a major financial innovation of worldwide importance that postdates the development of the CAPM. Such contracts can increase the efficiency of capital markets in many ways. In particular, they can bring actual markets closer to the idealized world assumed by the...
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...9-292-114 Rev. 12/17/92 Salomon and the Treasury Securities Auction In early June 1991, Salomon Vice-Chairman John Meriwether had a problem. The U.S. Treasury was inquiring about the possibility that Salomon had engineered a "squeeze" in the market for $12 billion in new Treasury notes auctioned on May 22, 1991. Ordinarily, the Treasury's concern over the possibility of a squeeze was not particularly problematic. Squeezes—that is, an unpredicted shortness of supply or high demand for a security—were not uncommon and developed for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, Meriwether had reason to believe that one of Salomon's bond traders had recently violated the Treasury's auction rules. Paul Mozer, the managing director under Meriwether overseeing Salomon's trading in U.S. Treasury securities, had disclosed to Meriwether in late April that he had broken the Treasury's limit on the size of a dealer's bid in Treasury auctions. Mozer had admitted that he submitted a bid in a February auction using the name of a customer without authorization and had managed to buy more bonds than the Treasury guidelines allowed. The problem struck close to the heart of Salomon's business. Although Salomon was among the leaders in the traditional investment banking activity of debt and equity underwriting—acting as the intermediary between issuers of new securities (corporations and governments) and the investors who bought them—its trading in securities markets drove the firm's profitability and was...
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...CASE 3 : Accounting Fraud at WolrdCom Table of Contents Introduction....................................................................................................................... 1 Question 1 .......................................................................................................................... 2 Question 2 .......................................................................................................................... 4 Question 3 .......................................................................................................................... 6 Question 4 ........................................................................................................................ 10 Question 5 ........................................................................................................................ 16 References........................................................................................................................ 24 BKAL 3063 Integrated Case Study 0 CASE 3 : Accounting Fraud at WolrdCom Introduction WorldCom, US second largest telecommunication company shocked the world by filing bankruptcy at 21 July 2002. The WorldCom filing surpassed Enron and became the largest bankruptcy filing in United States history. Due to its rapid growth, WorldCom is also heavily in debt as they finance the company growth with debt. The collapse of WorldCom did not just affect their employees, retailers, the government...
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...related to firm size and book-to-market equity. There are two bond-market factors. related to maturity and default risks. Stock returns have shared variation due to the stock-market factors, and they are linked to bond returns through shared variation in the bond-market factors. Except for low-grade corporates. the bond-market factors capture the common variation in bond returns. Most important. the five factors seem to explain average returns on stocks and bonds. 1. Introduction The cross-section of average returns on U.S. common stocks shows little relation to either the market /Is of the Sharpe (1964tLintner (1965) assetpricing model or the consumption ps of the intertemporal asset-pricing model of Breeden (1979) and others. [See, for example, Reinganum (198 1) and Breeden, Gibbons, and Litzenberger (1989).] On the other hand, variables that have no special standing in asset-pricing theory show reliable power to explain the cross-section of average returns. The list of empirically determined averagereturn variables includes size (ME, stock price times number of shares), leverage, earnings/price (E/P), and book-to-market equity (the ratio of the book value of a firm’s common stock, BE, to its market value, ME). [See Banz (1981). Bhandari (1988). Basu (1983). and Rosenberg, Reid, and Lanstein (19853.1 Correspondence to: Eugene F. Fama. Graduate East 58th Street. Chicago. IL 60637, USA. School of Business. University...
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...Chapter One Introduction 1.1 INTRODUCTION Foreign exchange refers to the financial transaction where currency value of one country is traded into another country’s currency. The whole process gets done by a network of various financial institutions like banks, investors and governments. The exchange rate varies according to the value of each country’s currency which is based on the health of that particular country’s economy. Any individual or company engaged in overseas business should be aware of the risks of currency fluctuations. Customers without commercial contracts expressed in domestic currency (or fixed by an agreed rate of exchange) are fully exposed to what is known as an exchange risk. Exchange risk may arise because of exchange rate movements in the period from the original commercial contract, to the time of settlement of the domestic equivalent of the foreign currency amount. Foreign exchange risk management is designed to preserve the value of currency inflows, investments and loans, while enabling international businesses to compete abroad. Although it is impossible to eliminate all risks, negative exchange outcomes can be anticipated and managed effectively by individuals and corporate entities. Businesses do so by becoming familiar with the typical foreign exchange risks, demanding hard currency, diversifying properly and employing hedging strategies. No countries of the world can produce all their necessary commodities and services. So it has to buy the commodities...
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