...Enron Corporation 1. Why did the company collapse? Enron In order to understand what happened within the company we need to start with its origins. Enron Corporation Inc. (later became Enron) begun operating in Huston Texas in 1985. It started from a merger of two natural gas companies, becoming the largest commercial, natural gas pipeline operating in the United States at that time. Throughout Enron’s humble beginnings it generally centred in the delivery of gas to utilities or businesses at market price. When the deregulation of the business markets emerged Enron’s role changed, they begun to act as energy brokers. Enron entered into contracts with the sellers (natural gas wholesaler) and signed the contract with the buyers (gas utility distributors). Enron then transitioned from an old-line energy company with pipelines and power plants, to a high tech global enterprise that traded energy contracts like commodities, launched into new industries like broadband communications, and oversaw a multi-billion-dollar international investment portfolio. Enron’s key corporate achievements during the 1990s was creation of an online energy trading business that bought and sold contracts to deliver energy products like natural gas, oil or electricity. It operated in over 40 countries and areas such as Europe, South America, Australia basing its main operations in the United States. Enron was only competing with a few major players in the recently deregulated industry and begun to design...
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...Enron Corp. Ivan Rodriguez Professor Daniel Smith Legal 100 April 30, 2011 2. Discuss whether Enron’s officers acted within the scope of their authority. 3. Describe the corporate culture at Enron. 4. Discuss two alleged irregularities in the actions between sellers of securities and Enron. 5. Discuss whether or not Enron was liable for the actions of its agents and employees. The format of the report is to be as follows: o Typed, double spaced, Times New Roman font (size 12), one inch margins on all sides, APA format. o Type the question followed by your answer to the question. * In addition to the 3-4 pages required, a title page is to be included. The title page is to contain the title of the assignment, your name, the instructor’s name, the course title, and the date. Describe how Enron could have been structured differently to avoid such activities. Using computers, the Internet, and other resources, research the activities of the Enron Corporation (Enron), its officers, and its agents (auditors and sellers of securities). Using all the material presented thus far in the course, analyze the activities you researched. The Enron Corporation was an American energy company, which since its merger in 1985 with two other natural pipeline gas companies Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth failed to structure a corporation built around strong ethics and accordance with the law. It would be fair to predominantly commence by...
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...Case 1 ENRON: WHAT CAUSED THE ETHICAL COLLAPSE? case summary | Kenneth Lay, former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Enron Corp., claimed to be a moral and ethical leader and exhorted Enron’s officers and employees to be highly ethical in their decisions and actions. In addition, the Enron Code of Ethics specified that “An employee shall not conduct himself or herself in a manner which directly or indirectly would be detrimental to the best interests of the Company or in a manner which would bring to the employee financial gain separately derived as a direct consequence of his or her employment with the Company.” Enron’s ethics code was based on the values of respect, integrity, communication, and excellence. Given this code of conduct and Ken Lay’s professed commitment to business ethics, one wonders how Enron could have collapsed so dramatically? The answer to this question seems to be rooted in a combination of the failure of top leadership, a corporate culture that supported unethical behavior, and the complicity of the investment banking community. The failure of Enron’s top leadership was evident in the activities of Andrew Fastow, Jeff Skilling, and Ken Lay, all of whom faced multiple counts of criminal activity with respect to their decisions and actions at Enron. Included among these criminal charges were money laundering, wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy, making false statements on financial reports, and insider trading. Some of the activities...
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...Enron Case Part1: Profitability: According to Enron’s 1998~2000 Financial report, Enron was reported increasing revenues and earnings-per-share (Table 1). However, they have been reporting a decrease in gross profit margins and net profit margins (Table 2). Although the revenue was increasing from 1998 to 2000, the cost of doing business in Enron was also increasing over time. For example, in 2000, the company had usual cost increasing in gas, electricity metals and other products. The cost number was almost three times more than its last year. In Enron’s 10-K, FY 2000, the company made investment to purchase gas and electric utilities in a large dollar amount (Note 3). This big purchase largely increased the company’s assets, but it also increased the costs. As the result, Enron has been decreasing in Gross Profit Margin and Net Profit Margin. Enron didn’t do well to use their assets to generate profits. Table 1: | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | Revenues | 100,789 | 40,112 | 31,260 | Earnings Per Share | 1.22 | 1.36 | 1.07 | (Enron Corp. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Statement of Income Statement) Table 2: | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | Gross Profit Margin | 6.2% | 13.3% | 15.6% | Net Profit Margin | 1% | 2.2% | 2.2% | (Enron Corp. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Statement of Income Statement) The cost of doing business has been increasing over these three years. As the result, the return on assets has been decreasing in those three years. Table 3: ...
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...“Creative Accounting: How to Buff a Company” by Ken Brown elaborates on it. Summary Accounting has never been an exact science; yet, auditors often face the situations where their judgment is required. This judgment must be applied to hundreds of transactions, depending on the company. While doing this, they do not reflect the usage of a exact mathematical methodology, no. Their job requires a judgment and opinion from them to analyze endless numbers of transactions by having looked at sample size and not all of them. The previous in an attempt to make the auditing process not so costly while at the same time making the effort to reflect accurately their client’s financial condition. Brown utilizes Enron Corp. as a recurring example of creative accounting. “Now in the wake of Enron Corp.’s collapse and subsequent revelations of accounting irregularities at other big corporations, it has become increasingly clear that number crunchers often represent a company’s finances in the most flattering way”. And that is how “creative accounting” is explained. All that the so-called creative accounting is attempting to is an alteration of perceptions about a business’ performance. The article underlines three areas where accounting standards are “loose enough” for companies to make themselves look better: Sale recognition, Asset Valuation, Off-balance-sheet Financing. When to recognize a revenue is been a historical issue on the accounting world. The issue boils down to accrual method or...
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...Enron Corporation (former NYSE ticker symbol ENE) was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 20,000 staff and was one of the world's major electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, with claimed revenues of nearly $101 billion during 2000.[1] Fortune named Enron "America's Most Innovative Company" for six consecutive years. At the end of 2001, it was revealed that its reported financial condition was sustained substantially by an institutionalized, systematic, and creatively planned accounting fraud, known since as the Enron scandal. Enron has since become a well-known example of willful corporate fraud and corruption. The scandal also brought into question the accounting practices and activities of many corporations in the United States and was a factor in the creation of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002. The scandal also affected the greater business world by causing the dissolution of the Arthur Andersen accounting company.[2] Enron filed for bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of New York during late 2001 and selected Weil, Gotshal & Manges as its bankruptcy counsel. It ended its bankruptcy during November 2004, pursuant to a court-approved plan of reorganization, after one of the most complex bankruptcy cases in U.S. history. A new board of directors changed the name of Enron to Enron Creditors Recovery Corp., and emphasized...
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...Enron’s Impact The movie Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room is an informative documentary exposing an unprecedented level of corruption in the business industry. This movie is based on a book written by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, who are also the primary interviewees in the film. This movie captures the tragedy in an incredibly detailed and emotion-jerking way, from the beginning of Enron to the end. Enron is well known to anyone familiar with economics, accounting, or business. For many, the name Enron evokes harsh feelings and leaves a sour taste in the mouth. For those who are not familiar with Enron, a few key terms might be helpful in understanding the type of business Enron was: Deceptive, Dishonest, Insolent, Corrupt, Blatant Disregard for Humanity, and Business Failure. Enron strategically and criminally manipulated market-to-market accounting, where projected earnings were allowed in the profits reported; however, market-to-market accounting was not necessarily the problem. The problem lay in the carefully crafted deceptive projections by top executives, which initially no one cared to question. This allowed Enron’s stock price to maintain elevated, even though the money was never there. Enron Oregon Corp. and Enron Corp., a Delaware corporation merged on July 11, 1997, surviving entity, Enron Corp. Recorded puppeteers at the time: Kenneth L. Lay, Chairman of the Board/Chief Executive Officer and Director/Principal Executive Officer; Richard A....
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...Memo of law Question/Issue Presented What evidence can be found during a legal discovery and how does this affect the record-keeping policy of a business organization? Applicable Law and Ethical Standards Newby v. Enron Corp. , 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28397 (S.D. Tex. May 1, 2002) Newby v. Enron Corp. (In re Enron Cor... , 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1668, Fed. Sec. L. Rep. (CCH) P92404 (S.D. Tex. Jan. 28, 2003) United States v. Arthur Andersen LLP , 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26870 (S.D. Tex. May 24, 2002) 18 USCS § 1512 Discussion/Analysis (of Law and Facts) During a legal discovery which includes the procedures of Deposition, Interrogatories and Production of Documents there can be different evidence found depending on the area of work the business organization is involved in. An example could be that a company tried to create false documents with the intent to seem like a good investment or to avoid paying taxes. During a deposition evidence can be found that people questioned tell conflicting stories. It is crucial to be able to deliver the right documents requested during a discovery. Therefore, it is important to have an organized record-keeping policy for any organization. Furthermore, a business should keep its records as correct as possible and not be tempted to give in to fraud, changing documents or destroying important documents. A company should follow the law to keep the required documents. It would be a crime to hide, destroy and/or withhold subpoenaed...
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...Ethics in Accounting and Financial Decision Making Laseda Dickson Fin/324 June 1, 2009 Ric Franchetti America is aware of the familiar financial collapse of Adelphia Communications Corp., Tyco International Ltd., Global Crossing, and of course the Enron Corp are just a few of the failed amidst allegations of financial mismanagement, poor decisions, and a lack of oversight. The reality is that the aspects of financial collapse begin with a severe erosion and eventual ruination of corporate and personal ethics. In short the companies collapsed ethically long before suffering financial ruins. In response to the magnitude of the collapse, as well as the sheer number of companies affected, the U.S. Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, these reforms represent the third great U.S. financial regulatory, once the profit for reform in the last twenty-five years. The first came back in the S&Ls’ financial reports, including the values at which they were carrying assets. Following the S&Ls’ came the insider trading and junk bonds-collapse era of Dow-Jones Index Now, here we are again. How can it be prevented to stop corporations and their management from going down these temporarily lucrative paths of fraud? What types of checks and balances could be used to ensure that someone within the corporation raises a red flag before it faces bankruptcy? There were several systemic failures with all of these companies failing. The question to be asked in all of...
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...executive officer (CEO) of Enron Corp., claimed to be a moral and ethical leader and exhorted Enron’s officers and employees to be highly ethical in their decisions and actions. In addition, the Enron Code of Ethics specified that “An employee shall not conduct himself or herself in a manner which directly or indirectly would be detrimental to the best interests of the Company or in a manner which would bring to the employee financial gain separately derived as a direct consequence of his or her employment with the Company.” Enron’s ethics code was based on the values of respect, integrity, communication, and excellence. Given this code of conduct and Ken Lay’s professed commitment to business ethics, one wonders how Enron could have collapsed so dramatically? The answer to this question seems to be rooted in a combination of the failure of top leadership, a corporate culture that supported unethical behavior, and the complicity of the investment banking community. The failure of Enron’s top leadership was evident in the activities of Andrew Fastow, Jeff Skilling, and Ken Lay, all of whom faced multiple counts of criminal activity with respect to their decisions and actions at Enron. Included among these criminal charges were money laundering, wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy, making false statements on financial reports, and insider trading. Some of the activities that led to these criminal charges were: (a) concealing how extensively Enron was involved in trading in...
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...Enron---The Complete Perspective Introduction Ken lay founded Enron almost fifteen years ago and the foundation which was laid in a Houston town is now almost a $100 billion a year corporation. Top ten in the Fortune 500 list it runs in the same league as International Business Machines Corp. and AT&T Corp. Like all Multi National Corps. Enron has subsidiaries in India, China Philippines, a water company in Britain, pulp mills in Canada and gas pipelines across North America and South America. But the real power lies in the Houston area where it is the leading supplier for electricity and natural gas. As it rose to power it had plans to enter the fiber-optic cable, TV advertising time and wood pulp and steel market. Further, it also had political interest in the nation and like all MNC's lobbied behind its candidates in this case being Bush, who is now President. This seemed to pave the way for Enron's success and put it in a prime position for pulling the strings of power. Now, however, suddenly the power dynamics have changed. From being the top Corporation in the US and the world it is now fighting to retain its stock value. Assets have been pledged to the bank, creditors are scrambling for blood and company lawyers planned to file for bankruptcy. Most of the customers that Enron boasted off have long gone. From the point of creating power it has come down to the mercies of those in power. The company had approximately 21,000 employees all in dire straits as their future...
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...Effect of unethical article ACC 291 June 27, 2013 Julio Medina The unethical behavior of Enron Corporation The unethical habits and behavior's in accounting would be deceptive under financial analysis such as gainings, misuses of fundings, overstating the value of corporate assets or underreporting the existence of liabilities, overdoing revenue as well as understanding expenses. Another unethical systems would be securities fraud, manipulation of the financial markets and bribery. Enron is one of the greatest example that impact the unethical behavior. Enron corporation was an American energy company was formed from the merger of Houston Natural Gas including the inter north a Nebraska pipeline company. Enron employed around 21,000 people and was one of the worlds leading natural gas, pulp, electricity, and communications companies. Enron reported financial situations of were the company constant of institutionalized systematic planning accounting fraud having rumors of corruption to secure contracts in central America. Enron's ethics of coding was created on respect, integrity, communication, and excellence. These values were described as follows. Respect. We treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves. We do not tolerate abusive or disrespectful treatment. Ruthlessness, callousness and arrogance don’t belong here. Integrity. We work with customers and prospects openly, honestly and sincerely. When we say we will do something, we will do it; when we say we...
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...Heidrick Dr. Dan Deines ACCTG 641 15 October 2014 The Meteoric Rise and Fall of Enron Enron was created in 1985 after a merger between Houston Natural Gas and Internorth. By 2002 it was gone forever. Its stock price rose to $90/share in August of 2000 before bottoming out at $0.40/share when they filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 2nd 2001. It only took 16 years for one of the largest Fortune 500 companies to completely dissolve, taking employee jobs, pensions, Arthur Andersen, and the American public’s faith with it. Enron and its young McKinsey consultant created the energy derivative and used it to form the new natural gas division that dominated the market. However, the use of mark-to-market accounting and the creation of Special Purpose Entities (SPEs) led to overstated profits and inaccurate balance sheets. By the fall of 2001 nobody could find out how Enron was making its money. A disclosure on the October financial statements for a $1.2 billon dollar reversal caught the Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) attention. They launched an investigation and in less than two months Enron filed for bankruptcy protection. A large part of the scandal also focused around Arthur Andersen, at the time of the of the Big Five accounting firms, because of its qualified auditing opinions of Enron. It ultimately ceased to exist because of its involvement with the Enron fraud. The Enron scandal showed the public that changes in accounting and auditing standards and practices...
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...led to a wide-ranging re-examination of standards for corporate governance with repercussions that extend also to financial regulation. Good leaders strive to create a better and more ethical organization. Restoring an ethical climate in organization is critical, as it is a key component in solving the many other organizational development and ethical behavior issues facing the organization. Unethical behavior has drawn the attention of the public for the few last decades in all kinds of business. Many transformations in the business environment have taken place, including immoral conducts and the tendency for corruption. Unethical accounting behavior is also included as a consequence. The unpredictable increase and collapse of the Enron Company set off a long-burning fire under the American social conscience. From every crevasse and corner, voices rose demanding increased accountability, demanding tighter regulation, and demanding that the unethical be brought to justice. Accounting is more and more involved in consulting, so it requires high ethical standards to built trust between clients and companies. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was a key milestone in ensuring the appropriate recording of financial information takes place. As a result of numerous scandals, SOX has made the penalties for fraudulent activity more severe, working to the benefit of accounting professionals since there can be dishonest influence placed upon them from the companies or corporations...
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.... Burton Final Paper: The Enron Scandal MSA 602 Dr. Pendarvis 12-4-2011 Abstract Enron's collapse is generally viewed as a morality tale - the natural result of managerial greed, a clueless board, and feckless gatekeepers. But none of these aspects of the story clearly distinguishes Enron from other major firms during the bubble era of the late 90s. This material identifies certain economic facts from the many moving parts that was Enron, and organizes them along two main threads. The first describes Enron's major businesses, and the incentives and constraints under which the managers of those businesses operated. The second thread describes the basic financial engineering tools developed by Enron's finance department. These threads are then woven into the timeline of Enron's ultimate collapse. What emerges is a tale of how bad bets that resulted in good outcomes came to be viewed by top management and the board as bets worth repeating on an ever-larger scale. Early success in highly risky ventures were ramped up and duplicated, under perverse incentives, into a financial disaster. The firm then doubled down on that disaster with non-economic hedges developed by the finance group. The CFO, in a wholesale breach of his fiduciary responsibilities, including corruption of various gatekeepers, managed to cloak the poor quality of his hedges and his motivation in creating them. This duplicity prevented...
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