PCAOB Sanctions Fifteen Firms for Violating Auditor Independence Rules On December 8, 2014, the SEC announced that it was sanctioning eight firms and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) was sanctioning seven others for violating auditor independence rules when they prepared the financial statements of brokerage firms that were... Read more →

Lack of Accountability at BOA for Mortgage Practices and Moral Hazard May Lead to another Financial Crisis How can it be that Bank of America has settled claims in excess of $66 billion for its role in the financial meltdown that spawned the economic recession in 2008 and no top... Read more →

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 12, 2014 Contact: Robyn Kontra 805-756-5331; [email protected] Cal Poly, Professor Earn High Ranks for Research in Accounting Education, Ethics SAN LUIS OBISPO­ — A 2014 survey published by the journal Issues in Accounting Education ranks Cal Poly No. 32 overall for research in accounting education over... Read more →

Right versus wrong is not Relative or Situational but based on Concrete Moral Virtues Recently in preparing for a lecture on moral education to my students, I came across an interesting essay titled Moral Education -- A Brief History of Moral Education, the Return of Character Education, and Current Approaches... Read more →

Do the Ends Justify the Means in Pushing a Person to Excel Beyond Normal Limits of Behavior? One of the most enjoyable aspects of blogging on societal ethics issues is the opportunity to comment on cultural aspects of our society including the ethical message of television programs and movies. Two... Read more →

The Ends do not justify the Means in an Ethical Decision-Making System Five ethical values underlie academic integrity: honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. Recent disclosures about the actions of two professors at prominent universities brings into question whether their academic integrity was compromised leading to the broader question of... Read more →