OVERVIEW OF THE PANEL DISCUSSIONS:

I am moderating a panel at the 2023 Ethics Symposium presented by the Public Interest Section of the American Accounting Association (AAA). The panelists are well-known observers of financial statement fraud and critics of audit failures. They will look back and forward to assess where we are in fighting fraud in 2023. We are inviting you to attend the session by registering on the website of the AAA.

Topics

• What has changed since SOX and what still needs to change?
• How has audit quality changed since SOX, and where should we go from here (i.e., what still needs to change to strengthen audit quality and minimize financial fraud)?
• How does audit independence and the audit committee drive ethical behavior?
• Is the public accounting profession meeting its mandate to protect the public interest?
• What are some of the anti-fraud programs that might help to better detect and correct fraud?
• What works well and what’s broken with respect to anti-fraud programs, especially in making it comfortable to blow the whistle?
• What are some of the most essential elements of healthy cultures and anti-fraud programs, most likely to prevent fraud or ensure that it is detected and acted upon sooner?
• A recent study by the ACFE found that 70% of companies now have a hotline and organizations with hotlines are more likely to detect fraud (47%) than those without it (31%). How does organization culture create the environment to detect and report fraud?
• Do whistleblower protections really work?
• What do you think has helped set the stage for the rash of 21^st century scandals?

Panelists

Robert Conway, Retired Big Four Audit Partner                                                                                

• Author, The Truth About Public Accounting: Understanding and Managing the Risks the Auditors Bring to the Audit
• Regional Associate Director of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
• Retired audit partner from KPMG

Cynthia Cooper, The CooperGroup

• Time Magazine 2002 Persons of the Year
• 2003 Accounting Exemplar Award, PIS
• Author, Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower

Tony Menendez, George A. Dasaro Clinical Assistant Professor of Accounting, LMU

• ACFE’s 2016 Sentinel Award for “Choosing Truth Over Self”
• 2017 Accounting Exemplar Award, PIS
• Ernie and Lucha Vogel Moral Courage Lecturer, Principia College, March 30, 2017

Moderator: Steven Mintz, Professor Emeritus, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Posted by Steven Mintz, aka Ethics Sage, on July 25, 2023.  You can learn more about Steve’s activities by checking out his website at: https://www.stevenmintzethics.com/.