We examine the stock price reaction to management's disclosure of internal control weaknesses under sect;302 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act and to the characteristics of these weaknesses, controlling for other material announcements in the event window. We find that some characteristics of the...

We examine whether the properties of bond ratings from certified agencies (designated by the SEC) differ from those of non-certified bond rating agencies. Bond ratings from non-certified agencies are used solely for investment advice. Certified ratings are used by a variety of constituents, many...

Auditors, legislators, and others have recently suggested that audit reporting options be expanded so as to provide better information about expected future events. However, the last action by the Auditing Standards Board (ASB) related to auditor reporting was to reduce the reporting options...

Publicly available fee disclosures have been used by investors and regulators to assess various matters, including the quality of a company's audit, financial reporting, and corporate governance. We find that many companies' disclosures are insufficient, standardized, or inconsistently prepared....

The metrics of generally accepted accounting principles is undergoing a debate in the wake of the accounting and financial scandals that began with Enron. Central to this debate is whether GAAP has become too rule based and needs to become more focused on principles. Sarbanes-Oxley calls on the...

Canadian reporting standards do not require the auditor's report to be qualified (modified) if the going-concern contingency is described in the notes that accompany the financial statements. In response to criticism that this approach is passive and the signal mute (Boritz 1991), the Canadian...

This article reports on the results of an empirical investigation of the timeliness of annual reporting by 47 non-financial companies listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. It also reports on the factors that affect timely reporting by these companies. The results of a descriptive analysis...

Trust is an essential ingredient in facilitating financial transactions. The financial reporting process helps to create trust, but it, in turn, has to be trusted. Auditing and professional standards have been the traditional means by which trust in financial reporting has been fostered....

It has been shown that protecting and serving the public interest in public accounting is a myth. It has also recently been demonstrated that protecting and serving the public interest by the Securities and Exchange Commission is not the primary, or even secondary, mission of the SEC. Finally,...

This study investigates whether having a Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 [SOX 404] material weakness allows managers of these firms to manipulate earnings to a greater extent using discretionary accruals than managers of firms with no SOX 404 material weaknesses. The study focuses on a sample of 218...