This study examines companies' costs to comply with SOX 404 and identifies factors that are associated with these costs. SOX 404 costs can be classified into three categories: internal labor costs, external consulting and technology expenses, and auditor attestation charges. While prior research...

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires firms to assess the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting and auditors to express an opinion on the effectiveness of such internal controls. We examine whether the first-time inclusion of additional audited information in...

A key objective of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOA) was the restoration of public confidence in the integrity of audited financial statements. One section of SOA (Section 302) requires the chief executive officer(s) and the principal financial officer(s) to certify in each quarterly or annual report...

Chinese firms listing in the U.S. via reverse mergers (CRMs) have dominated prior media, regulator and research attention. Yet CRMs have effectively ceased, leaving Chinese firms listing via initial public offerings (CIPOs) as the relevant remaining class of Chinese firms listing on U.S....

This paper provides early but broad empirical evidence on a major new investor protection regulation in Europe, MiFID II, which requires investment firms to unbundle investment research from other costs they charge to clients. We predict that the price separation resulting from unbundling and a...

The paper shows the ways of disclosing financial risks by IFRS 7 and certain types of sensitivity analysis. The different possibilities of preparing a sensitivity analysis, such as value at risk are illustrated and their suitability for reporting are faced critically. Following, the manner of...

In today's uncertain financial climate it is particularly important for entities to explain their financial performance relative to their expectations. Therefore, the paper analyzes the quality and quantity of management reporting in Germany's publicly traded MDAX and SDAX companies using a...

In recent years, attention for corporate governance has not only increased but the notion has also broadened considerably, and started to cover some aspects traditionally seen as being part of corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR, corporate governance and their interlink seem particularly...

Early empirical studies find a negative association between firm performance and shareholder activism, whereas more recent studies document a positive association. We argue and theoretically show that this change in behavior results from mandating executive compensation disclosure. We develop a...

Using text-based analysis of 10-K MD&A disclosures, we find that fraudulent firms produce verbal disclosure that is abnormal relative to strong counterfactuals. This abnormal text predicts fraud out of sample, has a verbal factor structure, and can be interpreted to reveal likely mechanisms that...