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Sarbanes-Oxley workshop looks at curbs on accounting scandals
April 8, 2004 | |||||
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KOKOMO, Ind.—Learn more about the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and its implications for business ethics, Wednesday, April 21, at IU Kokomo. Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) and the IU Kokomo School of Business will sponsor the 7 p.m. discussion in Kresge Auditorium. (An announcement of the event in the May edition of the campus publication Bridges incorrectly stated the location as Kelley Student Center, Room 130.) Passed by Congress in the wake of accounting and management scandals at such companies as Enron and WorldCom investors, Sarbanes-Oxley sets out strict accounting practices for public corporations in order to protect investor interests. Associate Professor of Finance Steve Cox, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor of Business Law and Taxation Richard Hofmann, J.D. will discuss the law. They will also review some of the high profile corporate scandals making recent headlines and look at the ethical dilemma of accounting fraud. Supporters of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act claim that its compliance requirements bolster investor confidence and thus willbe good for business. Critics worry that compliance will be too costly and take attention from core business activities, reducing competitiveness. Tom Petruno in the March 8, 2004, Los Angeles Times, questioned if shareholder activism might not get “carried away and hamper honest company managers.” A March 7, 2004, Jackson Citizen Patriot editorial said Sarbanes-Oxley “engages in a touch of overkill, but it was far better to demand too much accountability than too little.” And, economist James McCusker, on the HeraldNet Web site (March 8, 2004), argued that “get tough” policies risk “making things worse” by creating adversarial relationships between companies and their financial auditors, both internal and external. To avoid lawsuits, auditors may follow the letter of the law while ignoring their own good judgment, McCusker said. For more information on the presentation, contact SIFE at cdabelow@aol.com. Guests to campus who do not have an IU Kokomo parking pass are asked to park in the lower level of the parking garage, located on the south end of campus.
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