Fraudulent Actions
What is corporate governance?
Corporate governance refers to the set of systems, principles and processes by which a company is governed. They provide the guidelines as to how the company can be directed or controlled such that it can fulfil its goals and objectives in a manner that adds to the value of the company and is also beneficial for all stakeholders in the long term . This definition seemed more appealing as it gave a broader understanding than the other offered definitions. It explains in plain simple terms what exactly corporate governance is and who it involves. Other definitions were vague and didn’t mention some of the participants involved. Corporate governance is a process and a system, and as with any system, it has many parts. Both internal and external actors can have a role in governance. Some examples of internal actors are directors, the company secretary, sub-board management, which are also known as the ‘middle’ management and employee representatives, otherwise known as trade unions.
The topic chosen is fraudulent actions. A fraudulent action can be characterized by, involving, or proceeding from fraud, as actions, enterprise, methods or gains, for example, a fraudulent scheme to evade taxes . A fraudulent practice means any action or omission, including misrepresentation that knowingly or recklessly misleads, or attempts to mislead, a party to obtain financial benefit or to avoid an obligation . Sometimes the law makes people like officers and directors and those who assist in furthering the fraud liable, even if they didn’t know about the fraud . The Companies Act, also known as the Principal Act 1963 introduced the idea of fraudulent trading under section 297 which cares for the res...
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...e quote by Wearing (2005), it is true that there will never be a perfect system of corporate governance. There does need to be a balance between the regulations, if there is too little, it leads to the abuse of corporate governance and if there is too much it will inhibit wealth creation. It is put in place to deal with the balance of power within a company, nothing is 100% and failure of a system is expected, but if the majority of the time, corporate governance is successful then maybe there should be a few more warning signs as if they are picked up early, action can be taken quickly and a resolution can be had. Throughout the findings of the essay, corporate governance and fraudulent actions are relevant to one another and corporate governance can be used to help deal with any fraudulent actions, so they work well together, which is important for any company.
Taking a look at Donald Cressey’s hypotheses which is now known as the fraud triangle depicts the certain criteria for the mind frame of the fraudster. The fraud triangle is a theory that consists of perceived pressures, perceived opportunity, and rationalization. It gives us the different pressures placed on individuals that would make them consider “cooking the books.” It also demonstrates where the possible opportunity lies so that we may take precautions to eliminate the opportunity. Last, it demonstrates how a fraudster rationalizes with themselves to make committing the fraud okay. Donald Cressey believes all three elements must be present for fraud to occur. Upper management is usually the focus of financial statement fraud because financial statements are done at the management level. So in this case financial statement fraud was committed by the CEO Gregory Podlucky
Corporate governance is deliberate and sustained efforts by the firm to update, improve, systematize and adjust its internal regulations and guidelines. World over corporations have been under sustained attack for continued improvement in performance at expense of moral or social issues. Good corporate governance involves financiers and other stake holders of an entity getting value for their investment. This, therefore, can be viewed from agency perspective where the ownership and control is separate. An ideal corporate governance practice does not only involve the fight between shareholders and directors but the ethos of an entity and achieving its set goals. According to Shleifer and Vishny (1997) the core objective of corporate governance in which mostly applies to Anglo-American companies, involves design of incentives which will maximize return on equity given that the ownership and control is separate.
Bibliography: Turnbull, S. (1997). Corporate governance: its scope, concerns and theories. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 5 (4), pp. 180--205.
Corporate Governance is defined as a system that has been established to direct and control companies and I controlled by, (QFinance – The Ultimate Resource, 2009, para. 1.), the board of directors, who must abide by rules and regulations, while implementing such a system. Their duties include, setting the strategic goals of the company, provide leadership and reporting to the companies stakeholders (QFinance - The Ultimate Resource, 2009, para 1).
Although the definition of corporate governance varies from one person to another, it is indicated that the 1992 United Kingdom Cadbury Report as well as the South African King Report of 1994 defined corporate governance as a system through which companies are controlled and directed. A much broader definition is however provided by the 1999 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which describes corporate governance as the existing relationships between a company’s board, shareholders and other stakeholders involved. Furthermore, the definition stipulates that, corporate governance avails a structure through which the company objectives are set and the how these objectives are to be attained and monitored is also determined by corporate governance. Corporate governance in the UK and the USA however has frameworks that are predictable under distinct approaches.
Corporate governance implies governing a company/organization by a set of rules, principles, systems and processes. It guides the company about how to achieve its vision in a way that benefits the company and provides long-term benefits to its stakeholders. In the corporate business context, stake-holders comprise board of directors, management, employees and with the rising awareness about Corporate Social Responsibility; it includes shareholders and society as well. The principles which...
Corporate governance is the policies, rules and regulations, by which a corporation shapes the way corporate officers, managers, and stakeholders perform their duties to create wealth for the entity. According to Lipman (2006), good corporate governance helps to prevent corporate scandals, fraud, and potential civil and criminal liability of the organization (p. 3). Most companies, whether formal or informal, have some type of corporate governance for the management to follow. Large companies will have a formal set of rules and regulations, while small companies frequently have spoken rules often due to lack time to form any type of formal policies. There is often no corporate governance with family owned companies.
Corporate Governance refers to the systems by which a corporation is directed and controlled by its shareholders, directors, and officers. The structure of governance specifies the rights and responsibilities of different participants in the corporation with regard both to one another and outside parties. These laws generally
Corporate governance by definition refers to the processes, mechanisms and relations that shapes how the corporations are controlled and directed. Participants in the companies such as the board of directors, managers, shareholders, creditors, auditors, regulators, and stakeholders) are governed by the structures and principles of corporate governance that indicates how the rights and the responsibilities among the different participants are distributed and also it covers the rules and procedures for making decisions in corporate affairs.
When corporate governance structures are sufficiently used, the company can raise dividends and lower the overall capital costs, which preserves investors’ confidence. It also has a positive impact in the market, both reputational and economical, which leads to better share prices and it provides the management and employees of the company with a guideline to achieve their objectives in a way which are in best interest of both the company and its
K, . N., ER, w., DAVID, K., PAUL, M., WALTER, O., & EVANS, A. (2012). Corporate governance theories and their application to boards of directors: A critical literature review . Prime Journal of Business Administration and Management (BAM), 2(12)(2251-1261), 782-787.
Nottingham Trent University. (2013). Lecture 1 - An Introduction to Corporate Governance. Available: https://now.ntu.ac.uk/d2l/le/content/248250/viewContent/1053845/View. Last accessed 16th Dec 2013.
The office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE, 2015), Ireland defines Corporate Governance as “the system, principles and process by which organisations are directed and controlled. The principles underlying corporate governance are based on conducting the business with integrity and fairness, being transparent with regard to all transactions, making all the necessary disclosures and decisions and complying with all the laws of the land”. It is the system for protecting and advancing the shareholder’s interest by setting strategic direction for the firm and achieving them by electing and monitoring the capable management (Solomon, 2010). It is the process of protecting the stakes of various parties that have their interest attached with a company (Fernando, 2009). Corporate governance is the procedure through which the management of the company is achieving the goals of various stake holders (Becht, Macro, Patrick and Alisa,
Corporate governance is the set of guidelines that determines the control and organization of a particular company. The company’s board of directors is in charge of approving and reviewing changes to this set of formally established guidelines. Companies have to keep in mind the interests of multiple stakeholders, parties who have an interest in the company. Some of these stakeholders include customers, shareholders, management, and suppliers. Corporate governance’s focus is concentrated on the rights and obligations of three stakeholder groups in particular: the board of directors, management, and shareholders. Corporate governance determines how power is split between these three stakeholders. A company’s board of directors is the main stakeholder that influences the corporate governance of a company (Corporate Governance).
...eve efficient resource allocation. Failure to achieve appropriate and efficient corporate governance could result in sub-optimal allocation of resources, abuses and theft by management, expropriation of outside shareholders and creditors, financial distress and even bankruptcy. While evaluating the role of corporate governance, it is imperative to also consider the levels of development of market institutions and other legal infrastructure including laws and enforcement that provide good standard for investor protection as well as ownership structures.