Using 629 observations of U.S. publicly listed firms with internal control related frauds from 2000 to 2006; this study investigates the change in auditor litigations in the Post- Sarbanes Oxley, Section 404 period. To the extent the conditions of the internal control in place are inadequate or non-existent, the possibility of the occurrence of internal control related fraud heightens. Thus, the inability of auditors to detect a financial statement misstatement due to internal control fraud in a timely manner exposes auditors to litigation (Barra, 2010; Heninger, 2001; Caplan, 1999). This situation was prevalent in the recent notable corporate failures that resulted in auditors being named as potential defendants. The present research finding indicates during the Post-SOX 404 period, the probability of auditor litigation due to internal control fraud increases. However, no support was shown for further increases in the likelihood of auditor litigation when both types of fraud occur in the Post-SOX 404 period. These results suggest an increase in the enforcement of accountability by the SEC, and should motivate auditors towards reassessing their audit procedures. Furthermore, the results indicate the probability of auditor litigation due to internal control fraud decreases for accelerated filers, and similarly, the probability of auditor litigation decreases for firms with management voluntary disclosures reflecting effective internal control. The overall result of this study indicates the likelihood of auditors being litigated increased in the Post-SOX 404 period, and auditors are more likely to be litigated when both types of fraud occurs simultaneously. This result further supports the argument for meritorious claims and the procedural justice theory.

Presentación realizada en el evento WAW - World Accounting Week. Auditorio Bancalari, Campus Monterrico, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas - UPC / EL Auditor en las organizaciones, cuál es su importancia, su trascendencia, que actitudes y aptitudes debe tener un Auditor para poder cumplir de manera eficiente y eficaz su labor.

財務報表能否公正表達企業的真實情況，將直接或間接影響到報表使用者的經濟決策及社會資源之分配。而會計師能否成功扮演公眾保護者的角色，並獨立而客觀的對於財務報表表示意見，將直接影響到財務報表之品質。會計專業評論者即提出強制會計師輪調是解決會計師因與客戶間的長期關係而導致失去獨立性與專業上懷疑的手段。 目前全世界已有部份國家（如：意大利、西班牙和以色列）實施會計師事務所間輪調（audit firm rotation ）。而美國則自1977年起即由AICPA規定會計師事務所內合夥人須每七年輪調一次（即audit partner rotation）。在台灣，目前會計師的獨立性及審計品質日益受到重視，但會計師輪調的議題卻鮮少有人探討。所以，本論文以問卷調查的方式，徵詢會計師界、上市上櫃公司會計部門經理、主管機關證期會人員及證券業人士之意見，並參考過去有關會計師輪調及審計之文獻來探討會計師輪調在台灣實施之可行性。 問卷結果發現：（1）從整體的角度而言，不同受測群體對於會計師輪調能促使會計師更客觀衡量財務報表的功能大都持正面的看法。所以，會計師輪調就理論面而言是一項立意良善的制度。（2）就事務所間的會計師輪調之可行性而言，雖然主管機關及財務報表使用者都贊成實施，但是可以預見的，會引起大部份的事務所的反對。從本次研究發現，公司亦是持反對事務間輪調意見者居多。所以，未來若要實施事務所間的會計師輪調，可能會遭遇相當大的阻力。（3）事務所內會計師輪調則為事務所及公司較能接受的方式。 / An Exploratory Study of the Implementation of Auditor Rotation in Taiwan

<p>Because all joint-stock companies in Sweden need to have an auditor we thought it would be</p><p>interesting to study how companies choose their auditor and which factors influence their</p><p>choice. Therefore our research question is:</p><p>“Which factors influence joint-stock companies in their choice of auditor?”</p><p>The main purpose of the study is to get a better and deeper understanding of the subject, in</p><p>order to clarify the purpose we established three sub purposes:</p><p>• Establish which determinants that play a significant role in a company’s choice of</p><p>auditor.</p><p>• Investigate if there are any differences between companies of different sizes.</p><p>• Research how auditors perceive the relationship with their clients.</p><p>We have performed a study with a subjective view of reality and to get a deeper</p><p>understanding for the subject of our thesis we chose a qualitative research method. The</p><p>purpose of this study is to get a better understanding and therefore the hermeneutic point of</p><p>view is the most suitable alternative because it brings attention to understanding and realistic</p><p>thinking. During the study we have done a total of eight interviews, six with joint-stock</p><p>companies of different sizes managed by the owner and two interviews with auditors, both</p><p>working in a “Big Four” audit firm. After the interview we compared the collected data with</p><p>our chosen theories to see if there are any patterns that we can draw a conclusion from. This is</p><p>representative for the deductive approach of our study.</p><p>Our study shows that recommendations and personal relationships are the most important</p><p>determining factors for a company when choosing an auditor. Recommendations from friends</p><p>and family are the most common way to get in contact with an auditor.</p><p>Prior to the study we believed that companies of various sizes would have different opinions</p><p>of which factors that influence their choice of auditor but the study shows that there are no</p><p>significant differences in how the companies choose their auditor.</p><p>The auditors’ perceptions of what expectations the companies have on their auditors overall</p><p>seem to agree with what the companies expressed during the interviews. However, a majority</p><p>of the respondents in the researched companies want their auditor to be more pro-active and</p><p>knowledgeable about the company.</p>

Because all joint-stock companies in Sweden need to have an auditor we thought it would be interesting to study how companies choose their auditor and which factors influence their choice. Therefore our research question is: “Which factors influence joint-stock companies in their choice of auditor?” The main purpose of the study is to get a better and deeper understanding of the subject, in order to clarify the purpose we established three sub purposes: • Establish which determinants that play a significant role in a company’s choice of auditor. • Investigate if there are any differences between companies of different sizes. • Research how auditors perceive the relationship with their clients. We have performed a study with a subjective view of reality and to get a deeper understanding for the subject of our thesis we chose a qualitative research method. The purpose of this study is to get a better understanding and therefore the hermeneutic point of view is the most suitable alternative because it brings attention to understanding and realistic thinking. During the study we have done a total of eight interviews, six with joint-stock companies of different sizes managed by the owner and two interviews with auditors, both working in a “Big Four” audit firm. After the interview we compared the collected data with our chosen theories to see if there are any patterns that we can draw a conclusion from. This is representative for the deductive approach of our study. Our study shows that recommendations and personal relationships are the most important determining factors for a company when choosing an auditor. Recommendations from friends and family are the most common way to get in contact with an auditor. Prior to the study we believed that companies of various sizes would have different opinions of which factors that influence their choice of auditor but the study shows that there are no significant differences in how the companies choose their auditor. The auditors’ perceptions of what expectations the companies have on their auditors overall seem to agree with what the companies expressed during the interviews. However, a majority of the respondents in the researched companies want their auditor to be more pro-active and knowledgeable about the company.

Independence and objectivity are the cornerstones of the auditing profession. Even though internal auditing is generally not mandatory for companies to set up, its importance these days has increased phenomenally due to the fact that it assists companies to systematically evaluate and improve their risk management, internal controls and governance processes. Internal auditors are therefore expected to be independent and objective in order to provide unbiased and reliable reports, and to win the trust and confidence of people though admittedly, independence and objectivity are not easy to achieve in reality since the internal auditors are employees of the company they audit and report on.  The purpose of this study was thus, to critically investigate if independence and objectivity can truly be achieved in practice by employing a case study of the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM). Accordingly, empirical data was gathered from the above-mentioned bank via the administration of questionnaire to seven internal auditors.  The study revealed through a qualitative content analysis of the data collected that, the internal auditors of RBM are indeed independent and objective in their profession because the bank has instituted the right organizational structures and the Internal Audit Department has made tremendous effort in complying with best practices in the internal audit profession. This has created a proper work environment as well as developed an appropriate attitude within staff that has allowed a high level of independence and objectivity to be achieved. Based on the evidence of RBM, we can therefore say that the independence and objectivity of an internal auditor can truly be achieved in practice.

This study is to research the current corporate reorganization theoretically and practically. And there are nine categories of the process including ¡§the qualified targets,¡¨ ¡§the qualified reasons,¡¨ ¡§the reorganization-filing,¡¨ ¡§the court decision,¡¨ ¡§the execution and supervision institutions,¡¨ ¡§debters¡¦, creditors¡¦ and shareholders¡¦ rights,¡¨ ¡§reorganization plan,¡¨ ¡§the accomplishment¡¨ and ¡§the termination.¡¨ In addition, there are four practical cases including Tong Lung Metal Industry Co., Ltd, Kuei Yi Industry Co., Ltd, Chinese Automobile Co., Ltd, and Ban Yu Paper Mill Co., Ltd. To conclude, the finding of this study are followed: the assignment of reorganizaters has to take the needs of corporation management and the stakeholders into account, the auditors ought to have the professional knowledge of corporation management and corporate reorganization and the assignment also have to take stakeholders into consideration, owing a certified accountant license is not adequent caouse to be an inspector, prepackaged reorgazination is helpful to the process of corporate reorganization, the advisory organs¡¦ suggestions are for court¡¦s reference, the net value and shareholder structure of the corporation have influences on the shakeholder conference, there ought to be a time limit on the agreement of reorganization plan, and there ought to be a specific time to vadicate the net value.

The dissertation examines IPO underpricing and long-term performance to assess the use of industry specialization as a differentiation strategy by audit firms and underwriters. Prior studies indicate that prestigious auditors or underwriters (e.g., Big 6 auditors) are associated with IPO underpricing. I extend existing literature by incorporating market share as a refined measure of auditor (underwriter) reputation. In particular, I define a differentiated auditor (underwriter) as the market leader that possesses significantly higher market share than their competitors in the client industry. I hypothesize that the impact of auditor (underwriter) reputation in the IPO setting depends on whether the audit firm (underwriter) has successfully differentiated itself from competitors within client industries. My results show that as audit firm (underwriter) industry market share increases without differentiation, the IPO underpricing increases. It appears that this group of auditors (underwriters) intentionally engages in high-risk IPOs in order to gain fee advantages. In contrast, differentiated auditors (underwriters) are related to lower IPO underpricing because their reputation assist in reducing information asymmetry between issuers and investors. My study is important because it shows that the benefits previously thought to be attributable to a very large set of auditors and underwriters stems primary

This study examines how reliance on the client’s internal audit function (IAF) affects auditors’ ability to persuade management to accept material weakness assessments of detected internal control deficiencies. I further investigate whether auditors’ ability to persuade management to accept material weakness assessments depends on the subjectivity the control deficiency assessment to varied interpretations (ambiguity). I apply group affiliation and persuasion theories to hypothesize that management will have higher group identification with the IAF than with the auditors. I predict that management’s group affiliation will lead them to be more accepting of auditors’ internal control assessments when the auditors rely on the client’s IAF than when auditors do not. Further, I hypothesize that the greater the ambiguity in the internal control deficiency assessment, the more persuaded management will be to accept the auditors’ control assessment in situations where the auditors rely on the IAF than when the auditors do not. I conduct an experiment using a 2 X 2 between-subjects design in which I manipulate auditors’ reliance on the client’s IAF during tests of the client’s internal controls (rely or not rely) and the level of ambiguity in the internal control deficiency assessment (less ambiguous or more ambiguous) in a SOX 404 Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting (ICFR) audit setting. The study’s findings provide evidence that relying on the client’s IAF can improve auditors’ likelihood of persuading the client when control assessments are more open to varied interpretations. This study sheds light on a previously ignored benefit of using the client’s IAF – as a persuasion tactic. Thus, my research contributes to two literature streams: factors influencing auditor-client negotiations and the effects of using the IAF on audit engagements. These results provide both practical and theoretical insights to academics, practitioners and auditing standard setters.

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