Assignment:
Companies as examples.
PLEASE EXPLAIN WHETHER YOU AGREE WITH MY CLASSMATE RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTION AND WHY? (A MININUM OF 150 WORDS)
Classmate's Response
I think the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has provide some deterrence and it has provided a lot of oversight, as well as laying out outline requirements when it comes to improving auditing, reporting and governance of public company. It also provides a guide to the IT departments regarding record keeping. While I believe that that Sarbanes-Oxley Act was a measure to be proactive when it comes to companies committing fraudulent acts within their accounting activities, I don't believe that this act is going to stop it from happening altogether. Again, I think it has decreased it in some respects by putting certain requirements in place when it comes to audits, and requiring accountability and transparency on specific items, but not in its entirety. If a person/company intends to commit fraud, then they are going to attempt to do so regardless of what measures have been put into place to try to stop it from happening. Unfortunately, fraud is a problem that cannot be rid of through legislation. Even walking into a store that has security personnel, camera's and other measures in place, it still doesn't stop a thief from stealing if they intend to steal. This would be the same thing. Fraud prevention is ultimately going to be up to these individual companies and the policies and procedures they have in place at that level to really prevent fraud from happening. Companies on all levels should be working together to have these measures in place within their companies regardless of if regulations like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act are in place or not. The only way to truly be successful in your business is to ensure that you have fraud prevention measures in place.