Good decisions begin with good information. A bank's board of directors needs concise, accurate, and timely reports to help it perform its fiduciary responsibilities. This booklet describes information generally found in board reports, and it highlights “red flags”—ratios or trends that may signal existing or potential problems. An effective board is alert for the appearance of red flags that give rise to further inquiry. By making further inquiry, the directors can determine if a substantial problem exists or may be forming.
Lessons can be learned from major fraud cases. Whether the victim is a company, public agency, nonprofit, foundation, or charity, there is a high likelihood that many of these frauds could have been prevented or detected sooner if early Red Flag warning signs had been identified and acted upon. Fraud Prevention and Detection: Warning Signs and the
Techniques to uncover and avoid accounting frauds and scams Inflated profits . . . Suspicious write-offs . . . Shifted expenses . . . These and other dubious financial maneuvers have taken on a contemporary twist as companies pull out the stops in seeking to satisfy Wall Street. Financial Shenanigans pulls back the curtain on the current climate of accounting fraud. It presents tools that anyone who is potentially affected by misleading business valuationsfrom investors and lenders to managers and auditorscan use to research and read financial reports, and to identify early warning signs of a company's problems. A bestseller in its first edition, Financial Shenanigans has been thoroughly updated for today's marketplace. New chapters, data, and research reveal contemporary "shenanigans" that have been known to fool even veteran researchers.
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, published by the U.S. Government and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in early 2011, is the official government report on the United States financial collapse and the review of major financial institutions that bankrupted and failed, or would have without help from the government. The commission and the report were implemented after Congress passed an act in 2009 to review and prevent fraudulent activity. The report details, among other things, the periods before, during, and after the crisis, what led up to it, and analyses of subprime mortgage lending, credit expansion and banking policies, the collapse of companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the federal bailouts of Lehman and AIG. It also discusses the aftermath of the fallout and our current state. This report should be of interest to anyone concerned about the financial situation in the U.S. and around the world.THE FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY COMMISSION is an independent, bi-partisan, government-appointed panel of 10 people that was created to "examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States." It was established as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009. The commission consisted of private citizens with expertise in economics and finance, banking, housing, market regulation, and consumer protection. They examined and reported on "the collapse of major financial institutions that failed or would have failed if not for exceptional assistance from the government."News Dissector DANNY SCHECHTER is a journalist, blogger and filmmaker. He has been reporting on economic crises since the 1980's when he was with ABC News. His film In Debt We Trust warned of the economic meltdown in 2006. He has since written three books on the subject including Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity (Cosimo Books, 2008), and The Crime Of Our Time: Why Wall Street Is Not Too Big to Jail (Disinfo Books, 2011), a companion to his latest film Plunder The Crime Of Our Time. He can be reached online at www.newsdissector.com.
Valuable guidance for staying one step ahead of financial statement fraud Financial statement fraud is one of the most costly types of fraud and can have a direct financial impact on businesses and individuals, as well as harm investor confidence in the markets. While publications exist on financial statement fraud and roles and responsibilities within companies, there is a need for a practical guide on the different schemes that are used and detection guidance for these schemes. Financial Statement Fraud: Strategies for Detection and Investigation fills that need. Describes every major and emerging type of financial statement fraud, using real-life cases to illustrate the schemes Explains the underlying accounting principles, citing both U.S. GAAP and IFRS that are violated when fraud is perpetrated Provides numerous ratios, red flags, and other techniques useful in detecting financial statement fraud schemes Accompanying website provides full-text copies of documents filed in connection with the cases that are cited as examples in the book, allowing the reader to explore details of each case further Straightforward and insightful, Financial Statement Fraud provides comprehensive coverage on the different ways financial statement fraud is perpetrated, including those that capitalize on the most recent accounting standards developments, such as fair value issues.
In recent years, revelations of grand corruption and the plunder of state assets have led to greater scrutiny of financial relationships with politically exposed persons (PEPs) senior government officials and their family members and close associates. Notwithstanding the efforts by many financial institutions and regulatory authorities to prevent corrupt PEPs from entering and using the financial system to launder the proceeds of corruption, there has been an overall failure in the effective implementation of international standards on PEPs. Implementation of an effective PEP regime is a critical component in the prevention and detection of transfers of proceeds of crime and, therefore, ultimately in the process of recovering them. 'Politically Exposed Persons: Preventive Measures for the Banking Sector' is designed to help banks and regulatory authorities address the risks posed by PEPs and prevent corrupt PEPs from using domestic and international financial systems to launder the proceeds of corruption. The book provides recommendations and good practices aimed at improving compliance with international standards and increasing supervisory effectiveness. It is an important tool for individuals, governments, financial and private sector companies, and international organizations involved in developing and implementing standards aimed at fighting corruption and money laundering, and trying to recover stolen assets and the proceeds of corruption.
