Although only required to discuss two associations this writer thought it was important to discuss

1. The SEC is often called the “watchdog” of corporate America. How does it assist in preventing fraud?

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the US federal agency that holds the primary mandate to enforce federal securities laws and regulations to control the securities industry and the country’s stock exchange and regulation of all activities and organizations including the US electronic securities market. The SEC is committed to promoting a market environment that yields public trust characterized by integrity to attain its mission of protecting investors through maintenance of fair and efficient markets through facilitation of capital information (Basagne, 2010). The SEC financing is a major area of focus since there has been major concern regarding the SEC agency financing and whether they utilize the

The Securities and Exchange Commission has the mission of protecting investors by maintaining fair, orderly and efficient markets. The SEC does this in a number of ways, and firms need to pay attention to these ways in order to ensure SEC compliance. The SEC has enforcement authority over a number of areas related to the nation's capital markets, including insider trading, accounting fraud, and providing false information. The SEC's jurisdiction extends to all securities that are traded publicly. Privately-held companies do not need to register with the SEC (SEC.gov, 2012).

The Security and Exchange Commission is the organization who monitors fraudulent transactions and insider trading. Some experts in ethical behavior consider inside trading the most dramatic form of utilitarian ethics.

“There must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to people’s speculation with other money (pg 92).” The SEC was designed to keep security on Wall Street.

The SEC was created to help investors get reliable information about the company they are investing in. The Securities Act of 1933 requires most companies planning to issue new securities to the public to submit a registration statement to the SEC for approval. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 provides additional protection by requiring public companies and others to file detailed annual reports with the commission. The SEC follows the GAAP’s reporting requirement for financial statements. As for Smackey Dog Food they are a

If you want to report potential wrongdoing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, you are protected by the SEC Whistleblower Program. The program, created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Protection Act, offers employment protections as well as a monetary incentive to report a tip to the SEC. You don't have to work for a company to report possible fraud, however, finance, compliance and accounting employees are more likely to have access to specific transactions that are potential violations.

This particular case, involving the SEC, Coopers & Lybrand, and California Micro Devices, Inc. encompasses charges for neglecting to comply with auditing standards. The Securities and Exchange Commission makes these charges against Michael Marrie, audit partner, and Brian Berry, manager, of Coopers & Lybrand. There are three main areas in which the auditing standards were not in compliance, a write-off of accounts receivable, confirmation of accounts receivable and sales returns and allowances. The Securities and Exchange Commission make these accusations against Michael and Brian for failure

Title IX also requires the Securities & Exchange Commission to conduct studies on the financial literacy levels of retail investors and the current rules and regulations concerning brokers, dealers and investment advisors. The Government Accountability Office is also required to conduct studies on the potential conflicts of interest between the investment bankers and analysts within the same firm and on mutual fund advertisements with a particular focus on the use of past performance data in marketing

“The Act reviews the powers and structure of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), credit rating organizations, and the relationships between customers and broker-dealers or investment advisers” (David S. Huntington, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, 2010). It provides corporate governance and executive compensation reforms, such as proxy access, chairman and CEO disclosures, broker discretionary voting (Corporate Governance); say-on-pay, say-on-golden parachutes, broker discretionary, compensation committees, executive compensation claw backs (Executive compensation). In order to be active and operational, these provisions require further action by the SEC, the stock exchanges or other regulators except the say-on-pay, say-on-golden parachute and broker discretionary voting requirements. Most of

SEC whistleblowers who provide tips about possible unlawful conduct are heroes, although they rarely see themselves that way. Anyone who is considering alerting the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about irregularities that involve their employer, colleagues or friends has probably wrestled with the decision for a while before taking action. People who find the courage to report potential violations should remember that they are protecting investors who are saving for retirement or their child's college education.

The Australian Security and Investments Commission (ASIC), is an independent government body that acts as Australia’s corporate regulator. The organisation is responsible for regulating Australian companies, financial markets, financial services organisations, and professionals working in investment, superannuation, insurance, deposit taking, and credit . ASIC administers a number of laws, most notably the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act and the Corporations Act , from which it derives the majority of its powers. According to the ASIC Act the organisation should strive to improve the performance of the financial system, promote the confident participation of investors and consumers within that system, and administers the laws that authorise its functions and powers effectively and with the least possible procedural requirements . However ASIC achieves only partial success in fulfilling its organisational goals, and thus only fulfils its role in society to a limited extent. For example, ASIC was slow and unproductive in handling allegations of fraud and incompetence amongst financial planning advisers working for the Commonwealth (CBA). Although ASIC was able to identify negligent parties, the processes of ASIC’s investigation were long-drawn-out and enforcement action did not adequately account for the scope of misconduct suggested by their investigation. Situations such as this indicate ASIC’s inability to work effectively as a corporate regulator.

The mission of FASB is to “improve reporting, focus on traits that are important and reliable and on quality of comparison and consistency, to keep up to date with current trends to reflect modifications in methods used and economic changes, and to improve the common understanding of the purpose and content within financial report” (FASB, 2008). The FASB has an obligation to uphold ethical standards as well as to ensure rules and regulations are followed in the way of financial reporting. The FASB uses input from other agencies when developing or amending standards such as the SEC. Before the Great Crash of 1929, little was done to regulate the securities market (SEC, 2008). Two laws were created to help improve investor confidence: “Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934” (SEC, 2008). According to SEC (2008) the purpose of these laws is to make sure companies display accurate data about their financial accounts, the securities that are sold and involved risks and for the brokers who sell and trade to treat investors with respect by being fair and honest. A more recent law signed in by President Bush in 2002, was the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002” (SEC, 2008). This act created changes in improving responsibility, disclosures and

The illegal construction of the Bernie Madoff securities pyramid scheme grew to preposterous proportions from legal, auditing, and regulatory weaknesses of the Securities Exchange Commission, the designated regulatory body of the U.S. financial markets. The required expertise, authority, and relevant penalties needed to deter management from committing ethical breaches lacked substance in the case study of BMIS (Crews 11). Even after the wake of the Enron and WorldCom scandals that occurred in the early 2000s, the SEC unexplainably revoked provisions created to help avoid fraud. The provision the SEC revoked specifically mandated firms structured like Madoff’s to be audited by accounting firms registered and audited by the Board. By revoking the provision, BMIS was allowed to continue its Ponzi scheme for another half a decade with the aid of utilizing an unregistered, small accounting firm called Freihling & Horowitz (“Madoff’s Jenga”

Securities regulations began in 1933 as a reaction to securities market violations. Securities regulations are a balance of investor and issuer interests. Regulations have typically been enacted in reaction to a violation that affects many, including issuers, investors, and the public. These regulations are not only created in reaction to violations, but the legislature also attempts to take a bigger step in prevention of the same violation reoccurring, as well as preventing a violation that has yet to occur. In other words, securities regulations have always been on a mission to stay one step ahead of securities violations from both issuers and investors. Regulations tend to tighten the rules to ensure investors and issuers do not have