Assignment 2: Litigation, Censures, and Fines

Due Week 7 and worth 140 points

Research the Internet or Strayer Library for recent litigation, censures, and fines involving national public accounting firms.  Examples of litigation cases against national public accounting firms include fines by regulatory authorities and censures by professional societies. To complete Assignment 2, find examples of litigation, censures and fines from within the past two (2) years.

Write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:

1. Analyze the primary accounting issues which form the crux of the litigation or fine for the firm and indicate the impact to the firm as a result of litigation or fine. Make sure that the examples you provide are from within the last two (2) years. Provide support for your rationale.

2. Examine the key inferences of corporate ethics related to internal controls and accounting principles which lead to the litigation or fine for the accounting firm.

3. Evaluate the primary ethical standards of the accounting organization’s leadership and values that contributed to approval of the accounting issues and thus created the litigation or fines in question.

4. Identify specific conduct violations committed by the organization and accounting firm in question. Next, create an argument supporting the actions against the organization and accounting firm, based on the current professional code of conduct for independent auditors and management accountants.

5. Make a recommendation as to how regulators and professional societies may prevent the type of behavior in question in the future. Provide support for your rationale.

6. Use at least two (2) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar websites do not qualify as academic resources. You have access to Strayer University’s Online Library at https://research.strayer.edu or iCampus University Library Research page at https://icampus.strayer.edu/library/research.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

· This course requires use of new Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). The format is different than other Strayer University courses. Please take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details.

· Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow SWS or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

· Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

· Determine the appropriateness of decision making in terms of professional standards and ethics.

· Apply advanced federal taxation concepts to business situations.

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.