Criminal Fraud and the Law - Week 4

-

 AYB115 WEEK 4 - Criminal Fraud and the Law


“Boards of Directors and CEOs should not be accountable for their employee’s actions according to the law”. Discuss this in light of the findings of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry”



The argument of the Board of Directors and CEOs being not accountable for their employee’s actions is very complicated and there are many different factors to consider when making up a conclusion. In most cases I would agree that the Board of Directors and CEOs should not be accountable for their employee’s actions, however, exceptions could be made to that opinion, especially after the find of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

 

Within the Royal Commission it was found that some of the key issues such as companies charging fees for no services, misconduct in credit and banking, which stems from the overall investigation that these financial institutions were not acting in the customer’s best interests. In terms of these finding, the argument can most certainly be made that the accountability of Board of Directors and CEOs can come into focus. Even though these higher titles have little involvement with general operations, they are still responsible for the implementation of policies, procedures and frameworks that help prevent these sorts of fraudulent activities within their companies.

Strict Liability would keep the accountability on the Board of Directors and CEOs when it comes to these sorts of fraudulent activities thanks to the Corporations Act 2001 s.769B, which states “A company director may be held liable for the conduct of company employees. Directors are expected to take an active role in ensuring their company and its employees comply with the law and will be held personally liable unless they can establish that they exercised due diligence.”



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IT Governance Frameworks - Week 1

-
Image
  AYB115 WEEK 1 - IT Governance Frameworks "Governance does not protect an organisation against fraud, bribery and corruption. Choosing ethical employees is the only way to prevent such crimes." I disagree that choosing ethical employees is the only way of preventing crimes such as fraud, bribery, and corruption. Governance most certainly has an influence on preventing these crimes as well, however governance severs a different role in preventing fraud in comparison to hiring ethical employees.   Ethical employees are a crucial part in preventing crimes relating to fraud, bribery, and corruption but it being the only factor is not enough. Even the most ethical employees can succumb to external pressures such as financial hardship or pressures within the company to meet certain deadlines or quotas. Moreover, sometimes it is not apparent in the hiring process what prospective employees’ motives are for the company, making it very difficult to solely rely of having ethical e...
Read more

Criminal Fraud and the Law - Week 5

-
AYB115 WEEK 5 - Criminal Fraud and the Law “It is not the forensic accountant’s role to determine whether the opposing party is guilty or innocent. Instead, it is their role to investigate the quantification of loss and damages to be paid to their client” I agree that forensic accountants should not determine whether the opposing party is innocent or guilty and should investigate the potential losses and damages that should be paid to the client using their expertise to provide an accurate financial analysis and potentially their expert opinion to assist within those legal proceedings.   Within the context of a civil law case, a forensic account may be required to give their expert opinion to calculate the losses and damages that must be paid out. Those two scenarios are in the case of a business valuation, and in lost profits.   In terms of the business valuation , a forensic accountant may be asked to provide their expert opinion where the damages awarded must be a l...
Read more