18 Nov Enron, Whistleblowers, and SOX

Enron, Whistleblowers, and SOX

Overview

During the downfall of the Enron Corporation, Arthur Anderson LLP, Enron’s accounting firm, instructed its employees to destroy financial documents relating to Enron. On May 6, 2002, a charge of obstructing an official proceeding of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) was filed against Arthur Andersen LLP. Hence, the term whistleblower was formed, as well as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which monitors the ethical and financial reporting practices of all publicly held businesses and corporations.

Using the Strayer University Library and/or the Internet, locate sources of information about Enron and the landmark Supreme Court case of [Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States].

Review the contributing factors to the following elements:

• Evolution of the Enron situation.

• Legal ramifications and the resulting effects on corporate ethical standards.

• Creation of whistleblowers.

• Accounting reporting practices and requirements pursuant to the SOX legislation.

Requirements

Your assignment, a 3–4 page paper, will be graded on the following criteria:

1. Determine the primary factors that contributed to the downfall of Enron’s financial practices.

2. Justify the legality of Enron’s methods for handling its finances as if you had been assigned to defend Enron.

3. Differentiate the responsibilities of Arthur Anderson LLP’s auditors from those of Enron’s executives.

4. Analyze the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 pertaining to whistleblowers and the law’s requirements today on accounting and reporting practices.

5. Integrate into the assignment at least three quality professional and/or academic resources, written within the past five years.

6. Clarity, organization, writing mechanics, and formatting requirements.

• Note: Wikipedia and similar websites do not qualify as quality resources.

• Your textbook may serve as one of your resources.

Note: This assignment requires you to conduct independent research on Enron and the landmark Supreme Court case of [Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States].