Foreword
This book examines the findings from academic research carried out by the authors into the functioning of the governance of financial reporting and auditing following reforms introduced in the UK in the wake of the Enron and other scandals which rocked the world at the start of the 21st Century. I have a very personal interest in these findings since I became President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) on 12th June 2002 having spent the previous 6 months co-ordinating the UK Profession's response to these scandals. Law makers and regulators from countries as far away as Australia and as close to home as London and Brussels were considering what steps to take. Much of the debate was emotional and political, and while this was understandable given the scale of the failure at Enron, good policy outcomes are achieved from careful analysis of evidence, not from decisions made in the heat of the moment based on hearsay and prejudice. In an attempt to get an informed debate in the UK my first Council meeting as President approved a number of changes to our existing regulations and proposed a number of areas for further consideration by the relevant authorities. These measures, all of which had been developed from detailed discussions with people with great experience of corporate governance, corporate reporting and auditing, including the authors of this book, and following a careful study of all the available academic literature, formed ...
