Anti-Fraud Education: Standardizing nationally, expanding globally

Fraud is a universal problem that threatens the very underpinnings of business and government across the globe. While many professionals in the United States scramble to keep up with accounting changes mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the Statement on Auditing Standards No. 99 "Consideration of Fraud in Financial Statements," our international counterparts face similar challenges. In fact, our European neighbors have their own version of Enron - they call it Parmalat.   

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has been hard at work seeking to establish a convergence of international accounting standards to ensure the reliability of financial statements. This environment has significantly increased the European Union's preoccupation with financial transparency and fraud detection. If future accountants and business leaders are to fulfill the public's expectation of them to detect and deter fraud, institutions of higher education must prepare students accordingly. Throughout the U.S. and abroad changes are underway, but we must make progress continuously to keep up with the ever-changing fraud landscape.