Auditor Reverse-Merger Expertise: Evidence from Chinese Reverse-Merger Companies

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 115-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Mao ◽  
Qin Jennifer Yin
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
Publicly Traded ◽  
Regulatory Requirements ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
Publicly Traded Companies ◽  
Reverse Mergers ◽  
Audit Fee ◽  
Reverse Merger

SUMMARY This study investigates if hiring auditors with Chinese reverse-merger expertise affected 182 Chinese companies that executed reverse mergers with U.S. shell companies from 2003 to 2011 to become U.S. publicly traded companies (Chinese reverse-merger companies, or CRM companies). We find that CRM companies that employ CRM-expert auditors pay higher audit fee premiums, and are more likely to up-list to national exchanges, when they are compared to CRM companies with non-CRM-expert auditors. Additional analyses suggest that clients of CRM experts also are more likely to file annual financial reports on time, but CRM-expert auditors are not associated with fewer misstatements in financial reporting or continued trading on national exchanges. This suggests that CRM-specialist auditors help clients navigate regulatory requirements for up-listing, but they do not achieve improved financial reporting quality.

scholarly journals Influence of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on Financial Reporting Quality: An Overview of EU Firms Cross-Listed in the USA

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ujkan Bajra ◽  
Rrustem Asllanaj
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
Publicly Traded ◽  
Publicly Traded Companies ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa

Abstract This paper investigate whether compliance with the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) Sect. 302 (financial reporting) and 404 (internal controls) enhances financial reporting quality (FRQ). This study focuses on EU publicly traded companies that are cross-listed in the US markets. Using a novel approach with respect to operationalization of the SOX, the empirical research integrated into this paper advances the understanding of financial reporting quality for both practitioners and policymakers. The study argues that financial reporting quality increased after SOX entered into force but, notably, we find that FRQ improves with compliance with SOX302 but not with SOX404. Examination of the latter relationship at the subsection level also reveals that compliance with certain SOX requirements is not satisfactory. We find that three out of six subsections of SOX302 are directly associated with financial reporting, while subsections (1), (5) and (6) of SOX302 are not related with FRQ, indicating that the management team, albeit not entirely, provides a reliable financial reporting systems. We also find that compliance with some SOX404’s subsections has been relatively low (i.e. subsections (1) and (3) of SOX404)), suggesting that corporations have not established and are not maintaining suitable internal control systems over financial reporting.

Integrated reporting, financial reporting quality and cost of debt

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Badrul Muttakin ◽  
Dessalegn Mihret ◽  
Tesfaye Taddese Lemma ◽  
Arifur Khan
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
Cost Of Debt ◽  
Inverse Association ◽  
Integrated Reporting ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Debt Market

Purpose Although proponents of integrated reporting (IR) advocate that this emerging practice has the potential to transform corporate reporting, the eventuation of this expectation would depend on the incentive IR provides to firms. This study aims to examine whether IR is associated with cost of debt and whether IR moderates the relationship between financial reporting quality and cost of debt. Design/methodology/approach Based on insights drawn from information asymmetry and agency theories, the authors develop models that link IR and financial reporting quality with a firm’s cost of debt. The authors analyze 847 firm-year observations drawn from non-financial firms traded on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, for the period between 2009 and 2015. Findings The authors find that firms that provide integrated reports tend to have a lower cost of debt than those do not provide IR. The authors also find an inverse association between financial reporting quality and cost of debt, and that integrated reports accentuate this association. The findings suggest that the debt market perceives value in the information presented in integrated reports beyond what is furnished in financial reports. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to document evidence suggesting that the debt market perceives value in the information presented in integrated reports, beyond what is furnished in financial reports.

The Impact of Mandatory IFRS Adoption on Audit Fees: Theory and Evidence

2012 ◽  
Vol 87 (6) ◽  
pp. 2061-2094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeong-Bon Kim ◽  
Xiaohong Liu ◽  
Liu Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
Financial Reporting Standards ◽  
Ifrs Adoption ◽  
Audit Fee ◽  
European Union Countries ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT: This study examines the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on audit fees. We first build an analytical audit fee model to analyze the impact on audit fees for the change in both audit complexity and financial reporting quality brought about by IFRS adoption. We then test the model's predictions using audit fee data from European Union countries that mandated IFRS adoption in 2005. We find that mandatory IFRS adoption has led to an increase in audit fees. We also find that the IFRS-related audit fee premium increases with the increase in audit complexity brought about by IFRS adoption, and decreases with the improvement in financial reporting quality arising from IFRS adoption. Finally, we find some evidence that the IFRS-related audit fee premium is lower in countries with stronger legal regimes. Our results are robust to a variety of sensitivity checks. Data availability: Data are available from public sources identified in the paper.

Accounting-Based Regulation: Evidence from Health Insurers and the Affordable Care Act

2020 ◽  
pp. 0000-0000
Author(s):  
Evan M. Eastman ◽  
David L. Eckles ◽  
Andrew Van Buskirk
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Affordable Care Act ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
Minimum Amount ◽  
Publicly Traded ◽  
Patient Protection ◽  
The Affordable Care Act ◽  
Health Insurers

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires that insurers spend a minimum amount of their premium revenue on policyholder benefits. The Act specifies enforcement via a combination of insurer self-reporting, government examinations, and payment of policyholder rebates in cases where insurers fail to meet the required spending amount. We find that insurers' reported estimates are consistently overstated in situations where more accurate estimates would have triggered rebate payments; publicly-traded insurers (particularly those exhibiting poor financial reporting quality) exhibit the strongest evidence of strategic over-estimating. In aggregate, we estimate that approximately 14 percent of insurers engage in strategic overestimates, and that insurer overestimates resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in underpaid policyholder rebates. Our study illustrates how a combination of regulatory design choices and lax oversight can weaken the effectiveness of accounting-based regulation and have substantial economic consequences.

scholarly journals The Effect of Financial Reporting Quality on Regional Governments’ Performance Accountability

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mulyo Agung
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
Path Coefficient ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
Performance Accountability ◽  
Low Performance ◽  
Regional Governments

Accountability is an important issue in Indonesian government. The present study aims to further analyze the performance accountability issue in regional governments in Indonesia, which is affected by the quality of financial reports. The fact shows that regional governments in Indonesia have low performance accountability. This study attempts to attest for or against the statement through testing whether or not financial reporting quality has an effect on regional governments’ performance accountability. Subjects of the study are 40 Satuan Kerja Perangkat Daerah (SKPD/Regional Government’s Work Units) of Regencies/Cities in Indonesia. Survey is the research methodology implemented. Hypothesis is analyzed and tested using Structural Equation Model (SEM). The findings show that good Financial Reporting Quality will improve Performance Accountability of regional governments in Indonesia, with a positive path coefficient. Keywords: Financial Reporting Quality, Regional Government’s Performance Accountability

scholarly journals Assessing Financial Reporting Quality of Listed Companies in Developing Countries: Evidence from Ghana

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Joseph Mbawuni
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Listed Companies ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
Financial Reporting Standards ◽  
Sub Saharan

The adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Ghana is expected to improve the quality of financial reporting among companies in Ghana. This paper assesses the extent to which financial reports of companies listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) meet financial reporting quality (FRQ) dimensions of IFRS. It was a descriptive study that employed two experienced professional chartered accountants who practice as independent auditors to use FRQ criteria to assess financial reports of 20 purposively selected companies listed on GSE for 2012 and 2013. Given the high inter-rater reliability (r = .96, 95% C.I., p < .0001), the findings indicate that, overall, FRQ of the listed companies meet FRQ standards by 56.48%. Generally, the financial reports were 60.95% faithfully represented, 51.01% relevant, 50.10% understandable, 40.09% comparable and 19.75% timely audited (or 80.25% untimely). Fundamental FRQ characteristics were more prevalent than enhancing FRQ. Poorly rated FRQ areas were in the use of historical cost as measurement basis, no use of graphs and tables to clarify information, no inclusion of comprehensive glossary, ratios and index, no information on adjustment in past accounting figures for future decisions, and no comparison of current and previous accounting periods and with those of other firms. The study concludes that FRQ of the listed companies is moderate but needs considerable improvement. Implications to theory, practitioners, policy makers and industry regulators are discussed. This study fills the dearth of empirical research in FRQ in IFRS-compliance companies in Sub-Saharan Africa in general and Ghana in particular.

Do Type II Subsequent Events Impair Financial Reporting Quality?

2019 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 97-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Czerney ◽  
Jaime J. Schmidt ◽  
Anne M. Thompson ◽  
Wei Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Resource Constrained ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
Subsequent Event

ABSTRACT This study examines whether material corporate events that occur during the year-end closing process constrain management's and the auditor's resources and inhibit them from providing high-quality financial reports. For a sample of U.S. company financial reports issued during 2000–2013, we identify material corporate events using Type II subsequent event footnote disclosures (i.e., material events that occur in year t+1, but prior to the issuance of the year t financial statements, yet do not affect amounts recognized in year t). We find that Type II subsequent events are associated with lower financial reporting quality, as measured by the need to subsequently restate the year t financial statements. The increased restatement likelihood only occurs when managers are resource-constrained. Auditors can mitigate the increased restatement risk, but only when they allocate more resources to the engagement. Our results underscore the importance of resource management in the financial reporting and audit processes.

Evaluating Financial Reporting Quality: The Effects of Financial Expertise vs. Financial Literacy

2002 ◽  
Vol 77 (s-1) ◽  
pp. 139-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda McDaniel ◽  
Roger D. Martin ◽  
Laureen A. Maines
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Financial Literacy ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Audit Committees ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
Business Press ◽  
Financial Expertise

Audit committees evaluate financial reporting quality as part of their corporate oversight responsibilities. Given this responsibility, the national stock exchanges now require all audit committee members to be financially literate and at least one member to have financial expertise. In light of recent debates over this requirement, we provide evidence on how experts and literates differ in their evaluations of financial reporting quality. Results suggest that experts' evaluations of financial reporting quality are more strongly associated with their assessments of characteristics underlying reporting quality (e.g., relevance) espoused in Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 2's framework than literates' evaluations. Additionally, literates are more likely than experts to identify concerns about reporting treatments for business activities that are prominent in the business press or are distinguished by their nonrecurring nature, while experts are more likely to raise concerns about reporting treatments for less prominent, recurring activities. This same pattern occurs in the ratings of the quality of the reporting treatments for specific financial statement items with respect to elements underlying reporting quality (e.g., neutrality); literates (experts) assess the quality elements for the reporting treatments of prominent and nonrecurring items (less prominent and recurring items) comparatively lower than experts (literates). These results suggest that including financial experts on audit committees is likely to change the structure and focus of audit committee discussions about financial reporting quality, and may affect the committee's overall assessment of the quality of a company's financial reports.

scholarly journals The Non-Financial Reporting Harmonization in Europe: Evolutionary Pathways Related to the Transposition of the Directive 95/2014/EU within the Italian Context

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Caputo ◽  
Rossella Leopizzi ◽  
Simone Pizzi ◽  
Virginia Milone
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Gap Analysis ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
Evolutionary Pathways ◽  
Italian Context ◽  
High Degree

Since 2016, the European context has been characterised by the introduction of the Directive 95/2014/EU on mandatory non-financial reporting. The Directive has been transposed in the Italian context through the Legislative Decree 254/2016. However, following evidence previously collected from other jurisdictions, a high degree of scepticism by academics still characterises the debate on the effectiveness of this form of regulation. In fact, the literature highlights that the effects of a mandatory approach to non-financial reporting are limited to an increase in the annual quantity of information provided and not by an effective organizational change. Therefore, the contribution of our paper is twofold: a gap analysis between the overall degree of non-financial reporting quality between the years 2015 and 2017 and an empirical analysis, factors of which have impacted on the quality of non-financial reports prepared in 2017.

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