Bankruptcy

Report: Bankrupt Companies More Likely To Face SEC Enforcement Action For Financial Statement Fraud

By Scott Riddle

From Marketwatch:

Deloitte Forensic Center Study Highlights Correlation Between Bankruptcy and Fraud:  Companies Filing for Bankruptcy More Likely to Face SEC Enforcement Related to Fraud

According to a new study published by the Deloitte Forensic Center, "Ten Things About Bankruptcy and Fraud," companies filing for bankruptcy protection are three times more likely than non-bankrupt companies to face enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to alleged financial statement fraud. The study analyzed SEC Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases and bankruptcy filings.

The study also found that companies that were issued financial statement fraud-related Enforcement Releases by the SEC were more than twice as likely to file for bankruptcy protection as those not issued one. Of publicly traded companies with revenues greater than $100 million that were issued financial statement fraud-related SEC Enforcement Releases, 35 percent filed for bankruptcy compared to 14 percent of similar companies that were not issued the Releases. ...

The full report can be downloaded from Deloitte's website.

Full post as published by Georgia Bankruptcy Blog on November 24, 2008 (boomark / email).