We will be doing a research project for our course project to analyze the effectiveness of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. In our book we reviewed many case studies dealing with account

ACCT 361 – Case Study Research Project

Word document submission – 150 points; Due via upload – December 10, 2023

Case Study

We will be doing a research project for our course project to analyze the effectiveness of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. In our book we reviewed many case studies dealing with accounting fraud and scandals that led up to the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley. I want you to research for accounting fraud and/or scandals that happened after 2010. You must find a publicly traded company on either NYSE or NASDAQ that been charged by the SEC for accounting fraud.

Project Requirements

The Research Project will consist of three parts:

1. Introduction to the Case Study. Here you will introduce the company and the accounting fraud and/or scandal that took place. You will include details as to the impact of the fraud and/or scandal to investors.

2. SEC Charge and Ruling. Describe in your own words the was the formal charge made by the SEC. What did the SEC say were the facts of the case? What was the official ruling of the case, for example what were the penalties, punishments, and/or remediations made against the company?

3. Did Sarbanes-Oxley impact the Case? After you have reviewed the SEC ruling: a. What are the specific rules in SOX that applied to this case? Do you think the

company’s internal controls failed to prevent this fraud and/or scandal from happening, and how so?

b. Or are there no rules in SOX that could have prevented this accounting fraud and/or scandal from happening? What rule/s do you think were needed to prevent this fraud and/or scandal?

Learning Outcomes

This project meets our course student learning objectives, in which you will:

• assess potential legal liability for the accounting profession. • identify the common characteristics and causes of ethical lapses, fraud, and inadequate

audits. • evaluate and apply the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Criteria for Success This project is worth 150 points or 15.0% of your overall grade in the course. Please see the defined rubric for this project on Canvas. You will be using MS Word for this project. You can download a free version of Office 365 by clicking the link in Module 0 – Course Materials/Requirements.

Rubric

Please review the detailed rubric for the points breakout on Canvas on the assignment page.

You will put together the Research Project in a word document, 12-point font, double spaced. You will need to follow MLA format for referencing your paper. The paper is to be between 3 to a maximum of 5 pages. You will need to upload this via Canvas by May 14th by 11:59pm. No late submissions will be accepted. The Turnitin score acceptability will be only 15%. You will be deducted two points for each percentage over 15%. This needs to be written in your own words, which means that you should not be quoting too much from your research articles. And you will be graded on using proper grammar and punctuation.