At public and private companies alike, individuals involved in illegal activity go to great lengths to keep their misconduct hidden from in-house accountants, internal and external auditors, or legal and compliance personnel. Still, the SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) are able to crack down on schemes in which bribes are paid to foreign officials with the intent to advance business interests. In fact, 57 companies have been charged with FCPA violations by the SEC alone over the past five years.

In the October issue of Journal of Accountancy, Greg Buchanan, Katy Creecy and Howard Scheck analyze areas flagged in SEC enforcement actions from 2014 to 2018 to help companies construct better fraud controls. The authors also shine a spotlight on how organizations can leverage learnings from falsified books and records to more effectively mitigate risk going forward. Click here to read the full article.