Kasus Enron Ditinjau Dari Berbagai Perspektif [part 2]

= Kasus ENRON dari Perspektif Hukum dan Audit =

Criminal charges :

1.    Securities fraud

2.    Emblezzlement

3.    Money laundering

4.    Tax evasion

5.    False reporting

6.    Wire fraud

7.    Investment fraud 

Legal classification :

1.    Criminal law

2.    Financial law 

Selected Legal Proceeding

— 

Tokoh Di balik Jatuhnya Enron

Kenneth Lay (CEO and Chairman of the BOD of Enron), Jeffrey Skilling (CEO and President), Richard Causey (Certified Public Accountant from Arthur Andersen and CAO) have all been indicated on charges related to the manipulation of the firm’s reported financial result, and making false and misleading statements about Enron’s financial performance and result.

—       Causey also faces charges of money laundering (participation in financial transaction involving the proceeds of unlawful activity).

—        Skilling and Causey also face charges of insider trading in Enrons stock.

—         Lay also faces charges of bank fraud in the form of misrepresentations to banks in connection with borrowing to finance securities operations.

—  Andrew Fastow (CFO) pleaded guilty to charges related to his involvement in the manipulation of Enron’s financial statements through transactions with SPEs under his control and to self-enrichment in violation of his duties to Enron’s shareholders through transaction with such SPEs.

—  Fastow’s guilty plea was conditioned upon that of his wife, Lea Fastow, to tax fraud in connection with profits received by the Fastow family from an SPE controlled by Enron.

—   Michael Kopper (Financial Officer) pleaded guilty to charges related to transactions arising out of his involvement in the SPE controlled by Enron.

—  Ben Glisan (Treasurer of Enron) pleaded guilty to involvement in creation and use of an SPE for illegal transactions intended to manipulate Enron’s financial statements.

—  David Delainey (Former head of Enron North America and Enron Energy Services) pleaded guilty to charges that he used profits from Enron’s energy trading to conceal losses in other activities that the firm was promoting to investors, and that he engaged in insuder trading in the firm’s stock. 

—  Daniel Bayly, James Brown, William Fuhs and Robert Furst (bankers from Merrill Lynch) and Daniel Boyle (Enron Vice President in Global Finance) were found guilty of involvement in parking Enron’s interest in some Nigerian barges mounted with electricity generators which Enron had been planning to sell to another investor in a deal that fell through.

—  Arthur Andersen (Auditor and Provider of consultancy services to Enron) was convicted in a June 2002 jury trial of the single felony count of obstruction of justice by impeding the government’s investigation of Enron.

—  David Duncan (Andersen partner) pleaded guilty to a charge of obstruction of justice and agreed to cooperate in the case against Andersen.

(Diintisarikan dari: Andrew Cornford et.al., Enron and World Finance : A Case Study in Ethics, (New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), pg. 7-8.

Problems for the received model of corporate governance

•     It provides another set of reasons to question the strenght of the efficient market hypothesis

•     It undermines faith in the corporate governance mechanism

•     It suggests the existence of tradeoffs in use of stock options in executive compensation

•     It shows the poor fit between stock-based employee compensation and employee retirement planning

(Diintisarikan dari: Jeffrey N. Gordon,What Enron Means for the Management and Control of the Modern Business Corporation : Some Initial Reflections,(New York : Columbia Law School,2002), Working Paper No.23, pg.1-5)

^ Sarbanes Oaxley’s Act ^

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, undang-undang yang berpengaruh terhadap profesi akuntan publik ini ditandantangani oleh Presiden GW. Bush pada tanggal 30 Juli 2002 karena dipicu oleh serangkaian skandal korporat pada tahun 2000-2002 yang melibatkan beberapa perusahaan besar seperti Enron, WorldCom dan lainnya yang mengakibatkan turunnya kepercayaan publik terhadap pasar modal Amerika Serikat.

—  The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was enacted to protect investors by improving the accuracy and realibility of corporate disclosure relating securities laws.

—  Although the Act focuses on the administrative regulatory scheme, especially as to accounting standards, the criminal law is to play a major role in the effort to eradicate corporate fraud.

—  Criminal law is thought to encourage law-abiding behavior in two ways: people either comply with the law after a conscious evaluation of the risks of disobeying it, or they comply out of an unconscious instinct to obey the law.

—  The regulatory provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may be more significant in controlling business misconduct than its criminal provisions.

—  The most effective ways to encourage law-abiding conduct is through a combination of market-motivated gatekeepers, private remedial suits, government administrative actions and criminal punishment.

—  Criminal law plays an important role in regulating business conduct, but it is not the only player. The criminal law may not be an effective means to create a law-abiding business community, esp. when corporate cultures encourage contrary values.

(Diintisarikan dari: Geraldine Szott Moohr, An Enron Lesson: The Modest Role of Criminal Law In Preventing Corporate Crime, 2003)

Inti dari Sarbanes Oaxleey’s Act mengacu pada kasus Enron ini adalah sebagai berikut:

—  Membentuk independent public company board untuk mengawasi audit terhadap perusahaan publik.

—  Mensyaratkan salah seorang komite audit adalah orang yang ahli dalam bidang keuangan.

—  Mensyaratkan untuk melakukan full disclosure kepada para pemegang saham berkaitan dengan transaksi keuangan yang bersifat kompleks.

—  Mensyaratkan CEO dan CFO perusahaan untuk melakukan sertifikasi tentang validitas pembuatan L/K perusahaan.

—  Melarang KAP untuk melakukan tawaran jasa lainnya ketika sedang melakukan audit pada perusahaan yang sama.

—  Mensyaratkan adanya kode etik, terdaftar pada Securities and Exchange Commission untuk para pejabat keuangan.

—  Mensyaratkan mutual fund professional untuk menyampaikan suaranya kepada pemegang saham.

—  Memberikan perlindungan kpd individu yg melaporkan adanya tindakan menyimpang kpd pihak yang berwenang.

—   Mensyaratkan penasehat hukum perusahaan untuk mengungkap adanya penyimpangan kepada pejabat senior dan dewan komisaris. 

Dari Auditingnya...

•     Non Audit Services, especially consulting services

•     Enron --> Arthur Anderson --> Konsultansi --> Enron's Profit --> Continues Fee --> Arthur Anderson Profit

•     Conflict of Interest

•     Many of accounting executives were Arthur Anderson ex-auditor

•     Critical Employees were supplied by Arthur Anderson

•     Providing both Audit AND Non Audit Services

•     Long relationship customer

•     Unethical Conduct by Arthur Anderson

•     Overlooking inappropriate financial condition and financial statement

•     Violating accounting principal based on GAAP

Sarbanes Oaxley Act

1. Audit OR Non Audit Services
2. Mandatory Audit Partner Rotation
3. Audit Committee role to approve selected audit partner and to review audit performance stringently
4. Limiting supplied auditors