Besvigelser

Abstract

This Thesis deals with the risk of fraud and auditor’s responsibility for uncovering fraud. The basis of the answer to this is the expectation gab where, initially, this has been described and analysed in respect of reason of origin. In Denmark auditor’s work is regulated by the Danish Act on Approved Auditors and Audit Firms and Danish Auditing Standards. Therefore, the entirely overall framework of the auditor’s work has been described followed by a more specific description of the audit procedures to be performed by the auditor in order to identify and uncover the risk of fraud. The Thesis includes analyses on the basis of four selected fraud cases, the three of which constitute fraud in Danish enterprises, while the fourth is from the USA. The cases concerned have been analysed on the basis of publicly accessible material and prepared under the same model:  Company history  Description of fraud committed  Analysis of the roles of the auditor, the supervisory board or other staff connected with the case  Analysis of the scope of any legal consequences of the case As a direct consequence of eg fraud in Enron, very comprehensive legislation, the Sarbanes Oxley Act, was introduced in the USA. Certain sections of this Act selected based on relevance to the issues of this Thesis have been described. Moreover, the EU has subsequently introduced the 8th Directive which deals with both additional requirements for the auditor, but also for the individual enterprises. The requirement of the 8th Directive relating to audit committees in large enterprises has been described. Furthermore, the development in Danish legislation has been described. This description includes the development in the Danish Auditing Standard 240 which was introduced in 2003 and later updated, but also the Danish Auditing Standard 21 which, prior to the introduction of Auditing Standard 240, provided the requirements for auditor’s work relating to uncovering the risk of fraud. The Thesis also includes an assessment of whether for instance the measures initiated by the Sarbanes Oxley Act. and the 8th Directive will be effective for the purpose of reducing the risk of fraud in future. In this connection it is assessed whether the current fraud cases; with main focus on the IT Factory case, will imply any changes to auditor’s work in the form of additional procedures required. Finally, an analysis is made of the expectation gap and in this connection whether any amendments to legislation will have an effect on reducing this gap or whether other initiatives should be implemented. This analysis will be made on the basis of a discussion paper from the Danish Institute of State Authorised Public Accountants, and considering this it is assessed which roles the auditor, the enterprises and the media have for the expectation gap still existing.