In five pages the reasons for the Enron failure are described and then applied to a consideration of whether this could be repeated in the UK within the context of different purporting and accounting frameworks. Six sources are listed in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: TS14_TEenronU.rtf
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foundations of the accounting world were shaken, and fears of other companies going the same way due to errors in their accounts were feared. The subsequent filing for Chapter Eleven
Bankruptcy appears to have confirmed the fears as being real. There are many reasons given for the failure of Enron, at the top of the list is greed. This may
be seen as a result of the greed of management with share options that feared a fall in share price. Indeed, we may go further and agree that the system
that placed this type of pressure on short term results to blame, as it created a scenario where this could happen, Indeed, in hindsight there were many warning factors,
with notes in the annual accounts indicating off balance sheet transactions. All those that saw these noted and asked nothing or did not think to consider what these meant may
al be seen as having some level of blame. More specifically the company failed due to the highly competitive and aggressive way
it was trading with a strategy that changed to one which was highly geared and growth it could not sustain. Cash flow problems were already apparent. In the annual accounts,
debts had been understated and profits had been overstated to the amount of $400 million. This was purposeful concealment of the figures that may raise alarms. There were even concerns
raised from inside the company. One of these was a memo from an employee of Enron; Sherron Watkins, who as a former employee of Arthur Andersen outlining to the auditors
her concerns regarding accounting practices (Global Agenda, 2002). This was ignored and as such no action was taken. Internally the failure was