Research Report HIH story
Intent: "Research a specified topic, reading and interpreting case and statute laws, analysing the effect and operations of these laws on companies and their stakeholders, and using knowledge to report on
corporate legal issues in Report format."
Task: Discuss the issue of auditor independence in the context of Corporations Act in the form of a Report. This will require reading the following Case, Reports, Bills, First Reading Speeches, Explanatory Memoranda, Acts in order to gain an understanding of the issue of auditor independence in the context of Corporations Act.
Question:
Consider this statement: "Unquestionably, the HIH story is also one of auditor failure." You are asked to research into the background of the HIH collapse in Australia in so far as it relates to the role of
auditors and their liability. You are asked to prepare a Report with summaries of the most important documents concerning this issue of auditor independence after the HIH collapse, the regulatory/legislative response and the review of the legislative response. Please consider the
following as a guide to the content of your Report (word length are given as an approximation and a guide, you can vary from the suggested word length but remember to ensure your Report is on the whole balanced and coherent):
Report:
I. Introduction (150 words)
II. Auditor Negligence (prior to HIH): Summarise the case of AWA Ltd v Daniels (1992) 7 ACSR 759 only in so far as it relates to auditor negligence. (300 words)
III. State of regulation of auditors and the understanding of auditor independence prior to HIH collapse: Summarise from Review of Requirements for the Registration and Regulation of Company Auditors, Report of a Working Party of the Ministerial Council for Corporations (1997). (300 words)
IV. The role of auditors in the HIH Collapse and other business collapses: Summarise from the following (300 words):
-INDEPENDENCE OF AUSTRALIAN COMPANY AUDITORS, Review of Current AustralianRequirements and Proposals for Reform (The Ramsay Report) (2001)
-CLERP Paper No. 9_Proposals for Reform – Corporate Disclosure
-Gregor Allan, "The HIH Collapse-A Costly Catalyst for Reform" (2006) 11 Deakin L Rev 137
-Larelle Chapple and Boyce Koh, "Regulatory responses to auditor independence dilemmas – who takes the stronger line?" (2007) 21 Australian Journal of Corporate Law 1
V. Regulatory/legislative response: Summarise the provisions that were enacted as amendments to the Corporations Act and the rationale (600 words):
-Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (Audit Reform and Corporate Disclosure) Act 2004
-Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (Audit Reform and Corporate Disclosure) Bill 2003 First Reading Speech
-Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (Audit Reform and Corporate Disclosure) Bill 2003 Explanatory Memorandum
-Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (Audit Reform and Corporate Disclosure) Bill 2003 Supplementary EM
-note: you can also make use of material from Part IV
VI. Review of the Regulatory/legislative response: Summarise the provisions that were enacted as further amendments to the Corporations Act and the rationale (300 words):
-Corporations Legislation Amendment (Audit Enhancement) Act 2012
-Corporations Legislation Amendment (Audit Enhancement) Bill 2012 First Reading
-Corporations Legislation Amendment (Audit Enhancement) Bill 2012 Explanatory Memorandum
-note: you can also make use of material from Part IV and also this Report: The Treasury, Australian Auditor Independence Requirements – A Comparative Review (2006)
VII. Conclusion (150 words)
VIII. Reflections on the issue of auditors’ liability/negligence and auditor independence and the regulatory/legislative response based on your research and reading (150 words).
Further information:
The assignment requires independent thinking, evaluation and analysis. You will be assessed on the originality of your discussion and analysis. Merely paraphrasing or summarising existing authors on these issues will not lead to high marks. To achieve good marks, students will need to show evidence of their analysis and evaluation of the problem. You must not simply provide long regurgitation of judgments, facts or sections. These do not show evidence of your own independent thinking at a post graduate level.
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