在美國佐治亞州的亞特蘭大市,人們會定期去做禮拜。威廉•麥克唐納(William
McDonough)認為,遭受丑聞玷污的會計行業可以向這些虔誠的教堂朝拜者身上學到許多東西。 |
William McDonough believes the
scandal-tainted accounting profession can learn a lot from the regular
church-goers of Atlanta, Georgia. |
麥克唐納是美國上市公司會計監管委員會主席,該機構是全球最強大的會計監管機構。麥克唐納表示,美國的一系列企業破產事件摧毀了公眾對會計行業的信任,若要恢復公眾信任,最迅捷的方法便是:會計從業人員確保自身行為符合道德準則。
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The chairman of the US Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board, the world's most powerful accounting
regulator, argues that the quickest way for the profession to restore public
trust shattered by US business failures would be for accountants to ensure their
actions are consistent with moral principles. |
天主教徒麥克唐納說,在最近于亞特蘭大召開的會計師會議上,他這一立場受到會計師們的歡迎。他對會計師們說:“當你們周末選擇去教堂或猶太教會堂時,應對上周的行為稍作自省,然后捫心自問:‘上周我的所作所為是否都符合道德準則?’雖然可能還有其它辦法,但我相信,如果大家都那么做,公眾對會計從業行業的信心將恢復得更快。”
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Mr McDonough, a Catholic, says his
stance went down well at a recent meeting with accountants in Atlanta,swhereshe
told them: "On the weekend, when you went to the church or synagogue of your
choice, you would have a bit of examination of your last week's performance, and
say: 'Has everything I have done in the last week been consistent with moral
principles?' I think if we all did that the confidence in the accounting
profession would come back sooner than anything else I think we could do."
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他承認有些人可能會嘲笑他的說法,因為這種做法的基礎是,會計師們應自我約束,而不是由監管機構對他們提出強行規定。
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He admits some people may scoff at
his statement, given that it is rooted in accountants getting their act
together, rather than regulators bringing them to heel. |
但麥克唐納先生的道德立場與其保證是一致的。他保證說,上市公司會計監管委員會將是“嚴厲但富于同情心的監督機構”。
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But Mr McDonough's moral stance
chimes with his pledge that the PCAOB will be "stern but sympathetic
supervisors". |
這也許是一項高風險的策略,因為這意味著,上市公司會計監管委員會并不準備真的向會計從業人員發難。自爆出安然(Enron)和世界通信(WorldCom)丑聞后,立法機構就創建了該委員會,以防止出現更多的會計違規事件,因此,人們本來可能預期麥克唐納先生會立即對會計界進行徹底整頓。
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It is, perhaps, a high-risk
strategy, because it suggests that the PCAOB is not about to give the profession
a really hard time. Given the PCAOB was created by lawmakers following the Enron
and WorldCom scandals, with a mandate to guard against further accounting
abuses, Mr McDonough might have been expected to immediately turn the
profession's world upside down. |
但麥克唐納先生只是多次發出呼吁,要求會計師們改善行為,外加一些嚴厲警告,說他將對所有不當行為予以懲罰。
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Instead, he has issued a series of
appeals for better behaviour by accountants, coupled with some stern warnings
that he will punish any wrongdoing. |
目前,麥克唐納先生采取的是胡蘿卜策略,而非大棒策略。他并不想取消目前的多領域業務模式,該模式是由四大會計師事務所和安達信(Andersen)共同開發的,其中安達信已因安然丑聞而解體。
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His approach currently involves far
more carrots than sticks. Mr McDonough shows no appetite for the dismantling of
the multidisciplinary business model developed by the big four accounting firms
and Andersen, which was destroyed by the Enron scandal. |
上世紀80和90年代期間,這些會計師事務所通過開設管理咨詢業務,并在復雜的稅務計劃和并購領域開發專長,從而獲得了兩位數的收入增長率。
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During the 1980s and 1990s, the
firms enjoyed double-digit income growth by building up management consulting
operations, developing expertise in sophisticated tax planning and mergers and
acquisitions. |
多領域模式的反對者表示,這種模式嚴重分散了會計師們的注意力,使他們無法專注于核心的審計工作。他們聲稱,該模式將會計師改造為咄咄逼人的商人,而忽視了與審計相關的公共服務價值。
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Opponents of the multidisciplinary
model say it badly distracted accountants from auditing - their core work. They
claim accountants were transformedsintosaggressive business people who lost
sight of the public service values associated with audit. |
多領域模式的批評者不只限于學者、記者和政治家。 |
Critics of the multidisciplinary
model are not confined to academics, journalists and politicians. |
美國聯邦儲備銀行前董事長保羅•沃爾克(Paul
Volcker)一度試圖將安達信轉變為一家只提供審計服務的事務所,希望藉此挽救它的命運。 |
Paul Volcker, former chairman of the
US Federal Reserve Bank, tried briefly to save Andersen by turning itsintosan
audit-only firm. |
安永(Ernst &
Young)、畢馬威(KPMG)和普華永道(PwC)出于對利益沖突的擔心,已將其咨詢業務部門全部出售,但包括德勤(Deloitte)在內的四大事務所都希望保留稅務和企業融資業務。
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Concerns about conflicts of interest
prompted Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC to sell off their consulting operations
but all four big firms - the other is Deloitte - want to maintain their tax and
corporate finance practices. |
麥克唐納先生說,他可以接受這種做法,只要會計師們遵循道德準則。
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Mr McDonough says he is comfortable
with that, so long as the accountants are guided by moral principles.
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他表示,鑒于四大事務所的反對,很難讓會計師事務所只提供審計服務。他還說,應允許會計師經商。
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He suggests it would be difficult to
achieve audit-only firms, given the big four firms are opposed to them, and says
that accountants should be allowed to run businesses. |
他還向四大事務所發出信號,暗示自己不打算過早壓制它們,讓他們繼續有能力為審計客戶提供贏利豐厚的稅務服務,這會進一步贏得四大事務所的好感。
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He will further please the big four
by signalling that he plans no early crackdown on their ability to do lucrative
tax work for audit clients. |
麥克唐納先生先向四大事務所提出建議,勸告它們不要進一步向企業推銷激進的避稅產品,然后再淡化一種可能性,即上市公司會計監管委員會將很快制訂規則,禁止事務所為審計客戶提供稅務服務。
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After advising them against further
marketing of aggressive tax shelter products to companies, Mr McDonough plays
down the prospect of the PCAOB quickly drawing up rules to prohibit tax work for
audit clients. |
“我認為,這不是委員會的優先考慮事項,”他說。 |
"I do not believe it is a high
priority for the board," he says. |
麥克唐納先生曾任紐約聯邦儲備銀行行長,他自稱是個現實主義者。
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Mr McDonough, a former president of
the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, is a self-confessed realist.
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對他來說,實用主義意味著關注可實現的目標。而且,盡管他支持美國會計準則與國際會計準則統一這個長期目標,但他不相信兩者能完全統一。
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His pragmatism means he is focused
on attainable goals and he doubts the likelihood of full convergence between US
and international accounting rules, even though he supports the long-standing
goal. |
他表示,兩者統一“也許會造成一種‘求全則毀’的局面”,同時指出,一些歐盟成員國強烈反對制定有關衍生工具的國際規則。
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Noting strong opposition in some
European Union member states to international rules on derivatives, he says
convergence "may be one of those casesswheresthe perfect is the enemy of the
good". |
然而,他批評美國會計制度以規則為本的風格,并表示,一些心術不正的人因此得以違反會計法精神(如果不是會計法條文的話)。他希望美國會計制度更多地以原則為本,并且暗示說,他支持美國財務會計準則委員會提出的一些有爭議的計劃。該委員會計劃擬訂規則,將股票期權作為費用處理。
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Nevertheless, he criticises the
rules-based style of US accounting and says it enabled devious minds to breach
the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. He hopes US accounting will become
more principles-based and hints that he supports controversial plans by the
Financial Accounting Standards Board, which writes the rules, for stock options
to be treated as expenses. |
麥克唐納先生將大部分精力用來監督上市公司的審計師,這是美國上市公司會計監管委員會的核心職責。該委員會將動用1.03億美元的預算來完成這項任務。
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Most of Mr McDonough's energies are
directed at the PCAOB's core responsibility to oversee auditors of public
companies, which it goes about doing with a m budget. |
這項任務已導致該委員會與歐盟發生激烈爭執,因為無論是美國國外還是國內的審計師,只要他們審計的公司有股票在美國上市,那他們就要接受該委員會的監督。
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The task has provoked a bitter
dispute with the EU because the PCAOB is charged with monitoring foreign as well
as domestic auditors if they work on companies with US share listings.
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歐洲審計師反對該監管委員會對其事務的跨境干預。他們還擔心,一旦他們的工作被認為不能接受,他們會有被告上美國法庭的危險。
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European auditors object to the
PCAOB's cross-border intrusionsintostheir affairs and fear they risk getting
dragged before the US courts if their work is deemed unacceptable.
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上世紀60年代,麥克唐納先生曾任過外交官。在與歐盟委員會的談判中,他運用了自己的全部魅力安撫對方。作為歐盟國家審計師的代表,歐盟委員會主持了與美國上市公司會計監管委員會的談判。
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Mr McDonough, who was a diplomat
during the 1960s, has used all his charm to placate the European Commission,
which led negotiations on behalf of EU auditors. |
10月份,美國上市公司會計監管委員會與歐盟委員會通過研究,達成一項可能的折衷方案?雌饋碓撜勁械某晒χ饕獨w功于麥克唐納先生。例如,美國要求歐洲審計師在上市公司會計監管委員會注冊,而歐洲審計師未能獲得這項規定的豁免。
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A possible compromise between the
PCAOB and the commission, which was thrashed out in October, appears to hand
most of the success to Mr McDonough. For example, European auditors have failed
to obtain an exemption from the requirement to register with the PCAOB.
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歐洲審計師對有股票在美國上市的公司進行的審計工作,可以由歐洲本地監管機構來審查,而不是由美國上市公司會計監管委員會審查,前提是歐洲監管機構的審查足夠有力。美國上市公司會計監管委員會在談判中做出了以上讓步,但這也部分反映出它資源有限,因而無法在全球實施審查。
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The work of European auditors on
companies with US share listings could be scrutinised by their home regulators,
rather than the PCAOB, so long as the monitoring is deemed robust enough. But
the concession is partly a reflection of the PCAOB's inability to do inspections
across the world because of finite resources. |
同時,麥克唐納先生將獲取美國上市公司會計監管委員會對國內審計師的初審結果。四大會計師事務所均已主動要求,它們在美國的業務今年先接受該委員會的有限審查,然后從明年5月起接受全面審查。
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Meanwhile, Mr McDonough is getting
the results of the first inspections of domestic auditors. The big four firms
volunteered to have their US businesses subjected to limited inspections by
PCAOB staff this year, ahead of full inspections that start next May.
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麥克唐納先生表示,審查的初步反饋表明,那些事務所最高層的有關高質量審計的重要性的言論,正逐級下達到事務所中下層人員那里。
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Mr McDonough says initial feedback
from the inspections suggests the tone at the top of the firms, about the
importance of quality audit, is filtering down to middle and junior ranks.
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他支持立法機構的安排,即只要會計師事務所在接受審查后一年內采取補救行動,那它們就可以不公開披露被查出的缺陷。他表示,這種安排提供了強大的動力,能確保會計師事務所行為端正。
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He defends arrangements, established
by the law- makers, that enable accounting firms to escape public exposure of
their shortcomings so long as remedial action is taken within one year of
inspections, and says it provides a powerful incentive to ensure good behaviour.
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如今,美國上市公司會計監管委員會的工作已贏得贊許,但麥克唐納先生知道,倘若再發生一連串丑聞,該委員會可能不得不拋棄對會計從業人員的同情,轉而對違規行為進行全面打擊。
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Today, the PCAOB gets plaudits for
its work but Mr McDonough knows that another set of scandals could force it to
ditch its sympathetic stance with the profession and embark on a full crackdown.
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屆時,所有公眾,包括亞特蘭大的禮拜者,也許會責怪美國上市公司會計監管委員會行動太遲!皶粫腥苏f,如果你們當時手段強硬一些,那么這一切根本就不會發生?”他說,“這樣說的人或許對,或許不對,但無論如何,他們都會毫不留情。”
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The public, including the
church-goers of Atlanta, might then accuse the PCAOB of acting too late. "Would
there be people who will say if you were a lot tougher than you were these would
not have happened?" he says. "They may or may not be right by the way but people
will be unkind." |
譯者/曹湘穎 |