تاثیر پیچیدگی اطلاعات در شکست حسابرسی از تقلب شرکت The impact of information complexity on audit failures from corporate fraud: Individual auditor level analysis

1. Introduction The use of related-party transactions (hereafter, RPTs) to conceal large debts exploded after Enron in 2001, generating further scandals involving false accounting from companies such WorldCom and Merck. Investors around the world began to question the financial information publicized by corporations and to think that it may contain many implicit problems, such related-party transactions, corporate management practices and poor accounting standards. Taiwan had the high-profile Rebar Group scandal, as well as a scandal involving a dozen photoelectric material manufacturers. These problems become more conspicuous as Taiwanese enterprises internationalize and become more diversified in businesses. As the global economy grows, reinvestments and business diversity have led to over-investment, which causes complications with information sources. In particular, the intertwined connections of parent-subsidiary companies can become complicated for auditing. Consequently, engagement in investments, financing and other economic activities relies on the authenticity of corporate financial reports. Meanwhile, CPAs play a major role in these new practices, and they assume legal responsibility for financial statement certifications. Blazenko and Scott (1986) argued that a CPA acts as an overseer who can reduce information asymmetry between competent authorities and investors, and helps to promote the accountability of corporate financial reports for stakeholders. In these circumstances, CPAs are responsible for auditing reviews that must be appropriately expressed and with full disclosure, or they face lawsuits or penalties. Previous academic research on the complexity of related-party transactions and business diversification has mainly focused on the value and business strategies of a company (Dahya, Dimitrov, & McConnell, 2008; Atanasov, Black, Ciccotello, & Gyoshev, 2010; Qian, Khoury, Peng, & Qian, 2010; _ Ibrahim Anıl & Canel, 2013). However, little research has discussed the role of auditors. Those corporate scandals exposed CPAs to risk from lawsuits and penalties. For instance, even Arthur Andersen, an accounting firm, was brought down and forced to close, dragging many CPAs into related lawsuits and penalties. Overall, corporate scandals are easily connected with information complexity, such as relatedparty transactions (Henry, Gordon, Reed, & Louwers, 2012; Bennouri, Nekhili, & Touron, 2015). This is where a CPA plays a critical role. Thus, this research seeks to identify the relationship between the complexity of corporate business diversification and related-party transactions, and the penalties on CPAs resulting from corporate fraud.