Unaccountable & Ungovernable Corporation

Frank Clarke is Honorary Professor of Accounting at the University of Sydney, Australia, and Emeritus Professor at the University of Newcastle, Australia.Graeme Dean is Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Sydney, Australia.Matthew Egan is lecturer in Accounting at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Well written and presents the main features of corporate deviances, particularly in the areas of management misbehavior, accounting irregularities, financial statements' misrepresentations, and auditors' failures.Bahram Soltani, Professor of Accounting and Finance, University of Paris I, France in The International Journal of AccountingAn important historical marker summarizing [the authors'] critique of the modern corporation, and warning that if regulators and legislators do not heed their warnings, the markets will be less efficient and fair, and more vulnerable to corporate collapses and financial crises.Frank Partnoy, Professor of Law and Finance, University of San Diego, USA in The Accounting ReviewThis work should take pride of place on the bookshelves of boardrooms throughout Western economies. Building on their previous and authoritative publications, especially Corporate Collapse and Indecent Disclosure, the authors develop a compelling argument that systemic flaws in accounting and reporting regimes (as well as fraud and poor corporate governance practices) contribute to business failures and jeopardise market integrity and confidence. In particular, the treatment of the ‘true and fair’ conundrum, the exposure of the use and misuse of labyrinthine corporate groups and the call for a re-examination of fundamental notions of corporate personality and limited liability deserve close consideration by all who depend on the proper operation of the market system– and that is practically everyone. The Hon Neville Owen (HIH Royal Commissioner, 2001-2003), UKA thought-provoking study of recent global corporate scandals which condemns the current corporate form itself and offers pragmatic solutions. A welcome addition to the literature questioning the role of the 19th century corporation in the 21st century.Jane Gleeson-White, author of 'Double Entry: How the merchants of Venice created modern finance'An important historical marker summarizing [the authors'] critique of the modern corporation, and warning that if regulators and legislators do not heed their warnings, the markets will be less efficient and fair, and more vulnerable to corporate collapses and financial crises.FRANK PARTNOY, Professor of Law and Finance, University of San Diego The Accounting Review

• 1. Corporations: Soulless, Heartless. 2. Ethos Abandoned, Heritage Lost. 3. Regulation Misplaced. 4. Regulation Misplaced. 5. Executive Snouts in the Trough. 6. Corporate Groupthink. 7. Epilogue