In 2002, it was reported that the number of restatement announcements due to financial reporting fraud &/or accounting errors grew significantly between Jan. 1997 & June 2002, negatively impacting the restating companies¿ market capitalization by billions of dollars. The author was asked to update key aspects of the 2002 report. This report discusses: (1) the number of, reasons for, & other trends in restatements; (2) the impact of restatement announcements on the restating companies¿ stock costs & what is known about investors¿ confidence in U.S. capital markets; & (3) regulatory enforcement actions involving accounting- & audit-related issues. Includes recommendations. Charts & tables.

Financial Statement Restatements: Trends, Market Impacts, Regulatory Responses, and Remaining Challenges

This monograph is one of the few books to investigate the understudied but fascinating topic of accounting restatement in the European context. In the first chapter, substantial changes over time in treatments for correction of errors under the International Financial Reporting Standards and Italian generally accepted accounting principles are examined. Following that, a brief overview of the literature, mainly concerning the United States environment, and characteristics of and trends in accounting issues drawn from restatements announced by a sample of firms listed in European countries from 2016 to 2020 are presented. After a review of multi-country empirical research, chapter 3 presents an assessment of the frequency and severity of restatements at the country, industry and year levels. Finally, chapter 4 considers the forewarning effect of topics communicated in the key audit matters in relation to subsequently revealed account-specific misstatements by proposing a new matching procedure. Throughout the work, the author provides frequent comparisons with findings obtained by United States scholars.