Glenn Rogers
Even as the U.S. Government scrambles to recover cash it might never, Hong Kong-based Mediazone Group revealed the shocking results of a study of the annual reports of 250 listed companies across 21 countries and 9 industries.
Auditor’s creativity was discovered to have cleverly masked debt to show modest profit in 215 of the 250 companies studied as if to mirror similar findings in global investment firms being examined in the United States.
Debt was discovered when companies were compelled to reveal it upon receipt of a written request from the Mediazone Group.
“While deception of shareholders and an appalling disrespect for corporate governance is nothing new, shareholders might want to accept that the final responsibility to monitor the companies they own shares of, rests with them,” said Mediazone Group CEO, Glenn Rogers, in Sydney, Australia today.
“Governments have proved inadequate to police listed companies who will continue to use talented auditing firms to mislead shareholders. If governments were half as vigilant, the current financial debacle might have been averted,” said Rogers.
He added: “Eventually, the innocent have to pick up the tab as the perpetrators get away with hefty bonuses.”
“Were it not for privacy issues, we would have been only too glad to disclose the identity of these corrupt offenders. For now, it might be more important to warn shareholders to look out for the ‘auditor’s creativity’ in annual reports of the companies in which they own shares.”
“At the end of the day, you are left with the bill so the sooner you raise the alarm, the better,” he said.
The study was conducted across a set of randomly picked companies across America, Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan & Thailand.
Industries included: Banking & Finance, Shipping, Building & Construction, Telecom, Media, Manufacturing, Retail, Logistics & Travel and Tourism.
EndsMEDIAZONE GROUP
Glenn Rogers is the Hong Hong-based CEO of the Mediazone Group. Mediazone Ltd is a global media consulting company. It is also widely known for its regional publications and supplies editorial material to more than 200 newspapers and magazines Asia-wide thus reaching a combined audience in excess of 4.5 million readers/viewers.
The Group is best known for its exclusive media consultancy services to high net worth individuals, multinationals and for its world-first, Newsroom in the Sky.
For additional information, interviews or photographs please contact Jerone Chin in Hong Kong by e-mail at editorial@mediazone.com.hk, tel: (852) 2540 3711
For more information on Mediazone Ltd, please visit www.mediazone.com.hk
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
