原出處：全美法律周刊
日期：2009年11月18日
假如還有哪個聯邦機構的財務報表能讓妳信任的話，那就是證券交易委員會（SEC）了。
可惜，事實並非如此。
本週一在美國審計總署（GAO）發布的財務報表審計報告中，證交會被指未達要求。審計總署發現，證交會“截止2009年6月30日，未對其財務報告建立有效的內部控制。”
作為其職責的一部分，證交會承擔著加強對上市公司財務披露規則與要求的監管的責任。顯然，在監管自己的時候（它）就不那麼在行了。例如，審計總署在報告中稱，SEC的總賬系統容許未經授權的人員複核、篡改甚至是銷毀數據資料，而且像那樣的“重大未授權行為”還可不被發現。
審計總署還發現，在解決那些問題前，SEC無法確定下列事實：
“1) 其財務報表，就總體而言，已妥為陳述；
2) 日常決策中所依據的信息準確、完整、及時，以及：
3) 敏感資料和財務信息已妥為保管。
同時，證交會也不能提供證據，證明其用於監控員工薪酬發放的控制已被準確、及時記錄。”
審計總署在認定證交會編制報送的財務報表“在所有重大方面公允陳述”的同時，亦標示出了證交會2008至2009財年內部控制中存在的“6個重大缺陷區域”。這6大區域是：
a. 信息安全；
b. 財務報告流程；
c. 司庫資金賬戶；
d. 注冊人存入存款；
e. 預算撥款；
f. 風險評估及監控流程。
審計總署認為，“考慮到在（監管）其注冊人財務報告中扮演的重要角色，有效解決上述問題對於維持證交會的信譽來說至關重要。”
在週一致審計總署分管財務管理與鑒證的董事James Dalkin的信中，證交會主席Mary Schapiro寫道：“我們致力於把尋求這些重大缺陷的解決方案列為最高程度的優先級，在接下來的數月裡，我們將改進標示的系統和流程，解決這些運作中存在的問題，以增強證交會在所有方面的內部控制。”
她同時還表示，“正如您和您的員工所注意到的，這些缺陷下面隱藏的問題已累積多年。其中的一些可以——並且將——在短時間內得到處理，但其它的需花更多的時間解決。”
SEC Fall Short in the Financial Audit
Author：Jenna Greene
Origin：The National Law Journal
Date：November 18, 2009
If there was one federal agency you'd expect to get its financial statements right, it's the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Or not.
Monday the SEC came up short in a financial audit released by the Government Accountability Office. The GAO found that the SEC "did not have effective internal control over its financial reporting as of Sept. 30, 2009."
As part of its mission, the SEC is charged with enforcing strict financial disclosure rules for public companies. Apparently, it is less adept at policing itself. For example, the GAO reported that SEC's general ledger system allows unauthorized personnel to view, manipulate or destroy data, and that "serious unauthorized activity" may remain undetected.
Until the SEC fixes these problems, the GAO found, the SEC can't be sure:
"1) its financial statements, taken as a whole, are fairly stated;
2) the information the SEC relies on to make decisions on a daily basis is accurate, complete, and timely; and:
3) sensitive data and financial information are appropriately safeguarded."
Nor could the SEC "provide evidence that it monitored controls over its payroll exception reports to ensure payroll transactions were recorded accurately and timely."
While the GAO did credit the SEC with producing statements that were "fairly stated in all material respects," it flagged "six significant deficiencies" for FY 2008 and 2009.
The six areas are:
a. information security;
b. financial reporting process;
c. fund balance with Treasury;
d. registrant deposits;
e. budgetary resources;
f. risk assessment and monitoring progress.
"Successfully addressing these issues is critical to maintaining SEC's credibility given its important role in the financial reporting process of registrants," the GAO found.
In a letter Monday to James Dalkin, the GAO's director of financial management and assurance, SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro wrote that "We are committed to making the resolution of these deficiencies a priority of the very highest order ... Over the coming months, we will tackle the systems and operational issues identified to enhance the SEC's controls in all areas."
Schapiro continued, "As you and your staff noted, the issues that underlie these deficiencies have been building and accumulating for years. While some of them can -- and will -- be addressed quickly, others will take more time to solve."
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