Risks of false accounting: Some reflections on the new regulation in Italy

Abstract

International financial fraud, such as Enron, WorldCom, and Parmalat focused worldwide attention on the quality of accounting and in particular the accounting information fraud caused by a problem with corporate internal control. The authenticity of accounting information is the main content of accounting information quality. The purpose of this article is to analyze the current situation of Italian law on accounting information, following the latest reform on the quality of accounting information. In order to restore the punishment of the crime of false corporate communications, the Italian legislator intervened in 2015 on the issue with the Law No. 69/2015 of May 27, 2015, containing “Provisions on crimes against the public administration, mafia-type associations and false accounting”. This work aims to present the innovations introduced by this reform by identifying the new subjective and objective elements with regard to this type of crime, underlining the main differences from the previous legislation. The methodology used in this work is descriptive, as it analyzes in detail the new discipline highlighting the differences compared to the old legislation and the novelties of the new one, trying to highlight the various pitfalls that can be hidden in the financial statements. The paper is useful for senior management and fraud examiners in highlighting the areas most susceptible to fraud and the type of approach that can be taken to investigate cases of misconduct.