Forensic Accounting in Asia: How Companies ‘Manage’ Financials

Fundamental investors want to be able to base their financial decision on balance sheets and earnings reports, but accounting standards in foreign markets aren’t necessarily the same as the U.S. or Europe. Regulations may be lax, or less stringently enforced, and the different cultural context of financial reporting can also impact the information that investors get. Even in cases where there is no outright fraud, firms might manage numbers either to appear more attractive to investors or just to hit targets in their compensation package. Sensing growing concern about Asian reporting standards, Matthews Asia research analyst Sudarshan Murthy explains how…