Increased Regulation Drives Demand for Forensic Accounting Services

December 23, 2013 | Download PDF

Major financial reforms and volatility following notorious frauds and scandals have led to outsized growth in the demand for forensic accounting services.  During the past decade or so, Congress reacted to the WorldCom Inc. and Enron bankruptcies resulting from fraudulent financial reporting by passing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, adding regulation targeting internal controls over financial reporting, among other requirements.  The more recent financial crisis that is blamed for the Great Recession led Congress to pass the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, requiring greater financial transparency of public companies.  This increased regulation has contributed to strong revenue growth for forensic accounting services providers. 

This article was originally published in The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, December 2013.

About Marks Paneth

About Marks Paneth

Marks Paneth is an accounting firm with over 500 people, of whom nearly 65 are partners and principals. The firm provides public and private businesses with a full range of auditing, accounting, tax, consulting, bankruptcy and restructuring services as well as litigation and corporate financial advisory services to domestic and international clients. The firm also specializes in providing tax advisory and consulting for high-net-worth individuals and their families, as well as a wide range of services for international, real estate, media, entertainment, nonprofit, professional and financial services, and energy clients. The firm has a strong track record supporting emerging growth companies, entrepreneurs, business owners and investors as they navigate the business life cycle. The firm’s subsidiary, Tailored Technologies, LLC, provides information technology consulting services. In addition, its membership in Morison International, a leading international association for independent business advisers, financial consulting and accounting firms, facilitates service delivery to clients throughout the United States and around the world. Marks Paneth, whose origins date back to 1907, is the 34th largest accounting firm in the nation and the 16th largest in the New York area. In addition, readers of the New York Law Journal rank Marks Paneth as one of the area’s top forensic accounting firms for the fourth year in a row. Its headquarters are in Manhattan. Additional offices are in Westchester, Long Island and the Cayman Islands. For more information, please visit www.markspaneth.com.