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This paper examines the role of professional associations, governmental agencies, and international accounting and auditing bodies in promulgating standards to deter and detect fraud, domestically and abroad. Specifically, it focuses on the role played by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the US Government Accounting Office (GAO), and other national and foreign professional associations, in promulgating auditing standards and procedures to prevent fraud in financial statements and other white‐collar crimes. It also examines several fraud cases and the impact of management and employee fraud on the various business sectors such as insurance, banking, health care, and manufacturing, as well as the role of management, the boards of directors, the audit committees, auditors, and fraud examiners and their liability in the fraud prevention and investigation.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the key external factors that are impacting on the performance of Chinese entrepreneurial enterprise (EE).

A linear regression model was developed that comprised three types of organisations(government, university and R&D institute, agency, financial institution) and three kinds of environmental factors(legal and institutional environment, culture, geographic location) which greatly influence Chinese venture enterprises growth. The model was validated using 91 responses obtained through a questionnaire survey carried out in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Fujian Province of China.

Evidence suggests that a fine relationship with a financial organisation positively impacts on the growth of EEs and a close relationship with government shows a disadvantageous impact on the EE's growth. The significant influence of environmental factors appeared to come from entrepreneurial culture and atmosphere.

The findings suggest that Chinese EEs need more favorable financial support. And they also need to have more entrepreneurial learning in a good entrepreneurial culture and atmosphere. Chinese governmental departments should adjust their strategy and means to motivate EEs, not only to give them favourable policy and support but also to improve their competitive power.

The paper highlights the external factors which can significantly affect the growth of Chinese EEs and is, therefore, of practical use for Chinese EEs and support agencies in China. The analysis also offers a more comprehensive understanding about Chinese EEs' development context.

The present study examines the linkage between financial literacy and financial fragility during COVID-19. It further examines if financial literacy has a differential impact on financial fragility based on psychological (financial confidence), economic (wealth) and social (race) factors.

The authors used nationally representative data of the American working age-group. They collated six different datasets collected at different time-periods to conduct the present study. Based on 2,202 observations, they conducted logistic regression analyses to test the proposed relationships.

The authors find that financial literacy reduces the odds of being financially fragile by 9.1%. Furthermore, they find that financially literate consumers having high financial confidence are less financially fragile during COVID-19. Besides, the adverse impact of financial literacy on financial fragility is more for consumers having more than less wealth. The interaction with race is not significant, suggesting that financial literacy cuts across racial boundaries.

Financial fragility is an important factor having numerous deleterious consequences. The authors’ study found that financial confidence, psychological factor and wealth economic factor enhances the negative effect of financial literacy on financial fragility. Banks and financial institutes can develop mechanisms to infuse confidence in individuals during the pandemic to reduce their financial fragility. Policymakers and governments may increase awareness related to debt management practices and design financial literacy interventions to reduce financial fragility among individuals.

The study is one of the initial studies to examine the antecedents of financial fragility. Based on a time-lagged data, the authors’ study examines the linkage between financial literacy and financial fragility. Though scholars have investigated financial literacy and its implications, scholarly work in this domain during COVID-19 is at best limited. The study contributes to the literature by testing the effects of boundary conditions that can change financial literacy's impact on financial fragility.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the literature published on the various aspects of awareness about equity investment. The paper highlights the major issues and aspects with respect to equity investment awareness. It also aims to raise specific questions for future research.

The study is based on secondary information collected primarily through the review of existing literature.

It is found that the important determinants of equity awareness are demographic, socio-economic and psychological factors. Financial well-being is attributable largely to financial awareness. Growth of the financial market can be credited to equity awareness. Equity awareness enables an investor to make better financial decisions, to appreciate their rights and responsibilities and to understand and manage the risk as an investor.

Policy makers can design the equity awareness campaign considering the different demographic and socio-economic factors. While designing such a campaign, the impact and importance of equity awareness should be illustrated, considering their demographic and socio-economic profile.

This study is the first one using the literature review method in the area of equity investment awareness, in particular, and financial awareness in general. This paper will be useful to researchers, academicians and those working in the area of equity investment awareness and in their understanding about the various aspects of awareness about equity investment. The paper is first of its kind, hence original in nature.

The present study aimed to provide an understanding of the roles of community-based financial service organizations (i.e. rotating savings and credit associations [ROSCAs] as institutional pillars in facilitating low-income, unbanked consumers’ access to informal financial services).

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 39 low-income, unbanked consumers participating in ROSCAs in Pakistan, where only 21% of adults have a bank account and almost four out of five individuals live on a low income. The obtained data were analyzed using the thematic analysis technique.

ROSCAs’ regulatory, sociocultural and cognitive aspects facilitate low-income, unbanked consumers’ utilization of informal financial services owing to their approachability by, suitability for, and fairness to such consumers. Thus, they promote such consumers’ financial inclusion.

Low-income consumers are mostly unable to access formal financial services due to the existing supply- and demand-side impediments. Understanding ROSCAs’ institutional functioning can help formal financial service providers create more transformative financial services based on the positive institutional aspects of ROSCAs to enhance poor consumers’ financial inclusion and well-being.

The inclusion of low-income, unbanked consumers in formal banking services will help them better control their finances.

Many low-income, unbanked consumers in developing countries utilize informal financial services to meet their basic financial needs, but service researchers have rarely investigated how informal financial institutions function. The present study showed that ROSCAs, as informal institutions, meet low-income, unbanked consumers’ personal, social and financial needs in a befitting manner, which encourages such consumers to use the financial services offered by ROSCAs.

Although the study of credit ratings has focused on traditional credit bureau resources, scholars have recently emphasized the importance of big data. The purpose of this paper is to examine both how these data affect the credit evaluations of small businesses and how financial managers use them to stabilize their risks.

Using data from 97,889 data points for normal guarantees and 1,678 data points for accidents in public funds, the authors explore the effects of trade area grades as well as the superiority of the use of big data when evaluating credit ratings for small businesses.

The results indicate that the grade information of trade areas is useful in predicting accident rates, particularly for small businesses with high credit scores (AAA-A). On the other hand, the accident rates of small businesses with low credit scores increased from 3.15-16.67 to 3.20-33.3 percent. These findings demonstrate that accident rates for the businesses with high credit scores decrease, but accident rates for businesses with low credit scores increase when using the grades of trade areas.

The authors contribute to the literature in two ways. First, this study provides one of the first investigations on information on trade areas through public financial perspectives, thereby extending the financial risk and retail literature. Second, the current study extends the research on the credit evaluation of small businesses through the big data application of real transaction-based trade areas, answering the call of Park et al. (2012), who recommended an exploration of the relationship between business start-ups and financial risk.

The study examines the antecedents of responsible financial management behavior among young adults in India and explores the role of financial risk tolerance as a moderating variable.

The sample includes young adults in the age group of 18–35. The analysis uses a two-step approach via standard partial least squares structural modeling (PLS-SEM) and ordinary least square (OLS) regression.

Structural modeling results show that financial attitude fully mediates the relationship between financial knowledge and responsible financial management behavior, and locus of control influences responsible financial management behavior. Financial risk tolerance moderates the relationship. Among demographic factors, age and occupation influence responsible financial management behavior.

The financial knowledge used in the survey are based on self-reported responses. The future study can include participants from both developed and emerging countries to assess similarities and differences.

Despite the growing focus on improving financial literacy, there are growing concerns regarding responsible financial behavior. Since financial services is related to fiduciary responsibility, managers and policymakers need to ensure that financial knowledge results in improving financial attitude, which further leads to responsible financial behavior.

The present study from an emerging country will add value to the literature.

There are many definitions of materiality and such differences in definition show that there is great concern about the applicability of materiality in the auditing profession. Various materiality guidelines have been recommended by both academic researchers and accounting bodies, but the Auditing Practices Board in the UK has yet to recommend a guideline of its own. Looks at the recommendations put forward by those researchers and accounting bodies and the implications and possible pros and cons of having structured guidelines by the auditing profession in the UK. Concludes with a recommended materiality guideline which the Auditing Practices Board should seriously consider and the possibility of applying computer‐based decision aids as a tool to improve efficiency and effectiveness of decision making by the auditors.

Financial systemic risk is often assessed by the interconnectedness of financial institutes (FI) in terms of cross-ownership, overlapping investment portfolios, interbank credit exposures, etc. Less is known about the interconnectedness between FIs through the lens of consumer credits. Using detailed consumer credit data in Canada, this chapter constructs a novel banking network to measure FIs’ interconnectedness in the consumer credit markets. Results show that FIs on average are more connected to each other over the sample period, with the interconnectedness measure increases by 19% from 2013 Q4 to 2019 Q4. FIs with more diversified portfolios are more connected in the network. Among various types of FIs, secondary FIs have the notable increase in interconnectedness. Domestic Systemically Important Banks and secondary FIs offering a broad range of loan products are more connected to large FIs, while those specialized in single loan types are more connected to their industry peers. FI connectedness is also significantly related to their participation in the mortgage markets.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of the Sarbanes‐Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002 on small corporations when compared to large firms and to investigate differences perceived by small and large firms with respect to costs and internal controls.

A questionnaire containing 20 questions (five demographic and 15 addressing issues related to SOX implementation) was mailed to 5,479 board members, chief executive officers (CEOs) and chief financial officers (CFOs) of 676 separate firms with 117 completed surveys returned.

The results of the study show significant differences in the responses between small and large firms concerning: the overall impact of SOX on the firm; the amount of time dedicated to SOX; the role of the external auditor; the firm's implementation stage; the most significant challenges due to SOX implementation; the corporate governance reforms instituted; and changes in board compensation.

The basic limitation of this paper is the low‐response rate (slightly more than 2 per cent) which is not surprising since CEOs, CFOs, and board of directors have a low tendency to respond to surveys.

The findings of this paper suggest that: recent actions taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are appropriate in providing much needed relief for smaller public firms; and lend support for further actions of assistance by the SEC. This paper is of value to academicians, practitioners and to an international audience engaged in the harmonization of accounting standards.