FORENSIC ACCOUNTING AND LITIGATION SUPPORT

The course contributes to the educational objectives of the Master’s Degree Programme, which aims at providing students with advanced knowledge on financial and management accounting, corporate finance and risk management.
This course, unique in the Italian academic landscape, is divided in two parts. The first one discusses corporate governance, with specific reference to the internal control system and fraud prevention mechanisms. It studies the evolution of corporate governance in the Italian context and the role of the different subjects (Board of directors, board of statutory auditors, Internal Audit, Organismo di Vigilanza 231/2001, Risk manager, auditor). The second part discusses the role of accountants as expert witness in the civil trial, in particular concerning damages extimation.

1 KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
- know the pillars of corporate governance;
- know the main law and professional references for corporate governance;
- know the roles of the different corporate governance bodies;
- know the role of the Italian CPA as expert witness and the laws regulating its activity;
- know the main law regulations for what concerns the liability of managers, industrial law and bank law.
2 APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
- apply the international best practices for corporate governance;
- identify the relevant laws and the main professional standards for Internal Auditors, administrator, statutory auditor, member of OdV;
- know how to apply the main regulations regarding the expert witness.
3 MAKING JUDGEMENTS
- know how to frame hypotheses concerning corporate governance efficacy;
- know how to identify the best damages estimation tecniques.

To tackle the course, it is necessary to have already learnt the basic concepts of accounting and business law.

- Introduction to corporate governance
- Corporate governance and ethics
- Risk Management and internal control systems
- Corporate Governance in Italy: laws and regulations, main bodies and integration with Enterprise Risk Management
- Frauds
- Internal audit and fraud prevention
- Organismo di Vigilanza (D.Lgs. 231/2001)
- The accountant as expert witness in the civil trial
- Administrator liability and the business judgement rule
- Damages estimation for administrator liability
- Intellectual property and damages estimation

Slides and articles will be provided.

The exam will be written, with a non compulsory oral exam. The written exam will include four open ended questions, that will be about the topics covered in the course and one numerical exercise. The oral exam can decrease, increase or confirm the results of the written test.

The concepts will be disclosed using real case studies and guest speakers.

Italian

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion
Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments

Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support
services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with
mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

written and oral