More and more corporate scandals are occurring in America. Why have these scandals emerged in recent years? What drives these companies to lie and mislead investors? Although once considered legitimate, fair, honest and respectable, corporations have reached a stage of greed and deception. This can be explained by a number of factors such as the functioning of the stock market, the stock market boom, changing corporate practices, CEO advantages, and specific company examples. Public companies are any company whose shares are publicly available. A company that wants to start a new business or expand its existing business can raise the capital it needs either by borrowing money or issuing shares to investors. Investors become shareholders in the company, meaning they co-own the company and share in its profits and growth. These actions represent the performance of the company. When accounting records are falsified to show that the company is prospering while debts pile up, investors lose all their shares because they suddenly fall and become worthless; without any warning. Companies wishing to have their shares traded must first be listed. To be listed, a company must be large enough that there is a market for its shares and it must agree to comply with listing rules which, among other things, require it to keep the market informed of its activities and to regularly declare its profits. and other financial information (Flint). Auditing firms neglect the numbers and hide the debts of their high-paying companies from the public. This is where our companies went astray and began deceiving their investors due to conflicts of interest of...... middle of paper ...... breakdown in the auditing profession. " Review of Human Factors Studies. June 2005, Vol. 11 Issue 1, p113-129, 17p. "Forbes." The Corporate Scandal Sheet 2005. Forbes.com November 14, 2005. Johnson, Carrie "Prosecutors want Lay be judged soon." Washingtonpost.com, November 13, 2005. .Morgenson, Gretchen. "A lie here, a scandal there." Alex. "A Broker Beaten." October 2005, Vol. 377 Issue 8448, p. 79 -79, 1/2p. Sorkin, Andrew Ross, "'Super Mario' Has a Super Headache, September 2005, Vol. 155 Number 53348, Section 3 p1-9, 2p, 1c, 2bw. Swedberg, Richard." Capitalism and Ethics: How Conflict of Interest Legislation Can Be Used to Manage Moral Dilemmas in the International Social Economy. September 2005, Vol. 185, p481-492, 12p...