Nearly two-thirds of executives anticipate an increase in accounting fraud in the next two years, according to a recent poll by Deloitte.
The survey, conducted during a recent webcast, found that 63.3 percent of more than 1,280 executives from the banking and securities, financial services, and technology industries expect an uptick in accounting fraud.
To prepare for the risks that a downward economy poses, 45.7 percent of the respondents indicated that their organizations have established protocols for conducting investigations.
"Strong anti-fraud programs and controls can reduce fiscal, investigative and reputational costs," said Donna Epps, partner and national leader of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services' anti-fraud consulting practice. "It is important that controls are created, implemented and monitored to mitigate fraud."
Executives also report more fraud awareness training throughout their organizations (38.7 percent), more robust fraud risk assessments (21.5 percent) and expansion of internal audit monitoring efforts (20.3 percent), saying those practices would most assist their organizations' fraud prevention efforts in the current economic environment.
