More than half of the business professionals polled during a recent Deloitte webcast said the level of transparency the Obama administration promises to attach to bailout spending is not possible.
Deloitte found that 58.2 percent of the 1,540 business professionals who tuned in to the webcast had doubts about how much transparency there can be. Stimulus funds need to be infused into the economy as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to stimulate growth, said David Williams (pictured), leader of Deloittes Financial Advisory Services practice.
However, the legislative process as well as the publics desire for transparency surrounding how stimulus funds are allocated do not bode well for getting stimulus funds into the economy quickly.
About 80 percent of the poll respondents indicated that the emphasis on transparency and accountability in government spending will translate into wider regulations for all businesses. And 40.5 percent said that regardless of whether their companies will benefit from stimulus funding the government emphasis on transparency and ethics will lead them to address their companies anti-fraud programs and controls.
In addition, 79.8 percent of respondents admitted they were unfamiliar with the False Claims Act, one of the governments primary civil fraud enforcement mechanisms. The law helps individual whistleblowers call attention to companies that attempt to defraud the government and receive a finders fee if the government collects a fine.
