New reporting requirements that stock exchanges have ordered in response to high-profile scandals, together with tougher auditing standards under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, have pushed boards and managers to become far more diligent in reporting accurate financial information.

FORBES: A New Era In Corporate Governance

Under Auditing Standard 5, passed in mid-2007, the audit of internal control over financial reporting is now integrated with the audit of the financial statements.

FORBES: The State of Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance According To Protiviti

John Bowmer, Adecco's former chairman who came out of retirement to oversee the re-auditing, complains about the way in which, under such a process, the auditors are in complete control.

ECONOMIST: One company's experience of Sarbanes-Oxley

Mr. Madoff's investors will in retrospect kick themselves for not asking more questions, especially about the remarkable consistency of his returns over the years, his apparently fly-by-night auditing shop, and his small trading book despite having so much money under management.

WSJ: Madoff and Markets