The Anti-Fraud Collaboration (AFC) hosted an inaugural Fraud Forum in November 2024, which convened a multi-stakeholder dialogue amongst members of the financial reporting ecosystem to explore the current and future state of the fraud risk landscape through a series of panels and an open forum roundtable discussion. The diverse group of stakeholders, including regulators, debated one of the key findings from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiner’s (ACFE) Occupational Fraud 2024: A Report to the Nations: “CFEs estimate that organizations lose 5% of revenue to fraud each year.”
While that has been a consistent finding for many years, the AFC and ACFE recognized that it is also a very broad finding that encompassed responses from all types of organizations, including the government and both private and public sectors. As a result, the AFC and ACFE conducted a study that surveyed nearly 400 individuals to gain insights into how much fraud is occurring within U.S. public companies.
This June, the AFC hosted an in-person Executive Workshop at the 36th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference to discuss those findings. The workshop convened and promoted a multi-stakeholder dialogue amongst members of the financial reporting ecosystem, including external auditors, internal auditors, preparers and financial management, boards and audit committees, risk and compliance professionals, forensic experts, and regulators.
Participants discussed the current fraud risk environment, explored the impact of fraud, including fraud losses and fraud risks faced by U.S. public companies, considered the likelihood and significance of various fraud risks, and shared practical insights into mechanisms for effective fraud deterrence and detection and potential enhancements across the financial reporting ecosystem. This report summarizes key takeaways from the open forum discussion at the Executive Workshop.