|
如果說，稽核是對所有相關證據(來自於可靠的經理人之經濟行為)所做的批判性評估，那麼內部控制的監控就是在個體和總體經濟的層面，為這類證據所做的前置準備。所謂的相關證據是建立於控制論的控制目標，並涉及到相關的監督與規範。負責規範這些系統的經理人與他們的委託人，一定要有相對應的權力以接收與組織行為及其後果相關之正確並具攸關性的資訊：組織成功的程度，以及在他們控制下，經濟個體之生存潛力為何。這不僅表示經理人需要作到持續性稽核與必要的自律，同時內部稽核人員也須要以批判的角度對相關資料及資訊做評估。外部稽核人員也會為他們的委託人，如股東或董監事會，執行資料和資訊的評估作業，以作為業主行為的外部規範。
If auditing is critical assessment of all available relevant evidence about economic behavior by accountable agents, then internal control monitoring is the provision of such evidence - both at micro- and macro-economic levels. What is relevant evidence depends on cybernetic control objectives and involves relevant monitoring and regulation. Agents and their principals with responsibilities to regulate those systems must have corresponding rights to receive correct and relevant information about organizational behavior and its consequences: The degrees of success and the (potential for) survival of economic entities under their control. This involves not only continuous monitoring and necessary self-regulation by managements but may also require the critical assessment of relevant data and information by internal auditors. External auditors do it for their principals such as shareholders or supervisory boards of directors acting as external regulators on behalf of owners or voting citizens as the ultimate principals.
傳統上經濟行為被定義為：以物品或服務交換現金、約當現金、或借貸[記住：借貸credit是從拉丁動詞credere衍生而來的，credere意思是「打從心裡信任」！]。錢(現金或約當現金)是發行者(私人銀行或國家的中央銀行)以某種承諾價值去兌換貨幣象徵(硬幣、紙張)，故對他們來說，錢在本質上是一種債務。只要使用者對錢失去信心，錢就會變得沒有價值或是「膨脹」。膨脹是肇因於發行的錢遠多於擔保品，如黃金、儲備金、或經濟潛力：國家以不合理或「膨脹」的承諾發行金錢以償還債務、維持金錢價值的穩定；銀行發行大量信用卡(創造金錢)，自己卻沒有充分的資金以支撐其聲稱的「維持償債能力」；保險公司持續收取保費，卻沒有足夠資金可償還主要的信用違約；產品或服務供應商持續保持高額的訂價等。膨脹對於所有經濟活動都是個威脅，也是我們必須防止的問題。
Economic behavior is traditionally defined as the exchange of goods and services for cash and cash equivalents or for credit. [Remember, credit is derived from credere, the Latin verb for to believe!] Money (cash or cash equivalents) is essentially a debt obligation by the issuer (a private bank or the public state’s central bank) to replace a monetary token (coin, paper) with something of guaranteed value (e.g. gold or another coin or paper bill). Once money has lost the confidence of its users, it becomes less valuable or “inflated.” Inflation is the consequence of too much money being issued in comparison to its collateral such as gold and other reserves or economic potential: States are printing money to repay debts with unjustified or “inflated” promises to keep the monetary value stable; banks issuing credit (creating money) without sufficient capital of their own to back up their claims to remain solvent; insurance companies collecting premiums without sufficient capital to repay major credit defaults; producers of goods and services charging continuously higher prices, etc. – Inflation is a threat to all economic activity and one needs to guard against it.
經濟交易中的現金與借貸，其兩者之間存在一個重大差異。現金或約當現金必須要同時可供專業經理人使用，借貸則是基於信任其有能力：(1)償還任何借入的現金，並付利息給銀行或其他債權人；(2)支付一部分金額進行避險，以確保當債務人無法履行償債合約時，還是有辦法收回應收的借貸額度；(3)在投保人無法繳保險金額時，還是能夠從其他地方收到錢，以彌補不足的應收保額；(4)用稱為「信用違約交換」(credit default swaps，CDS)，或「債務抵押債券」(collateralized debt obligations，CDO)的方式把信貸風險打包送走，並確定他們能免於償還風險金額；(5)萬一發生債務人無法履行償債合約，能償還投保的CDS或CDO之金額；(6)能不停地持續這個循環，直到資產(借方)或資金(貸方)的「泡沫」破掉。[記住：資產＝資金]
An important difference exists between cash and credit during economic transactions. While cash or cash equivalents must be simultaneously available between economic agents, credit depends on beliefs about abilities and capabilities: (1) to repay any borrowed cash amounts (of equal monetary value) at some later date and to pay interest to banks and other creditors; (2) to insure credit amounts in case of debtor failures after a premium has been paid for insurance against such failures; (3) to expect an insurer to pay the insured amounts in case of creditor failures; (4) to “bundle” credit risks by means of so-called “credit default swaps (CDS)”or “collateralized debt obligations (CDO)”and to insure them against failures to pay back the risky amounts; (5) to repay insured CDS or COD amounts in case of creditor failures; (6) and to continue this cycle ad infinitum, until an asset (debit) or capital (credit) “bubble” bursts. [Remember: Assets = Capital].
如果信念與現實一致，則其為真，但如果我們沒有、或僅有少數相關的正確資料，則其為投機。投機活動被認為是對他人行為之理性的信任，以經濟角度來看是「經濟活動之母」！一旦實體經濟中貨幣所有權的價值超過所有經濟相關之財務、人力、自然、和社會資產的真實價值，我們便會創造出人為的(資產或資金)泡沫。當與「經濟現實面」相關的證據不足時，泡沫便會產生，而且只要參與其中的人們不相信這些證據(例如忽略現實面及任何與現實面相關的證據)，或是相信泡沫不會破，泡沫就會逐漸膨脹，直到各種「賭徒」已經「賺到」他們的投機利潤。[記住：賭博往往會上癮，它是不可能成為一種生產方式的！]
Beliefs are true if they correspond to reality but speculative if we have no or only insufficient relevant evidence that they are true. Speculation, understood as rational belief about the activities of other people, is “the mother of all economic activity” in financial terms! - Once the value of the monetary claims on the real economy exceeds the real value of all economically relevant financial, human, natural, and social assets, we have an artificial (asset or capital) bubble. Bubbles can be created when there is insufficient evidence about the “economic realities” and they can be inflated as long as everyone involved either disbelieves them (i.e. ignores the realities and any evidence about them) or believes that they will not burst until the various gamblers have “realized” their speculative gains. [Remember: Gambling tends to be an addiction rather than a productive pursuit!]
我們需要會計與資訊系統以展開各種商業活動，並令處在不同背景中的活動皆能擔負其社會責任。對於這樣的系統，為了要能夠將成功關鍵以書面方式記錄下來，或是正確且即時地發現失敗和錯誤，內部控制要被設計成可監控組織的行為(在本質上並不確定的環境或「市場」中，以單獨或集體的方式行動)。每一個私人或公家的機關應該要有內控系統去監控並規範其行為，確保它們是處於控制論的限制中。多樣性(Variety，譯註：系統中狀態的總數)就是這樣一種措施。為了保護參與者合法的權利或對其造成的影響(通常為負面)，它能夠被用於評估系統的表現。
Accounting and information systems are required to operate businesses of all kinds and to meet accountabilities for actions in various contexts. Internal controls of such systems are designed to monitor organizational behavior (individual or collective actions in complex and essentially uncertain environments or “markets”) in order to be able to document successes or to discover failures or faults correctly and timely. Each private and public organization should have an internal control system to monitor and regulate its behavior within cybernetic limits. Variety is such a measure. It can be used to assess the behavior of systems in order to protect the rights of legitimate participants or those (often negatively) affected!
舉例來說，保有公司的資金並不僅是私人企業的責任，它同樣也是公家機關，像是發行貨幣、依據資金比率與資本槓桿產生投資報酬的銀行之責任。為了避免踰矩的行為發生，很多國家為了銀行及保險公司設立金融監理機構與委員會，但當投資銀行沒有受到足夠監控時，就不可能有適當的規範，如此一來，監督就只是一種幻想。同樣地，我們會評分經理人服務，以之做為金融市場的內控系統，並以此系統監控經理人是否合理地評估特定證券購買者的風險。然而，如果在評分之前，用於評估風險的那些資料及模型，其屬性其實根本不適合用來控制，那麼它們的角色就是幻影而非規範。以下是另一個發生在今日的相關例子：在巴西和瑞士的國際清算銀行搜集到鉅量的資料，並持續在國際間監控貨幣活動。然而，如果由負責國際貨幣系統規範的多國家銀行總裁所組成之監事會不肯聆聽他們的內控經理所提供的資訊與警告的話，那麼即使擁有全球銀行體系中最好的內控系統也是枉然的！更重要的是，如果最終委託人(如納稅人)的權利與義務無法被適當地稽核、監控、並強制實施，那麼所有內部控制監控都僅僅是一層埋藏真實情況的面紗。
For example, capital maintenance of companies is not only the responsibility of private sector enterprises, but also of public entities such as banks that create money and generate returns on investment based on capital ratios and on the leverage of their own capital in financial markets. To avoid excesses, financial supervisory agencies and boards exist in many countries for banks and insurance companies, but when investment banks are not sufficiently monitored, then such supervision is illusory since proper regulation is impossible. Similarly, rating agencies serve as internal control systems in financial markets to monitor the proper assessment of risks to be incurred by buyers of particular securities. However, if the data and models used to assess the risks prior to assigning ratings are inadequate for control purposes, then their role is illusionary rather than regulatory. Another example of relevance today: The Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, collects enormous amounts of data and monitors monetary activity at the international level constantly; however, if the supervisory board consisting of the presidents of the various national banks who are responsible for the regulation of the international monetary system do not listen to the information and warnings of their research directors (internal control agents at large) then even the best internal control system of the global banking system is useless! – More importantly, if the rights and obligations of the ultimate principles (such as the tax payers) are not properly auditable, audited, and enforced, then all internal control monitoring is merely a veil to hide the realities from those ultimately affected.
翻譯：中正會資所 汪修平
© Copyright 2009 by Hart J. Will |
(共有80人投票)
