Master of Science in Business Ethics & Compliance (MBE)
The Master of Science in Business Ethics & Compliance (MBE) program is a first-of-its-kind in the nation. There is a growing need in all industries for competent compliance managers and also for those who bring an understanding of ethical values to the governance and operations of their companies. The recent sub-prime crisis is evidence that this program is timely. You will learn to:
- Develop and implement compliance plans, policies and procedures
- Foster a culture of ethics, integrity, and social responsibility
- Evaluate compliance risk and develop plans to mitigate that risk
- Work with regulators who are prevalent at state and federal levels in financial services
Be a part of the solution!
Degree Planning
Choose the worksheet below to assist you with your course schedule.
Course Descriptions
All courses require a bachelor's degree and are 3 credits unless otherwise noted.
Forensic Accounting Course Descriptions
ACC501 Forensic Accounting
Prerequisite: ACC201 Accounting I and ACC202 Accounting II
Purpose: This course offers a thorough examination of the current methods and legal concerns for detection and prosecution of economic crimes. The course walks through the forensic process of initial detection, indictment and finally to gaining a conviction from the accountants standpoint. A thorough discussion will be covered on organized crime activities such as gambling, fraud, and money laundering, as well as how to detect and trace this type of activity. This course examines how prosecutors enable tax code violations, offshore banking violations, and the Rico statutes to gain conviction of fraudulent and illegal crimes. The forensic accountant is the chief tool used in this process from the standpoint of initial detection, information gathering, and supporting the case from an expert witness and subject matter expert. It is this forensic knowledge and ability that allows for these types of crimes to be detected, and brought to an end within publicly traded organizations today.
Back to top
ACC515 Fraud Examination and Techniques
Prerequisite: ACC201 Accounting I and ACC202 Accounting II
Purpose: This course introduces the basic fundamentals behind fraud and its impact on the business world. It aids in gaining an understanding of the significance of fraud in the modern accounting world. This course prepares you to identify, detect, investigate, and prevent financial fraud. It outlines the nature of fraud and the different types of fraud, to include unique e-business fraud that is now possible in today's technological world. This course also touches on cutting edge elements of data analysis in fraud detection as well as the investigation and concealment of information. It will explore consumer fraud activities, as well as tax fraud strategies and methods. A specific focus will be on the financial statement fraud standards to include SAS 99 and Sarbanes Oxley impacts.
Back to top
ACC520 Forensic Data Analysis
Prerequisite: ACC201 Accounting I and ACC202 Accounting II
Purpose: This course covers the data collection and analysis aspect of forensic science applied to both the accounting and computer world. Most digital evidence is stored within the computer's file system, but understanding how file systems work is one of the most technically challenging concepts for a digital investigator because there exists little documentation. This course prepares you to understand and be able to testify about how file system analysis is performed. This course begins with an overview of investigation and computer foundations and then gives an authoritative, comprehensive, and illustrated overview of contemporary volume and file systems: crucial information for discovering hidden evidence, recovering deleted data, and validating your tools. Along the way, the course examines data structures, analyzes example disk images, provides advanced investigation scenarios, and uses today's most valuable open source file system analysis tools. This course relies heavily on the fundamentals presented within the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and Certified Forensic Accountant (CFA) credentialing authorities.
Back to top
ACC525 Asset Recovery & Loss Prevention
Prerequisite: ACC201 Accounting I and ACC202 Accounting II
Purpose: This course has been designed to introduce forensic accountant students to the basics of loss prevention and asset recovery principles employed within the business industry today. This course functions as a bridge between physical security and computer security as it requires that both be in sync with one another to fully prevent loss within the enterprise. Proven strategies for prevention of fire, crime, error, fraud, and mismanagement actions are presented. The focal point of this aspect of the forensic accounting process is to not only prevent the loss, but also put in place proper tools for recovering a loss if uncovered during an investigation. Strategies for doing this will be provided and discussed in detail during this course. Forensic accountants must be prepared for advances in technology, and the ever-evolving open door that these technologies present from a loss prevention and recovery process.
Back to top
ACC530 The Forensic Audit
Prerequisite: ACC201 Accounting I, ACC202 Accounting II, and ACC501 Forensic Accounting or Permission of the College
Purpose: This course provides an overview of forensic accounting fraud auditing and investigative accounting techniques and tools. Fraud is no simple vice for business. Recent years have seen it grow both in size and complexity, to the point where some estimates place losses due to fraud at well over $100 billion a year. With the increasing complexity of financial structures and the intensity of business competition, fraud has become harder to detect and more enticing to commit. Much of the responsibility for the detection of fraud has fallen to the accounting profession, forensic accountants must learn how to recognize its signs early on and how to best approach and investigate potential cases. This course focuses on the investigation, detection, documentation, and prevention of accounting frauds, stock frauds, and employee theft and embezzlement. It provides an in-depth analysis of how fraud occurs within an organization and explains the latest techniques for fighting it.
Back to top
Advanced Finance Courses
MSF515 Enterprise Risk Management
Purpose: To survey the evolving topic of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) specifically focused on several elements of the process that are of most importance to the financial services industries. This course provides an overview of Enterprise Risk Management. Students in this course should gain a thorough understanding of the role of ERM in the financial services industry and why ERM is fundamental to the industry. Risk identification, assessment, and management are reviewed in detail.
Back to top
Advanced Business Ethics and Compliance Courses
MBE501 Regulations and Regulators: An Overview
Purpose: The purpose of this course is to understand the philosophy, history and context of regulations and regulatory agencies within the banking and financial institution industry. Learners will evaluate and assess the external role of the compliance process, including federal, state, and local regulations and agencies. This course is devoted to a study of the complex regulatory environment that has grown up for financial-service firms in an effort to safeguard the public's savings, bring stability to the financial system, and prevent abuse of financial-service customers.
Back to top
MBE505 Regulations and Regulatory Agencies: A Practical Application
Purpose: The purpose of this course is to apply the principles and perspectives of regulation and regulatory agencies, including the Department of Labor, the SEC, and the banking industry. Additional topics include the cost of compliance implementation, the impact of new technology, and specific regulatory provisions and consequences. One useful way to see the potent influence regulatory authorities exercise on the banking industry is to review some of the major laws from which federal and state regulatory agencies receive their authority and direction. This course will examine the major banking laws and their provisions and analyze their practical effects on the financial services industry along with a look at what financial services providers are doing to comply with these regulations as well as what remains to be done.
Back to top
MBE510 Governance, Ethics, and Compliance
Purpose: The purpose of this course is to understand, evaluate and assess the internal role of the compliance process. The focus is on evaluating and defining the role of Management and Governing Board in relation to ethics and compliance. The overall objective of the course is to introduce students to the wide world of GRC - to its infrastructure (the key components) and to its substance (the key issues). We will explore the leading requirements of a solid GRC program as well as the leading governance, compliance and corporate responsibility issues and risks facing organizations today as well as how to recognize red flags, key indicators and warning signals.
Back to top
MBE520 Corporate Compliance: Role and Responsibilities
Purpose: The purpose of this course is to understand, evaluate and create corporate compliance standards, practices, and structures. This course is designed to detail the role and responsibilities required for this newly emerging and increasingly influential and relatively new profession. Knowledge, skills, and abilities required in this multifaceted position will be examined, as well as establishing reporting and accountability standards. The compliance officers many roles, including that of networker, negotiator, consensus builder, voice of authority, master communicator, and investigator will be explored.
Back to top
MBE535 Risk Management for Compliance Professionals
Purpose: The purpose of this course twofold. One is to understand, identify, and evaluate federal and state rules and regulations relating to technology and assessing the impact of technology plans, policies and procedures to comply with these regulations. In addition, the course focuses on risk assessment related to new technologies and corporate compliance. Second, this course evaluates other major risk management topics such as risk assessment, dealing with suppliers, outsourcing partners, loss of strategic control, and brand damage.
Back to top
MBE540 Corporations and Compliance: Case Studies
Purpose: The purpose of this course is to identify and assess both how corporations "went wrong" and what corporations consistently "do right" in business ethics and corporate compliance. Student will identify specific areas of regulatory and non-compliance based on actual case studies. They will also examine specific corporate policies and procedures which have been successful in creating a positive and productive corporate compliance culture.
Back to top
MBE550 Conducting Internal Investigations
Purpose: Most executives and HR professionals will have to conduct at least one formal investigation during their careers. Many will have to do so on numerous occasions for reasons such as theft, drug use or possession, discrimination, threats, assaults or sexual harassment. This course is a guide to conducting thorough and lawful internal investigations. Investigative legal ramifications, principles and techniques will be examined in this course.
Back to top
MBE545 Human Resource Management
Purpose: The primary objective of this course is to develop the ability to apply sound legal and ethical reasoning to HR issues arising in a culturally diverse and changing business arena; to appreciate the complexity of the legal forces that a manager will face in a corporate environment; to recognize and understand the nuances and differences in cultures and how these differences can affect both positively and negatively a business; to recognize and appropriately act upon the ethical and moral choices which govern personal and corporate behaviors; and to recognize the importance of effective corporate social responsibility in a changing environment.
Back to top
MBE560 The Culture of Ethics and Competition
Purpose: The purpose of this course is to provide a broad overview and summary of business ethics within the competitive business environment. Students will be asked to reflect on fundamental ethical principles and practices and assess the application of those ethical principles and practices to specific corporate and business cultures. Students will also have the opportunity to research a specific area of interest and write a thesis paper, or identify a problem within a work environment and develop a plan to solve that problem. The purpose of the thesis paper is to have the student demonstrate his or her ability to apply the knowledge acquired in the program to an actual work setting and to utilize skills of observation and analysis as demonstrated in a formal paper.
Back to top
MBE565 International Business Ethics, Compliance and Law
Purpose: Different legal, political, and business models have grown up in different parts of the world. Companies wishing to successfully operate outside of their own national boards and systems are finding themselves increasingly required to adapt to both international and foreign national standards of law, business practices, and ethics and conform their original business model to international and foreign national regulatory bodies. This course is designed to prepare students to understand practical ethical and compliance problems and phenomena which arise out of specific functional areas of companies or in relation to recognized business professions such as accounting, human resources, sales and marketing, production and intellectual property in a multinational corporation.
Back to top
Read an independent endorsement of New England College of Business and Finance's MBE Program at WorldWideLearn.com, a trusted directory of online degrees.
