In March 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Canadian pharmaceutical company Biovail Corporation and some of its former officers for accounting fraud. The SEC alleged that “present and former senior Biovail executives, obsessed with meeting quarterly and annual earnings guidance, repeatedly overstated earnings and hid losses in order to deceive investors and create the appearance of achieving earnings goals. When it ultimately became impossible to continue concealing the company’s inability to meet its own earnings guidance, Biovail actively misled investors and analysts about the reasons for the company’s poor performance.” (Source: www.sec.gov/news/press/2008/2008-50.htm). Biovail settled for $10 million; in 2009, Biovail Corporation merged with Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. that has its corporate headquarters in Laval, Quebec, Canada.

Required:

1. Describe the parties who were harmed or helped by this fraud.

2. Explain how greed may have contributed to the fraud.