In recent years, the corporate world has witnessed a spate of financial scandals that have led to the collapse of major companies, shaking investor confidence and prompting questions about the effectiveness of current accounting and auditing standards. Among these, the cases of Wirecard in Germany and Luckin Coffee in China stand out for their global impact and the complexities they introduce into the auditing landscape.

Both collapses have brought the issue of 'information asymmetry' into sharp focus. They have exposed how such imbalances between management and stakeholders can compromise the integrity of financial reporting and the effectiveness of auditing.

Your essay should cover the following:

• reference at leastfive academicjournals (andfive or more newspaperor professional accounting magazine articles)andany applicable audit or ethical codes or standard(s). Students should also identify any other standards or references to the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, which should have enabled the auditor(s) to identify and address the problems in the Wirecard and Luckin Coffee Audits. Less than ten references will be considered insufficient.

"Compare and contrast the collapses of Wirecard and Luckin Coffee, focusing on the role that information asymmetry and ethical lapses played in these failures.How did these factors affect the effectiveness of internal and external auditing? You may reference APES 110 for ethical considerations, and incorporate guidelines from ASA 240 / ISA 240 and ASA 500 / ISA 500 in your analysis.To what extent do these cases exemplify broader vulnerabilities in the current auditing ecosystem?"