Save the applause for ethical CFOs.

• Position: Letters to the Editor

I am writing in response to your "From the Editor" piece in the May 2003 Financial Executive. I am not usually much of a letter writer, but the opinions you expressed in the second half of your article affected me so strongly that I felt that I must respond.

To be candid, I cannot believe that you find it heartwarming that two admittedly guilty CFOs at HealthSouth have come forward admitting wrong. We should be shaking our heads in disgust over yet another story of large-scale financial impropriety. These guys are just as guilty as Andrew Fastow, the Al Dunlap gang at Sunbeam and the numerous other CFOs at once-reputable companies who have fraudulently misrepresented the financial performance and condition of their companies. The only difference that I can discern between Messrs. Smith and Owens at HealthSouth and the numerous other perpetrators in this circus is the fact that they chose to come clean relatively early in the process.

The stories that should be heartwarming to you, and the CFOs that we should collectively applaud, should be those about CFOs who took the ethical high road initially and "just said no" to pressures from the CEO to inflate earnings. There are certainly many stories of individuals who have done the right thing all along and have taken heat for not caving in. There probably are even some FEI members in transition" as a result of their decision to do the right thing.

Our profession is truly at a critical juncture. Celebrating the fact that two guilty CFOs have decided to confess their sins before they were caught will not do anything to restore our credibility; in fact, it may damage it even more. The actions of the HealthSouth CFOs make them virtually indistinguishable from their counterparts at Enron, WorldCom, Sunbeam or Adelphia [Communications].

I understand, I think, what you were applauding, but I still think you have missed the larger point. I do agree with your statement that the investing public is better off now that someone came forward, but I really believe it is a big mistake to put these guys on a pedestal. Let's celebrate the guys who resisted the pressure and did the right thing from the start. Your comment about the CEO being the source of the problem is only partly accurate. Yes, the pressure to cook the books probably comes from the CEO in most cases, but not all. Let's not try to paint our profession as a victim by blaming either the CEO or the greed of the audit firm.

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