Meet the Auditors – Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

Deloitte Global Leadership Team – Haven’t we seen these same guys somewhere else before?

With the big dollars of the Parmalat settlement souring any fond memories of Milan for Deloitte, let’s try to remember…Settling means never having to say you’re sorry, for anything, especially if you didn’t do anything wrong, or it’s really someone else’s fault, or the Italian greyhounds ate the workpapers….

From Tom Kirkendell’s blog, Houston’s Clear Thinkers on April 27, 2005

Deloitte pays $50 million in SEC settlement over Adelphia audit
“It appears to be settlement week for big accounting firms as Deloitte & Touche joined KPMG and Arthur Andersen in settling a troubling litigation matter. Deloitte & Touche LLP announced yesterday that it will pay a $50 million fine to settle Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges that it failed to prevent massive fraud at bankrupt cable company Adelphia Communications Corp.

And, just to add insult to injury, the SEC took issue with with Deloitte’s press release regarding the settlement, in which Deloitte blamed Adelphia by saying the company and some executives “deliberately misled” Deloitte’s auditors.

Under terms of its settlement agreement with the SEC, Deloitte was required neither to admit nor deny the SEC’s charges. Inasmuch as the Deloitte statement at least implied that Deloitte was denying liability, the SEC took the unusual step of forcing Deloitte to rescind the public statement (WSJ $). It’s bad enough blowing the audits, but blowing the press release on the settlement really gets the SEC’s blood boiling:

“Deloitte’s characterization of the case is simply wrong. Deloitte was not deceived,” said Mark K. Schonfeld, director of the SEC’s Northeast Regional Office. “They didn’t just miss red flags, they pulled the flag over their head and then claimed they couldn’t see.”

The SEC’s Litigation Release over the settlement explains the problems with Deloitte’s audit of Adelphia:

The Commission’s complaint against Deloitte alleges that, during Deloitte’s audit of Adelphia’s financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2000, Deloitte failed to implement audit procedures designed to detect the illegal acts at Adelphia and failed to implement audit procedures designed to identify material related party transactions or related party transactions otherwise requiring disclosure…”

William G. Parrett, Chief Executive Officer
Bill Parrett is Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. He brings a distinguished track record of service to many of the firm’s leading clients, currently serving as an Advisory or Leadership Partner to General Motors, Merrill Lynch & Co., Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Bridgestone Corp., Royal Bank of Canada, BASF, The Charles Schwab Corp., Abbott Laboratories, Marsh & McLennan Companies and The Procter & Gamble Company, among others. He co-founded the firm’s Global Financial Services Industry practice and served as its first Chairman.

A long-time advocate of community service, Bill serves on the Board of Trustees of Carnegie Hall, National Advisory Board of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and the Board of Trustees of the United Way of America. He is a member of the Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) and of the G100 CEO Forum. Bill serves on the boards of the Japan Society and the U.S.–Japan Business Council. In addition, he is a member of the Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) and of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB), and an International Councillor for the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS). He was recently named trustee to the Catholic University of America.
In recent years, he has led Deloitte’s participation at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, including leading high-level discussions on corporate governance and on key issues impacting the financial services industry. Bill is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

A graduate of St. Francis College in New York, Bill joined a predecessor firm of Deloitte & Touche in 1967. He became a partner in 1977. He and his wife, Diane, have six children and three grandchildren.