The “Chilling Effect”: No One Important Wants The Auditor’s Opinion
Are auditors too cozy with management and the Audit Committee? Unfortunately, that the way they all seem to like it. Investors and the capital markets suffer.
PwC To Acquire Booz But Broader Not Better For Integrity Of Global Capital Markets
/8 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, The Big 4 And ConsultingPwC says it will acquire Booz. Don’t count on the SEC or the PCAOB to stop PwC and its audit firm competitors from “slipping back” into the old conflicts between audit and consulting. Is anyone guarding the guardians?
$99 Million Buys EY Ticket Out Of Private Lehman Litigation, Finally
/3 Comments/in Featured, Latest, Pure Content, The Case Against The AuditorsLast defendant standing. Not an enviable place for EY in the case, In re Lehman Brothers Securities and Erisa Litigation. Holding out until the end has now cost EY $99 million, more than Lehman officers and directors.
Nothing SOx-y About SEC’s JP Morgan “Whale” Settlement
/11 Comments/in Food for Thought, Fraud, Latest, Pure ContentIf the JP Morgan “Whale” settlement was a true Sarbanes-Oxley success story, we’d see some bank executives going to jail. For a change.
Broker-Dealer Audits Still Badly Broken
/8 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, The Case Against The AuditorsThe PCAOB’s second “progress” report on broker-dealer audits found deficiencies in all of the audit firms inspected and in 57 of the 60 audits inspected. That’s not much progress.
Jamie Dimon (And JP Morgan) Besieged
/5 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, You Can Quote Me On ThatA blog post at Medium.com last Friday updated everyone with the latest on the JP Morgan “Whale” traders who were indicted last week and assorted other energy trading and mortgage related investigations. But there’s more!
The Indictment of S.A.C. Capital Advisors: Where Was The Auditor?
/28 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, The Case Against The AuditorsUnfortunately, regulatory supervision of investment advisors, broker-dealers, and their auditors leaves a lot to be desired. PwC missed years of illegal activity at S.A.C. Capital Advisors. If only we could say that’s the first time.
EY Bets The Farm On Advisory With Vision 2020: A Guest Post From Mark O’Connor
/3 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, The Big 4 And ConsultingLofty goals like EY’s Vision 2020 serve a promotional purpose to attract top talent, and create the rationalization for promises of vast internal opportunities to keep top performers engaged. But unintended consequences would likely foreclose any real possibility that the $50 billion aspect of EY’s 2020 strategic plan could be executed as currently conceived.
My Latest Forbes Magazine Article: “The Madoff of Munis”
/3 Comments/in Fraud, Latest, Pure Content, The Case Against The AuditorsTaxpayers are getting killed. I think municipal bondholders are next.
Scott London Subverted Sarbanes-Oxley: Big Four Mock Audit Partner Rotation
/11 Comments/in Audit Quality, Latest, Pure Content, The Case Against The AuditorsI noticed a small little thing in one of the first stories about Scott London. As I tried to research and write about it, I waited for someone else to pick up on it. (No one else did.) Scott London seems to have subverted the intent of Sarbanes-Oxley Section 203 that requires lead engagement partner rotation off engagements to promote objectivity, independence and professional skepticism.
JPMorgan Chase, And Dimon, Starting To Sweat About Everything
/2 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, The Case Against The AuditorsI put two new columns up at Forbes recently that talk about JPMorgan, PwC, Senator Levin’s “Whale” hearings, and all the other stuff JPMorgan and Jamie Dimon are really worried about.
Deloitte And Wall Street Journal Exclusive For Sponsored Content
/4 Comments/in Food for Thought, Latest, Pure ContentThe Wall Street Journal has been accepting sponsored content, in an exclusive contract with Deloitte, for a while for its CFO Journal, CIO Journal and now a new publication, Risk & Compliance Journal. You may not have noticed. It’s getting harder and harder to tell the difference between news and advertising.