How do the audit firms keep winning the war while losing battles left and right? They use the law and the courts to delay, deter and distract from transparency by settling, and sealing what they can, before the public can find out what silly arguments they often make in their defense.
I was the first to report on December 6 the irony of Deloitte having been selected by, of all banks, JP Morgan Chase. The high likelihood of a conflict between the bank and the audit firm, and possibly the individual Deloitte partners assigned to the JP Morgan Chase review, should have been obvious to anyone at the OCC. It turns out I was right.
I’m writing now for American Banker. My first column covers a new appointment at Deloitte and how this might affect the firm’s clients in the mutual funds industry.
Interesting article today in a publication I receive on line called Hedgeworld (Registration required, with special benefits for membership). Short sellers are certainly on the mind of the business executive on the other side of their acumen. (My bias is showing, I know.) And the SEC has parachuted in to help their beloved business executives […]
Picture Source Update GE’s Annual Meeting is this Wednesday. Looks like Immelt will have some explaining to do… But take a look at this report fresh from the Associated Press. Can you believe accounting professors are talking about earnings manipulation by GE as if it were expected and par for the course? Makes you wonder […]
Picture Source First, it was KPMG and New Century. Now it’s the Bear Stearns hedge funds. Who wants to bet which Big 4 firm is next? Looks like Jake Zamansky is going to stay very , very busy… Bear Stearns, Deloitte sued over hedge fund losses The liquidators of two Bear Stearns Cos mortgage hedge […]
I don’t often have an opportunity to link to Kevin Funnell’s Bank Lawyer’s Blog. He mentions Lindsay Lohan way too much for my taste and I don’t want to drag my blog down into the hell of tacky popular culture. But every once and a while he lets loose with a vitriol spewed just my […]
Unfortunately, I’ve had to cancel my live visit to Washington DC for the US Chamber’s Capital Markets Summit. Under the circumstances, I am sure it will be a blast, but Chicago client requirements will keep me here. I will be blogging about it and hope to get some nuggets for you and beat Edith to […]
Picture Source Back in November, I wrote about the imperial bankers and the impending doom and gloom that permeated the market. I warned that the CEOs and their Big 4 buddies should be nervous, too. The Big 4 are now inextricably tied to their clients’ fortunes. Lawsuits are flying fast and furious as soon […]
Picture Source On March 13, 2008, the U.S. Treasury Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession (ACAP), co-chaired by former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt, Jr. and former SEC Chief Accountant Don Nicolaisen, met to discuss the preliminary recommendations of its subcommittees on human capital, [audit] firm structure and finances, and concentration and competition. Edith Orenstein was […]
I guess the music’s stopped for Bear Stearns. Good to see these highly paid guys, including Jimmy Cayne, working on the weekends, earning their millions. The purchase of Bear Stearns by JP Morgan is a good thing for Deloitte and a pretty big deal for PwC. That’s because Deloitte loses a client, a problem client, […]
