Reporting on Corporate Fraud

1. The Price of Admission: Andrew Ross Sorkin’s debut and the limits of access journalism, Columbia Journalism Review, Dean Starkman, October 21, 2009

2. The investors duped by the Theranos fraud never asked for one important thing

            March 20, 2018 | By Francine McKenna at MarketWatch

The last days of Theranos — the financials were as overhyped as the blood tests

            Oct. 20, 2018 | By Francine McKenna at MarketWatch

3. SPJ Code of Ethics

https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

4. Exclusive: KPMG/PCAOB stories
   1. KPMG indictment suggests many who weren’t charged knew regulator data was stolen
   2. Why Ambac was one of the KPMG clients that got a second look after inspection tip-off
   3. KPMG turned to Palantir to help predict which audits would be inspected
   4. KPMG won BBVA audit with stolen data about rival’s inspections
   5. The auditor of Citi, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank was tipped off before regulatory inspection
   6. Law360 reported on Feb. 20 that “Partner-5”, the whistleblower, is Diana Kunz, a KPMG financial services partner in Chicago.
   7. KPMG paid the legal fees for the three legacy partners.
   8. The Question of the KPMG Whistleblower
   9. Former regulator met privately with KPMG while firm was under scrutiny
   10. KPMG cheating scandal was much more widespread than originally thought

5. Exclusive: PwC/Colonial

PwC faces 3 major trials that threaten its business

6. Stigler Center Pro-Market Blog articles:

Big Four Audit Firms Enjoy a “Too Few to Fail” Regulatory Hall Pass is a look at the Big Four’s congressional lobbying activity and how the auditors and their trade association are taking advantage of the “Trump” window to roll back the 2002 reforms.

How the Global Audit Firms, Led by Deloitte, Are Using Their Lobbying Clout to Dilute Sarbanes-Oxley Reforms, is about the firms’ latest attempt to “modernize” auditor independence rules.

7. Study: Earnings surprises are bigger, thanks to growing use of non-GAAP metrics

      https://www.marketwatch.com/story/study-earnings-surprises-are-bigger-thanks-to-growing-use-of-non-gaap-metrics-2018-08-10

Companies including Symantec are using ‘ghost revenue’ to calculate bonuses

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/companies-are-using-ghost-revenue-to-calculate-executive-bonuses-2017-11-06

ADT’s changes to earnings release skirt SEC reporting guidelines

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/adts-changes-to-earnings-release-skirt-sec-reporting-guidelines-2018-05-09

Many annual earnings are arriving without an audit, and that could be a problem

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/many-annual-earnings-are-arriving-without-an-audit-and-that-could-be-a-problem-2019-01-22

Meet the very few companies that delivered fully audited earnings

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/meet-the-very-few-companies-that-delivered-fully-audited-earnings-this-quarter-2019-02-06

5 things to know about Levi Strauss & Co. before it goes public

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-things-to-know-about-levi-strauss-co-before-it-goes-public-2019-02-15

Cushman & Wakefield’s IPO: Here are 5 things to know

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/cushman-wakefields-ipo-5-things-to-know-2018-06-29

9. Deloitte’s Sample listing of fraud schemes

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/risk/Corporate%20Governance/Audit%20Committee/in-gc-fraud-schemes-questions-to-consider-noexp.pdf

10. Internal and external auditors as whistleblowers

http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/audit-accounting/whistleblower-protections-and-incentives-for-auditors-and-accountants-78018-1.html

https://www.propublica.org/article/the-whistleblowers-tale-how-an-accountant-took-on-halliburton

 11. Microcap Fraud

All the potential red flags for investors in IGC, the pot stock that jumped 1,000% in three months  

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/10-potential-red-flags-for-investors-in-india-globalization-capital-the-pot-stock-that-jumped-1000-in-three-months-2018-10-04