Posts

Luxembourg Tax Leaks Put PwC On The Defensive

My latest column at Medium.com responds to PwC’s #LuxLeaks defenses: Illegal docs, legal advice. I also raise the obvious auditor independence issues which no one else is reporting.

18-Year Old Anthony Canalungo Questions Herbalife, And PwC, On Exchange Rates

Anthony Canalungo wrote a really interesting article about Herbalife’s financials in Venezuela. Three different MLM companies from the peer group in addition to Herbalife operating in Venezuela and all except for Herbalife are using SICAD 2. What else do these four firms have in common? Auditor PwC.

e-Books On MF Global, AIG, Goldman Sachs, PwC and Careers

The MF Global Holdings Bankruptcy Plan Administrator filed a lawsuit on March 29 for professional malpractice and breach of contract against PwC as auditor of MF Global Holdings. I will be writing about the complaint and the status of the case early next week. In the meantime, you can review all I’ve written prior. I’ve updated this post with additional links as well as a link to my e-book compilation of MF Global columns from all sources that has material going back to its roots in the Refco fraud.

PwC Faces A Trial For SemGroup Audit And Its Defense Is Predictably Slick

PwC is scheduled to go to trial for malpractice related to the bankruptcy of SemGroup in August, almost six years later. The SemGroup Litigation Trust, pursuing claims on behalf of the company and its creditors, alleges PwC did a terrible audit. But it’s worse than just lousy auditing, especially if a trial exposes the truth of PwC’s disingenuous defenses.

McKenna Speaks: The Committee For Monetary Research And Education

Do you want to learn more about those who push for a return to the gold standard? Do you know the common thread between JP Morgan, Madoff’s biggest feeder fund, Chesapeake Energy, and MF Global? Here’s a speech I gave back in May 2012 in New York to the Committee for Monetary Research and Education that touches on both topics.

In Pari Delicto: Can A Law Make It Go Away?

Pete Brush at Law.com did a story last week about a story about in pari delicto, the adverse interest exception, and holding third-parties like auditors liable for fraud in bankruptcy cases. I was quoted.

Keeping Up With PwC’s Audit Clients

You can’t throw a rock at a fraud or scandal nowadays without hitting three, sometimes all four, of the largest global audit firms providing one service or another. The Big Four global accounting firms make money whether clients survive and thrive or flail and fail.

Former FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair On Foreclosure Lookback Reviews

Chapter 21 of Sheila Bair’s book, “Bull By The Horns,” is a blow-by-blow account of the wrangling and dealmaking that resulted in two settlements that satisfy neither consumer advocates nor the borrowers that were harmed by abusive mortgage servicer activities.

The Bailout of AIG: Mission Accomplished?

Did the government make a profit on its sale of AIG shares last week? Is that even the right question to ask? The former Special Inspector General of TARP Neil Barofsky and I think it’s not.

Auditor Rotation and Banks: If It Makes You Happy…

My column today at American Banker is about the PCAOB’s auditor rotation and auditor independence concept release and its impact on banks. My favorite lines are…