Appeals Court says SAIC must face CityTime fraud case
An Appeals Court said there’s enough to proceed on allegations SAIC recklessly disregarded its obligation to disclose potential liability for the CityTime fraud in its March 2011 10K.
Posts
Three Accounting-Related Stories At MarketWatch
/in You Can Quote Me On ThatAt MarketWatch I am fortunate that I am not expected to write a story every day, although that’s fine if something comes up like an SEC enforcement order or a spectacular corporate scandal. I am encouraged, instead, to come up with original analysis of important stories in financial regulation and legislation. We want to add […]
The SEC vs. The PCAOB and Jim Doty: Impasse or Détente?
/1 Comment/in Administration, Audit Firm Management, Audit Quality, Liability Caps, Partner Compensation, You Can Quote Me On ThatJim Doty’s term as chairman of the PCAOB, the audit regulator, expired in October. All summer since I arrived in Washington D.C., leading up to that date and since, there’s been speculation about whether or not SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White would reappoint him to the job.
The NYDFS Case Against Promontory and the Bigger Problem of Big Four Bank Consulting
/2 Comments/in Pure Content, The Big 4 And ConsultingBank regulators should start hiring the consultants that are responding to bank regulatory sanctions, consent decrees and NPA/DPA legal orders directly, and also strictly monitor them. It’s time to change for regulators to change their approach before another waste of time, money and public trust occurs.
Looking Into SEC’s Equity Markets Structure Committee at MarketWatch
/in Food for ThoughtMy piece on the SEC’s new Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee, spanning several online pages, is now out at MarketWatch.
Deloitte US First Female CEO; There’s More We Don’t Know
/in Audit Firm Management, Audit Quality, Deloitte, Food for Thought, Regulators, Laws, Standards, RegulationsWouldn’t it be nice if investors and other interested parties could look up new Deloitte US CEO Cathy Engelbert in a public and easily accessible registry and find out about all the audit clients where she has been a lead partner or a Quality Control partner? Has she ever been named in a lawsuit or been sanctioned? Let’s hope not.
When Auditors Get Mixed Up In M&A, Smaller Clients Get Hurt
/in Independence, Latest, Pure Content, The Case Against The AuditorsA new study says smaller public companies are paying a premium for the prestige of a Big Four auditor but the auditors are dangling small clients as chum for their large acquisitive shark audit clients.
“Tax Avoidance On An Industrial Scale” Says British MP About PwC’s Luxembourg Work For AIG And Others
/in Independence, Latest, Pure Content, The Big 4 And ConsultingBritish MP Margaret Hodge grilled Kevin Nicholson, of PwC’s UK tax practice, in a Parliament Public Accounts Committee hearing on Monday. You know you’re on your “back foot” when the first thing out of your mouth has to be a denial that you lied under oath. More details about PwC’s tax avoidance scheme for audit client and US government owned AIG.
New At Forbes Online: The Precarious Financial Position Of The New York Times
/in Latest, Pure Content, You Can Quote Me On ThatUpdate: This column was linked to by the NYT Public Editor! I published some New York Times numbers over at Forbes.com, “Time Is Running Short For The New York Times”, in anticipation of the company’s 3Q earnings announcement on October 30.
Update: The Shoemaker’s Children… The Big Four And Their Own Broker-Dealers
/in Audit Quality, Writing for OthersDid you know that each of the Big Four audit firms and some of the next tier also run SEC-registered broker-dealers? You’ll never guess who audits them.
Auditor Independence: Another Case of Misplaced Loyalty
/2 Comments/in Independence, PCAOB, Pure Content, Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC, The Case Against The AuditorsRyan Adams testified on behalf of PwC in an important court case. How can PwC be independent of Adam’s employer Marin Software, and Adams, the Financial Reporting Director at this newly public PwC-audited client company, if he’s testifying on PwC’s behalf in litigation that could impact PwC’s business model in California and, perhaps, nationally?
PwC Put Guy Who Whitewashed For Bank In Partner Spot
/4 Comments/in Pure Content, The Big 4 And ConsultingThe NYDFS PwC investigation discovered several emails that Benjamin Lawsky, the Superintendent of Financial Services for New York, characterized Monday as examples of a consultant going along with a “whitewash”.