Posts

NYSSCPAs Breakfast Briefing: Whistleblowing Under Dodd-Frank – Update

I’ve written at Forbes about the event, including some quotes from Sherron Watkins that made news. Links to a replay of the webcast and a live-blog of the event are included here.

PCAOB’s Franzel Speaks to AAA; Are Auditors’ ICFR Opinions Just “Busy-Work”?

Auditor opinions on ICFR are not only not being done well, they are not producing warnings for investors and regulators that a material error and restatement is likely. Worse than that, when auditors get them wrong they whitewash their mistakes.

SEC News at MarketWatch

On July 21 Dodd-Frank will be five years old. If I hadn’t been through the same thing with Sarbanes-Oxley now twice, I’d be more excited. But the partisan rancor on this law, especially at the SEC, is even worse.

Forbes Magazine: Lying With Numbers

The SEC is busy chasing Ponzi schemers and foreign bribers. But bogus accounting remains a bigger danger to the markets. (More links.)

Jeff Connaughton’s “The Payoff: Why Wall Street Always Wins” – A Book Review

Jeff Connaughton’s new book, “The Payoff: Why Wall Street Always Wins”, is a must read during the Presidential election season.

A Response to Reuters on Internal Audit and Banks

Reuters has a story out today entitled, “Regulators tighten up bank in-house checks.”

Unfortunately it does nothing, in fact it distorts, the role of internal audit, external audit and the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors in a bank.

The Risky Business of Being A Bank Chief Risk Officer

It’s difficult for me to imagine a new generation of systemically important financial services company CEOs without strong risk management experience. But the newly prominent role also gives shareholders, regulators, and the media an easy target for ridicule after a corporate stumble or failure.

A Closer Look At Clawbacks

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and Dodd-Frank’s clawback provision both require a restatement. The restatement of financial results to correct material errors – whether those errors occurred by default or by design – is a necessary condition for enforcing both the Sarbanes-Oxley Section 304 provision and the new Dodd-Frank law.

An OpEd For Boston Review: What Sarbanes-Oxley Teaches Us About Dodd-Frank

Sarbanes-Oxley was supposed to end financial scandals once and for all. Will Dodd-Frank succeed where it failed? My OpEd for Boston Review is online today, Monday, August 22, 2011.

Whistleblowers Are Not Pretty

This article was originally published at GoingConcern.com on March 3, 2010. Most don’t wear stilettos, although Cynthia Cooper is fairly attractive for a blond. Harry Markopolos, the Madoff “hero” whose new book is out is being called a whistleblower. I do not see him really warming up to that label or really warming up at […]