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.
Posts
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.
More On My Reuters Breakingviews Column: The Andersen Tax Name Grab
/2 Comments/in Pure ContentThe news that a tax consulting firm made up of ex-Andersen partners would take the Andersen name garnered much media attention, as you might expect. It says something—but maybe not what the firm’s partners think— that so many years after the destruction of Arthur Andersen by criminal indictment—thirteen years—so many people care.
Auditors and the Financial Crisis: Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem?
/4 Comments/in Pure Content, The Case Against The AuditorsThis is the text of my speech for the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics Conference last Friday. The theme of this year conference was “The Institutional Foundation of Capitalism”. Our special session was entitled ‘The New Financial Architecture after Financial Crisis’.
PwC, And HP, Sued By Mobile Monitor Technologies LLC For Theft of Trade Secrets
/2 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, The Big 4 And ConsultingAn ugly lawsuit filed by Mobile Monitor Technologies LLC against PwC and HP could be an excellent example of what Monadnock’s Mark O’Connor referred to in a recent post here: Advisory work that auditors perform can present an untenable conflict in performing their primary role, and public duty to the capital markets, as auditors.
Guest Post From Eric Starkman: The “Unvarnished” Truth About General Motors
/3 Comments/in Food for Thought, Pure ContentGM is in trouble again and this time it’s worse than some weak internal controls or even a bankruptcy. Cost cutting may have discouraged the prompt replacement of faulty ignition switches now linked to at least 13 fatalities and the recall of 2.6 million vehicles. Are you still glad we bailed the company out?
Benjamin Wey Sent Me A Threatening Email About AgFeed
/10 Comments/in Fraud, Pure ContentI received a threatening email yesterday from Chinese stock promoter Tianbing “Benjamin” Wey, whose New York Global Group (“NYGG”) was closely affiliated with the failed, fraudulent Chinese hog producer AgFeed during the period under litigation by the SEC and shareholders. He did not like my mention of his relationship to AgFeed, its auditor and its executives in a recent post about AgFeed’s audit firms. His claims are not only strange but wrong.
All The Auditors Are Above Average: Jay Hanson Allergic To “Audit Failure”
/8 Comments/in Pure Content, The Case Against The AuditorsShould audit and auditor failure be solely defined by identified material misstatements that result in restatements, and internal control failures? I don’t think so but Jay Hanson, PCAOB Board member, said so recently.
The SEC’s AgFeed Complaint: No Restatement Means No Sarbanes-Oxley Clawback
/1 Comment/in Latest, Pure Content, You Can Quote Me On ThatThe AgFeed case is the mother lode for an SEC that says it’s ready to rack up some accounting fraud enforcement points and, perhaps, pursue a more aggressive enforcement approach to sparsely utilized Sarbanes-Oxley provisions like Section 304, clawbacks.
A China Fraud Dissected: Part 3 AgFeed’s Trusted Advisors Protiviti and Latham & Watkins
/4 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, The Big 4 And GlobalizationCompany executives and directors like to believe they can purchase a posse of “trusted advisors”. Instead, they’ve often only bought a gaggle of self-interested auditors, lawyers, and consultants. But to whom does each of those vendors owe loyalty?
A China Fraud Dissected: Part 2 AgFeed’s Auditors
/3 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, The Big 4 And GlobalizationAgFeed had the benefit of two PCAOB registered and inspected audit firms. There is no indication on either the SEC or PCAOB website of an investigation of either for what happened at AgFeed. Is this one going to end badly, too, like the Gately case?
A China Fraud Dissected: Part 1 Milton Webster, AgFeed Audit Committee Member and Whistleblower
/3 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, The Big 4 And GlobalizationIt is highly unusual for a board member, especially an audit committee member, to be a fraud whistleblower for a public company. Milton Webster, a former AgFeed director, did it but he, unfortunately, won’t be around to see the result of his significant social and professional sacrifice.