Point-by-Point Case Comparison Of MF Global, Sentinel and PFG Best
Here’s a breakdown of some of what’s the same and what’s different about these three cases.
Posts
Are All Big Four Partners Evil Or Just Leadership? Pondering The Problem of Evil
/8 Comments/in Food for Thought, Pure ContentHow do professionals forget what’s right and wrong? Adolf Eichmann was a “new type of criminal, who is actually hostis generic humani . . . [and] commits his crimes under circumstances that make it well-nigh impossible for him to know or to feel that he is doing wrong.”
Guest Lectures At Stanford Graduate School Business
/3 Comments/in Pure Content, Where I've BeenMy notes for guest lectures (there were two sections, back-to-back) February 10, 2014 for Bus F332/Law 725, Finance and Society, at Stanford University Graduate School of Business, taught by Professor Anat Admati. Emphasis: The auditors’ role in corporate governance in financial institutions and specifically how auditors not inadvertently stifle the actual use of compensation clawbacks.
PwC Faces A Trial For SemGroup Audit And Its Defense Is Predictably Slick
/2 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, The Case Against The AuditorsPwC 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.
VC Horowitz Implicates Auditor PwC In Story About Dodging Backdating Bullet
/3 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, The Case Against The AuditorsImagine my surprise when Ben Horowitz, one half of the venture capital team of Andreessen Horowitz, wrote a blog post about dodging a stock option backdating jail term that also implicates PwC.
One Way Or Another: The SEC Versus The Chinese Big Four Firms
/14 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, The Case Against The AuditorsSEC Administrative Judge Cameron Elliot issued a blistering decision last week in a long-running dispute over regulator access to auditor work papers in fraud investigations. The judge banned the Chinese Big Four firms from auditing US issuers for six months and lambasted them for voluntarily putting their firms “between a rock and a hard place.” The decision is not yet final but the enormous impact is already being felt worldwide.
Featured In Eric Jackson’s 2014 “Sleeper” Tips And Trends At Forbes
/2 Comments/in Food for ThoughtI’ve been a part of Eric Jackson’s annual “picks” post for Forbes for the last few years. Take a look at my “sleeper ideas” for 2014.
Call of Duty: Who Has The Last Word On “Network” Audits of US-Listed Companies?
/2 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, The Big 4 And GlobalizationWho has the last word on audit quality and compliance with GAAP and SEC filing requirements for US-listed foreign companies? If you were hoping it was the US audit firm, you’ll have to prove your case in court.
PwC To Acquire Booz But Broader Not Better For Integrity Of Global Capital Markets
/8 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, The Big 4 And ConsultingPwC says it will acquire Booz. Don’t count on the SEC or the PCAOB to stop PwC and its audit firm competitors from “slipping back” into the old conflicts between audit and consulting. Is anyone guarding the guardians?
$99 Million Buys EY Ticket Out Of Private Lehman Litigation, Finally
/3 Comments/in Featured, Latest, Pure Content, The Case Against The AuditorsLast defendant standing. Not an enviable place for EY in the case, In re Lehman Brothers Securities and Erisa Litigation. Holding out until the end has now cost EY $99 million, more than Lehman officers and directors.
McKenna Gives Luncheon Keynote For Professional Liability Defense Federation Annual Meeting
/8 Comments/in Pure Content, Where I've BeenI was the luncheon speaker on October 10, 2013 at the annual meeting of the Professional Liability Defense Federation (PLDF). Here is the text of my remarks.
Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman Tells PwC, “Herbalife Is Your Problem Now”
/2 Comments/in The Case Against The AuditorsOn September 11 Bill Ackman went beyond his ongoing accusation that Herbalife is pyramid scheme and sent a 52-page letter to PwC warning the firm it is exposed to enormous liability if it signs off on Herbalife audit opinions and Qs without a full investigation of several accounting, tax and bribery allegations. Ackman used my work to bolster his case to PwC.