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
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.
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?
Big Four Takeovers Raise Concerns: McKenna Featured In The Bottom Line
/in The Big 4 And ConsultingThe August issue of The Bottom Line in Canada includes quite a few quotes and a nice color photo of me in a story about the wave of new consulting firm acquisitions by Big Four audit firms all over the world.
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’.
Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Are Back: More “Adjustments”, More Calls For Reform
/10 Comments/in Pure Content, You Can Quote Me On That“If accounting errors were felonies in California, Fannie Mae would already be serving life under Three Strikes.” That’s what GoingConcern.com said. See what I told TheStreet.com about Fannie Mae’s latest multi-billion dollar “adjustments”.
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 Need for Transparency In Financial Staffing: A Guest Post From Dan Gaffney
/in Food for ThoughtAccording to Freelancers Union, almost one-third of the American workforce is independent. That’s nearly 42 million people and growing. The staffing industry, which should support the wave of new freelancers, hasn’t adapted since William Russell Kelly founded the Russell Kelly Office Service in Detroit in 1946.
Exclusive From Monadnock Research: Big Four Fiscal 2013 Advisory Practice Rankings and Conflict Risk Metrics
/2 Comments/in Latest, Pure Content, The Big 4 And ConsultingThis Monadnock Research Note offers an in-depth analysis of organic growth and strategic M&A in non-audit services for the Big Four audit firms, highlighting the growing risks associated with an increasing proportion of advisory relative to audit services at Big Four firms – and the conflict risk that this unique mix of services presents.
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?
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.