Archive for May, 2009

Things To Do, Places To Go, People To See: Compliance Week Annual Conference 2009

By Francine • May 31st, 2009

I’ve been reviewing the agenda for the Compliance Week Annual Conference and have made some preliminary selections where there is a choice. There are some favorite speakers, some necessary speakers, and some friends on the agenda. They will also repeat the closed door “Conversations” which are closed to media, my official designation. I may buy a pair of funny sunglasses, flat shoes, and a wig and see if I can sneak in to one or two… I’ll reserve the right to change my mind on this agenda, but here’s my tentative schedule for the three days.

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Where I’ll Be: Compliance Week Annual Conference Starts June 3

By Francine • May 26th, 2009

For the third year in a row, I’ll be covering the Compliance Week Annual Conference held at the Mayflower Hotel June 3-5, 2009, Washington DC. To see what kind of trouble I can stir up, just look at my coverage last year.

This year promises to be just as stimulating.

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How Satyam Supported PwC’s Schizophrenic Strategy To Reenter The Systems Integration Business

By Francine • May 26th, 2009

Independence is one of the most important concepts a public accountant must grapple with. Before the technical standards, before the decisions about classification of transactions, before the methodologies, checklists, and workpapers, before any mechanical pencils are pumped with lead, one must decide whether to accept the client, and every subsequent engagement for that client, based on the codified standards for independence and objectivity, as well as one’s appetite for risk…To reenter the systems integration business, PwC had to find a way around their own weakness in technology leadership, lack of experienced resources, and the constraints of the IBM non-compete agreement.

Enter Satyam.

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Full Coverage of Banco Espirito vs BDO International Here

By Francine • May 22nd, 2009

The Banco Espirito v BDO International trial is scheduled to take place in the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida, Miami-Dade County, before Honorable John Schlesinger beginning on May 26, 2009.

re: The Auditors will be following this coverage and providing commentary and selected video clips, including evidence presented, starting on Wednesday, May 27th.

From Courtroom TV’s Press Release:

This trial will determine whether BDO Seidman was an agent of BDO International, thus making the international accounting network potentially liable for a $500M+ judgment against US network member BDO Seidman.

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BDO International – Yellow Card or Red Flag?

By Francine • May 20th, 2009

If you’ve been reading me for a while, you know that I pretty much stick to discussing the largest 4 audit/accounting firms. This is for practical reasons – keeping my sanity in dealing with so much information – and to be realistic. Put the three next tier firms in the US together and they don’t equal either the critical mass in terms of experience and infrastructure nor the client/revenue base of any one of the Big 4. They will never, either individually or collectively, be able to step up and absorb the detritus from another Big 4 firm failure, either in the US or out.

That doesn’t mean the next tier don’t serve the clients they have well. Mostly. Just means that the next tier are not ready to play in the same pitch as Ronaldo.

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New York, New York, New York

By Francine • May 20th, 2009

If you follow my Twitter stream (…you should, it’s available in an RSS Feed, too!) you know that I was in NYC last weekend. It was fun but also a little of business.

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Do As I Say, Not As I Do – Whistleblowers In The Big 4

By Francine • May 13th, 2009

I thought it would be interesting to look at how the Big 4 firms address their own internal ethics and compliance issues in the BRIC countries, in particular. I was especially interested in the availability of ethics/independence hot lines in these countries. Given the experience of Satyam and PwC in India, you have to wonder whether anyone on the PwC audit team suspected any inappropriate activities by the client management, the PwC partners now accused of allowing the alleged improprieties to occur, or both. If anyone had seen or heard any wrongdoing, could they have reported ethics, independence, or risk and quality concerns to anyone locally or internationally without risking retaliation or worse?

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It’s A Race To The Finish – But There Are No Winners

By Francine • May 11th, 2009

Not so long ago, Dennis Howlett and I went public with a bet:

Which Big 4 audit firm is the next to fail?

Dennis believes that I’m betting on PwC as next to fail. I don’t honestly remember committing to that, but I’m willing to go with it for the sake of argument. This is in spite of the fact that the other Big 4 have plenty to worry about and the next tier firms are in no way ready for prime time.

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Auditor Haiku – Who Said Accountants Weren’t Creative?

By Francine • May 10th, 2009

The contributions to the impromptu haiku contest, inspired by gogo Inflight and their offer of a free hour of inflight wifi to SOBCon attendees, have been AMAZING! I am now sure there are some hidden poets, fiction writers, and essayists, as well as a few more bloggers, amongst my readers. Glad to have inspired you to think in a different structural form, for a few moments at least.

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Wherever You Go, There You Are…

By Francine • May 9th, 2009

Monday May 4th, I spoke at the Houston IIA Chapter meeting at the request of one of their officers, Catherine Hasley of Deloitte, a Twitter friend.
My presentation: “Lessons From Current Crisis – What’s An Internal Auditor To Do?” The focus is on two case studies, AIG and Société Générale.

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