Archive for September, 2010

Auditors Aren’t Forcing Full Repurchase Risk Exposure Disclosure

By Francine • Sep 30th, 2010

The auditors have been helping the banks pull rabbits out of their hats for some time now. But isn’t it about time we jump on the issue of audit firms behaving like Switzerland to protect their own self-interests? There are hundreds of millions of reasons in New York alone for PwC to stay neutral and to allow balance sheet “window dressing” via manipulation of reserves. But what does that say about the integrity of the financial information published by these banks?

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The End of Lehman, Part 3: Repo 105 and the Legacy of Lehman

By Francine • Sep 29th, 2010

Financial Reform Watch blogger Ben Hallman looks at how Lehman Brothers was a leader in disguising its losses—and how a government investigation into Lehman’s practices could offer federal authorities their best, and possibly last, chance to hold individuals responsible for the crisis personally accountable.

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Reforming Wall Street: State Regulators Cannot Do It Alone – A Speech By Jake Zamansky

By Francine • Sep 29th, 2010

In passing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”), Congress tried — but failed — to make the market fair and more transparent for individual investors. Until the SEC, through its enforcement actions, holds high-ranking corporate executives accountable for their firms’ wrongdoing and ensures that settlement fines do not unjustly harm shareholders, measures to protect investors from Wall Street malfeasance will continue to fall short of the mark. Renowned securities litigator Jake Zamansky spoke recently on these issues to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) Public Policy Conference.

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McKenna Featured in Three New Videos on The Street.com

By Francine • Sep 22nd, 2010

Last week while I was in New York, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Maria Woehr, a Financial Services reporter for The Street.com.  We talked for about a half an hour and she’s produced three videos from that material so far.

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Accounting Basics: A Guest Post From Robert B. Walker

By Francine • Sep 21st, 2010

Robert B Walker, Chartered Accountant is a sole practitioner undertaking insolvency work, in Wellington and Auckland New Zealand. Is Mr. Walker the last man on earth who appreciates a solid set of books and records?

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Taking Your Pulse

By Francine • Sep 20th, 2010

The Top Searches these past twenty-four hours. Quite a wide variety and pretty sophisticated…

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McKenna Quoted In American Banker Re: Balance Sheet “Window Dressing”

By Francine • Sep 19th, 2010

Jeff Horwitz from American Banker asked me if I thought more and more frequent disclosure would solve the problem, as it has been defined. I was not sanguine.

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Lehman: The Razor’s Edge

By Francine • Sep 19th, 2010

What really happened at Lehman? The thousands of column inches devoted to trenchant, complex analysis from financial media pundits is a bit more mental masturbation than we need.

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September 24-25: McKenna To Speak At West Florida ISACA Chapter

By Francine • Sep 19th, 2010

I hope you can join us! Space still available. September 24-25. West Florida (Tampa) ISACA Chapter’s Fall Seminar. I will be leading an extensive program covering several topics for a total of 7+ hours of CPE at the Wyndham Quorum Hotel.

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Top Ten Things Lawyers Should Know About Auditors

By Francine • Sep 15th, 2010

September 15 is the anniversary of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. As such it is an honor to be on a panel tonight with Anton Valukas, the Lehman bankruptcy examiner. It was his report that brought auditors, finally, into the discussion of the causes of the financal crisis. It was Valukas’ report that introduced “fraud” into the dissection of the financial crisis. My remarks tonight at the NY County Lawyers Association event will focus on the now tenuous relationship between auditors/audits and identifying, mitigating, and preventing fraud.

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