Madoff, MLK, Buddha And Elusive Nature of Self-Interest
By Francine • Jan 16th, 2012Your first obligation as a professional is to your client, not your firm, your partners, or even your family.
Author Archive
The Legacy of Arthur Andersen
By Francine • Dec 2nd, 2011Yesterday, The Financial Times asked me to comment on the Enron anniversary. Last week, it was the Houston Chronicle. So Arthur Andersen’s demise is ten years behind us. Today, I re-post one of my first, from October 13, 2006, which presents my thoughts from that time. As I re-read it today, how little has truly [...]
Falling In Line
By Francine • Nov 24th, 2011This post is reprinted from Thanksgiving Day 2008, November 27.
Every once and a while I have to take off my re: The Auditors hat and put on the fancy dress of a typical member of a large urban, Catholic, ethnic, up-from-the-working-class family.
We celebrate the traditional holidays like anyone else although, like anyone else, they [...]
Hello? Big 4? Are You Out There?
By Francine • Oct 22nd, 2011This post was originally published three years ago on September 17, 2008. Given everything that is going on – ongoing investigation of EY’s role in Lehman collapse, more lawsuits against the Big 4 audit firms for crisis failures, disclosure of Deloitte’s failings as an auditor as far back as 2006 – I thought it may [...]
Looking For Talent? Steal From Your Competitors
By Francine • Sep 5th, 2011This was originally posted September 6, 2007. Not much has changed since then. Not much varies for the Big Four member firms all over the world. Regulators, please note: This is the level of responsibility- the level of expectations – for non-management staff.
Quite significant.
I ran across this recruiting ad for PwC Belgium while looking [...]
Embracing Change – Day by Day
By Francine • Mar 31st, 2011I often think of my career as having had at least four parts, so far…
HBOS, KPMG and Their Problematic Whistleblower
By Francine • Dec 5th, 2010KPMG, external auditors for HBOS, were front and center in the controversy over written testimony from Paul Moore, HBOS’ former head of regulatory risk and a former KPMG partner. A guest posting on February 19, 2009 over at The Financial Times’ FT Alphaville blog.
Taking Your Pulse
By Francine • Sep 20th, 2010The Top Searches these past twenty-four hours. Quite a wide variety and pretty sophisticated…
If I Told You I’d Have To Shoot You. Or Lose The Case. Neither Are Good.
By Francine • Sep 10th, 2010In honor of my appearance in front of a room full of lawyers next week at the New York County Lawyers Association event, I thought I would reprint this article about attorney-client privilege. It was originally published on GoingConcern.com on September 9, 2009
Bank of America (BAC) is in the news again today. The reason is one of my favorite subjects, attorney-client privilege. From the New York Attorney General’s (NYAG) letter to Bank of America’s attorney, Lewis J. Liman…
“Too Few to Fail” or Something More?
By Francine • May 31st, 2010So picture this scene…
KPMG is negotiating with the Department of Justice about its troubles while Department of Justice is negotiating with KPMG, their auditors, regarding their audits of DOJ financial statements. Given the major issues in found at DOJ during fiscal year 2004, DOJ must negotiate a way to get KPMG to show that there is some improvement and that they are not in violation of federal regulations and other such bothersome requirements. Who had the leverage here? I would venture to guess that in addition to the “too few to fail” doctrine at work here, there was also an attitude on the part of KPMG of, “Hey DOJ losers, who are you to call us a mismanaged, uncontrolled mess?”
Francine McKenna (@retheauditors) has more than twenty-five years of experience in consulting and professional services including tenure at two Big 4 firms, both in the US and abroad. Look for my column, 