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This was my first blog post. It was originally published in October 12 of 2006.
Financial Times, “Merger moves see firms boost their global credentials,” October 11, 2006
The big four firms such as KPMG and Deloitte never miss an opportunity to plug their global business credentials and their commitment to serving clients across borders – [...]
I wrote a post today, joining the discussion over at Clusterstock.com regarding Wells Fargo and their apparent lack of disclosure for various risks.
Did Wells Fargo’s Auditors Miss Repurchase Risk?
“How does the New Century situation and KPMG’s role in it remind me of Wells Fargo now? Well, in both cases, there’s no disclosure of the quantity and [...]
Many companies are using Web 2.0 tools to aid in corporate communications and public relations. How many companies are using these tools for investor relations? In order to determine this, I looked at the top 100 Fortune companies’ investor relations Web sites.
Please help me improve the site and target content and features as well as other activities to what you want and need. Please complete the following short survey. Thanks in advance for your support.
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All participants will be entered to win one of ten $10 Starbucks gift certificates.
Update: March 24, 2009
Looks like I was right. Twice. See new comments posted overnight for more details and a copy of the email that went out to PwC employees announcing the deal.
Today’s Washington Post:
Consulting firm BearingPointappears to be near its end.
The company, which filed for bankruptcy protection last month, said late last night that it had reached an agreement with several parties — including PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte — to sell “substantially all of its businesses.”
There is at least one person who doesn’t have to worry about having a good job, at KPMG no less. Thomas Ray was the Chief Auditor and Director of Professional Standards for the PCAOB.
According to WebCPA:
Ray is joining KPMG as a partner in the firm’s department of professional practice in New York.
A discussion with Ron Silberstein was the inspiration for my previous post on the question of a GM bankruptcy. Now he’s written a rebuttal. It’s reprinted here, in its entirety.
In a press release today, Audit Integrity dares the 300 public traded corporations in the United States that they rate “Very Aggressive,” their worst rating, to use their new tool, RiskProfiler© , free of charge to pre-evaluate their next quarterly SEC filings. The idea is to identify vulnerability to negative events such as fraud, earnings restatements, restructuring, shareholder litigation and bankruptcy. As rated by Audit Integrity, these companies pose a higher systemic risk to stakeholders including investors, employees, creditors, regulators and, as recent events have proven, taxpayers.
There are some very interesting names on their list. Their 300 Worst companies represent the bottom 10% of the 8000+ listed companies, which includes US based and foreign private issuers. As you can imagine, there are plenty of financial services companies on the list, some surprises and, unfortunately, plenty of repeat offenders.
Ron Silberstein and I met on Twitter. Every day I meet more and more interesting people there, both virtually, for now, and in person as I did during my recent trip to Baltimore and Washington DC.
Ron is a Principal of Maddox Ungar Silberstein, PLLC a CPA firm in Michigan. He heads up their SEC and Franchisor audit departments. Ron saw a recent Tweet of mine on GM (there have been many) and responded with a contrary opinion. It made me realize that I should probably defend my opinions regarding a GM bankruptcy in a little more detail.
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts…
Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
William Shakespeare 1564-1616
There were plenty of actors reciting their lines and creating theatrics for the markets on Tuesday when news “broke” that The Northern Trust Bank had spent lavishly on a golf tournament in Los Angeles. The irksome part, I guess, is that the bank had accepted bank bailout funds.
 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, "Accounting Watchdog" at Forbes.com and "Accountable" at American Banker. For more information, click "About" at the bottom of this page. Your firm can sponsor this specialized news site. For more information contact Francine McKenna, fmckenna@mckennapartners.com |
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