Archive for the ‘Pure Content’ CategoryWhat Are the Chances of a Significant Sanction or Fine for KPMG?By Francine • Mar 31st, 2019Why shouldn’t the SEC and/or the Department of Justice now sanction, or in some way criminally penalize, KPMG the firm for the PCAOB data theft “steal the exam” scandal? Can you say D-E-B-A-R-M-E-N-T? McKenna On Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, and Kraft HeinzBy Francine • Mar 3rd, 2019Has Warren Buffett run out of long-run? The stars aligned and Warren Buffett issued an annual shareholder letter that was forced to include an embarrassing charge for significant losses on Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in Kraft Heinz. Buffett’s letter was a rant against GAAP, and a 180 degree turn from his typical long-term focus. I was in New York […] Do Investors Care At All About Audits Anymore?By Francine • Jan 24th, 2019Would investors still pay for an audit if it weren’t legally mandated? Are regulators and exchanges perpetuating a government-mandated oligopolistic exclusive franchise for the Big 4 and a few additional firms that produces information investors now ignore? Update: KPMG: Whittle and Holder Plead GuiltyBy Francine • Nov 28th, 2018KPMG partner Thomas Whittle broke ranks on October 29 and pleaded guilty to all five criminal charges. He is now cooperating with prosecutors. Do you have more information about this case? Leave a comment here, one I can leave unposted, if you wish to communicate confidentially or DM me on Twitter @retheauditors for Signal encrypted confidential messaging instructions. New Stories about the KPMG-PCAOB ScandalBy Francine • Aug 27th, 2018“Innovation demands risk-taking… which, in turn, entails redefining failure, stripping away its power to inhibit.” Chairman and CEO of KPMG Lynne Doughtie Mick Mulvaney, the CFPB and a “thing”By Francine • Apr 29th, 2018Warning: Coarse language, because we may get a lot of snow in Chicago but we’re no snowflakes. Last week I went to an American Bankers Association Conference for bank government relations executives. I wrote a story about some things that Mick Mulvaney, the interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (and also a cabinet member […] Another Update on the Case of FDIC v PricewaterhouseCoopers re: Colonial BankBy Francine • Apr 8th, 2018On February 28 the US Justice Department fined Deloitte & Touche LLP $149.5 million for alleged fraud against the government related to its role as the independent outside auditor of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. Also: The damages phase of the FDIC v. PwC case regarding Colonial Bank is set to begin in Washington DC on March 20. Revenue Recognition is Coming: Part 2By Francine • Sep 7th, 2017I’ve been coaching my colleagues on how to spot updates and interesting anecdotes about revenue recognition during the second quarter earnings season. Now we are catching up on the Qs filed and comparing disclosures after concentrating on what was said in earnings releases and calls. Revenue Recognition is Coming: Following the Progress at MarketWatchBy Francine • Sep 6th, 2017Once I returned from my Stigler Center fellowship I got to work catching up on the new standard, talking to experts everywhere and working with Audit Analytics to come up with the data to support stories–by my and my colleagues–about companies and their response to the new standard. My goal was to pick some of the obscure topics that were unique or focused on a specific industry. Update: McKenna at the University of Chicago’s Stigler CenterBy Francine • Aug 5th, 2017I’ve updated the post to point to some recent news about PwC and banks that failed in Ukraine and Spain… I returned to Washington D.C. and my job as a journalist at MarketWatch in late June, after almost three months as a Journalist in Residence at the Stigler Center at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. My fellowship deliverable, in exchange for the opportunity to study with the researchers, was three posts for the Center’s Pro-Market blog on the state of the audit industry.
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Francine McKenna (@retheauditors) is the Transparency Reporter at MarketWatch.com, a Dow Jones publication, where her work is also featured frequently in the Wall Street Journal. McKenna had 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 before becoming a journalist. Look for her prior columns, 