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You can read my stories here. This fall you can also see me talk about these stories live. And you can support my coverage of key conferences that will produce new stories about the audit firms and accounting profession.
This post originally appeared at GoingConcern.com on August 26, 2009.
I’ve added updates and additions where available.
Insider trading. Fraud. Money laundering. Falsifying documents. Embezzlement. Tax shelter abuses.
Some say I’m too negative about the audit industry. Occasionally I’m accused of making things up.
Ha.
Not only is everything I tell you true, but the truth of what these [...]
When Mark O’Conner of Monadnock Research asked for my initial reaction to the deal I had to admit I hadn’t thought much about it. Diamond Technology, a true-blue Chicago born and bred company, is small potatoes. They never achieved the billion dollar revenue goals the founder had envisioned. PwC has potentially bought a pig in a poke.
Call me incredulous, but the Big 4’s public relations professionals may be on to something. Set the bar low, tell us what the Big 4 can’t do, won’t do, want to make you believe they have no responsibility to do, and maybe everyone will leave them alone. Then they can go back to making money [...]
It’s no coincidence that settlements were announced less than a week apart for both New Century and Countrywide. As two of the earliest subprime failures, all parties were probably anxious to clear some clutter and make room for other matters. But with no trials, the truth about KPMG’s role in both Countrywide and New Century will be buried.
How many others of the financial crisis bankruptcies, bailouts, takeovers and nationalizations were the subject of a bankruptcy examiner’s report, complete with juicy details about the auditors’ role?
None.
But now there’s Washington Mutual.
…there’s definitely collusion/shenanigans going on amongst the big 4 for compensation along with extending dates for promotions. Ratings manipulation is also going on along with unfair treatment of those that tried to go above and beyond….”
Both Deloitte and KPMG admitted last fall that job cuts were made for economic reasons, removing the taint of “performance [...]
Neil Weinberg, Executive Editor of Forbes magazine, interviewed me on April 20th in New York. We talked about the biggest banking bankruptcies, the value of a good bankruptcy examiner’s report and the high cost and diminishing value of the auditor’s opinion.
Look for more from me, and Forbes, on these issues soon.
There’s a great new update on the story of PwC’s cuts of more than 500 internal IT professionals in the Florida and Atlanta markets. It was written by Jeff Harrington at the St. Petersburg Times on Sunday August 8th. Harrington focuses primarily on the local impact of the cuts. He finds evidence that PwC promised [...]
Leaders of public companies, like policemen or firemen that do a job for money, also sign up for a public duty. As stewards of a public company, the CEO and CFO’s job is not a reward for years of service, an entitlement after achieving career objectives but a responsibility and honor that should be earned every day by setting an example for all those who work under them.
The auditors serve the role of independent watchdog, guardian of shareholders’ interests in the capital markets. Their relationship to management should be adversarial – not friendly, cozy and comfortable. They are hired and fired by the Board, also supposedly independent. Given the way auditors are compensated, directly by the companies they judge, they have a very difficult job. Regulators are there to guard the guardians and are supposed to make sure they’re doing that job.
On Thursday August 5th, I covered the PCAOB’s Open Meeting and wrote up a report for the FEI Blog. I’d like to make a few more comments about the meeting yesterday.
I was both surprised and very pleased when Chairman Goelzer announced that he’ll request Congress to amend Sarbanes-Oxley to open the PCAOB’s disciplinary proceedings to public view, in line with the SEC. I was also gratified. I made this suggestion and many times have pointed out the challenge to investors’ right to know about an important gatekeeper – the auditors.
 Francine McKenna (@retheauditors) has more than twenty years of experience in consulting and professional services including tenure at two Big 4 firms, both in the US and abroad. For more info, click the "About" page link at the bottom of this page. |
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