Peter Thiel Is A Trump Supporter, Convention Speaker But Why?
By Francine • Jul 25th, 2016Peter Thiel gave a closing night speech, and endorsement of Donald Trump, at the Republican convention last week.
Archive for the ‘Pure Content’ Category
Update: Writing About Equity Market Structure at MarketWatch
By Francine • Feb 16th, 2016One area I am covering now at MarketWatch is market structure, specifically the equity markets. Reforming equity markets is a big ongoing issue, especially after the May 2010 flash crash. Here’s a summary of the articles, updated for a new one on February 3, I’ve written since May on the subject and some background on some of the many controversies.
Best Case Yet For Publishing Audit Partner Names: Grant Thornton’s Koeppel
By Francine • Dec 14th, 2015The PCAOB will vote on final rule based on its proposal on Tuesday Dec 15. If audit partner names were published in the audit report, or anywhere, the public, audit committees, investors and journalists could stop lousy auditors in their tracks. Melissa Koeppel of Grant Thornton is the best case yet for making audit partner names and their engagement history, disciplinary history, and litigation history public.
The Case of Valeant; Not Over By a Long Shot
By Francine • Nov 2nd, 2015Now that Valeant has cut off the gangrenous Philidor arm, we may never know the true extent of any accounting manipulation or fraud. And then again it may all come out when the rest of the organization is scrutinized. I’d say be prepared for big inventory writeoffs, or maybe even a restatement.
McKenna Interviewed On KPMG And FIFA By The Bottom Line Canada
By Francine • Oct 19th, 2015I was interviewed by The Bottom Line magazine in Canada back in June on KPMG’s role as auditor of FIFA.
New Orleans January 2008: "He leadeth me beside still waters…"
By Francine • Aug 29th, 2015I went to New Orleans in January 2008 for a few weeks to work with Habitat for Humanity building new houses. Here’s a slide show of what I saw three years after Katrina in the 9th Ward New Orleans LA. Just went down on my own and joined a random group. There was still a […]
The NYDFS Case Against Promontory and the Bigger Problem of Big Four Bank Consulting
By Francine • Aug 23rd, 2015Bank regulators should start hiring the consultants that are responding to bank regulatory sanctions, consent decrees and NPA/DPA legal orders directly, and also strictly monitor them. It’s time to change for regulators to change their approach before another waste of time, money and public trust occurs.
re: The Auditors is now at MarketWatch
By Francine • May 31st, 2015May 18, 2015 was my first day on the job as a reporter for MarketWatch in Washington, DC, the sister online publication to the Wall Street Journal and Barrons that focuses on retail investors. Yes, I have taken a full-time journalism job and I have moved.
When Auditors Get Mixed Up In M&A, Smaller Clients Get Hurt
By Francine • Feb 3rd, 2015A new study says smaller public companies are paying a premium for the prestige of a Big Four auditor but the auditors are dangling small clients as chum for their large acquisitive shark audit clients.
Journalists’ Obligations In The Shareholder Value Maximization Debate
By Francine • Jan 14th, 2015I wrote about two journalists who penned sympathetic stories about shareholders and other stakeholders who can’t get their voices heard but who, in service to shorter and simpler narratives, paid short shrift to the active and contentious debate about shareholder primacy and shareholder value maximization.
