Archive for the ‘Pure Content’ CategoryWhen Auditors Get Mixed Up In M&A, Smaller Clients Get HurtBy 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 DebateBy 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. Auditors Can Be Whistleblowers: A Guest Post On Recent Developments In Whistleblower Case LawBy Francine • Jan 5th, 2015Several recent developments regarding auditor whistleblowers should be of interest to internal and external auditors and compliance professionals, whether they work for a public company or a professional services provider. “Tax Avoidance On An Industrial Scale” Says British MP About PwC’s Luxembourg Work For AIG And OthersBy Francine • Dec 10th, 2014British MP Margaret Hodge grilled Kevin Nicholson, of PwC’s UK tax practice, in a Parliament Public Accounts Committee hearing on Monday. You know you’re on your “back foot” when the first thing out of your mouth has to be a denial that you lied under oath. More details about PwC’s tax avoidance scheme for audit client and US government owned AIG. Deadline December 15: Support This University of Notre Dame Accounting Grad Salary Survey!By Francine • Dec 10th, 2014The University of Notre Dame is conducting a large-scale study to explore accounting graduates’ first full-time employment positions and starting salaries following a degree in accounting. It doesn’t matter how long ago you graduated. All are welcome. Will you help? Piling Up For PwCBy Francine • Nov 18th, 2014Update: The PCAOB is investigating PwC for its tax avoidance advice to Caterpillar, the Wall Street Journal is reporting. One down, more than 100+ PwC audit clients advised via Luxembourg to go… New At Forbes Online: The Precarious Financial Position Of The New York TimesBy Francine • Nov 11th, 2014Update: This column was linked to by the NYT Public Editor! I published some New York Times numbers over at Forbes.com, “Time Is Running Short For The New York Times”, in anticipation of the company’s 3Q earnings announcement on October 30. 18-Year Old Anthony Canalungo Questions Herbalife, And PwC, On Exchange RatesBy Francine • Sep 23rd, 2014Anthony Canalungo wrote a really interesting article about Herbalife’s financials in Venezuela. Three different MLM companies from the peer group in addition to Herbalife operating in Venezuela and all except for Herbalife are using SICAD 2. What else do these four firms have in common? Auditor PwC. More On My Reuters Breakingviews Column: The Andersen Tax Name GrabBy Francine • Sep 8th, 2014The news that a tax consulting firm made up of ex-Andersen partners would take the Andersen name garnered much media attention, as you might expect. It says something—but maybe not what the firm’s partners think— that so many years after the destruction of Arthur Andersen by criminal indictment—thirteen years—so many people care. Auditor Independence: Another Case of Misplaced LoyaltyBy Francine • Sep 2nd, 2014Ryan Adams testified on behalf of PwC in an important court case. How can PwC be independent of Adam’s employer Marin Software, and Adams, the Financial Reporting Director at this newly public PwC-audited client company, if he’s testifying on PwC’s behalf in litigation that could impact PwC’s business model in California and, perhaps, nationally?
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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, 