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Not so long ago, Dennis Howlett and I went public with a bet:
Which Big 4 audit firm is the next to fail?
Dennis believes that I’m betting on PwC as next to fail. I don’t honestly remember committing to that, but I’m willing to go with it for the sake of argument. This is in spite of the fact that the other Big 4 have plenty to worry about and the next tier firms are in no way ready for prime time.
Every once and a while someone asks me,
“fm, how do you keep up with all the news, the stories? How do you know all this stuff?”
Well…Although I have been accused of conceit, presumption, being “too smart,” being too quick to draw conclusions, painting a whole firm black on very little basis, precociousness, general egotistical behavior [...]
It’s been an interesting few days. I’ve finally stopped receiving poison pen letters from PwC apologists because of my doubts about their bandwith and qualifications for the TARP work. All last week I pondered the implications of the Deloitte insider trading scandal before events overtook me and I finally had to post something more than [...]
Prentice: It’s a fascinating theory, sir, and cleverly put together. Does it tie in with known facts?Rance: That need not cause us undue anxiety. Civilizations have been founded and maintained on theories which refused to obey fact.“What The Butler Saw”Joe Orton, 1969
Kerviel’s lawyers question Société Générale accountants
PARIS: Jérôme Kerviel, blamed by Société Générale for the [...]
Update:
Chicago’s John “Dr. J.” Najarian co-founder of OptionMONSTER on the need for transparency when the assets bought by the US government are eventually sold.
On YouTube.
Part 2 from Jon Najarian is here.
I have been updating this information throughout the weekend as other banks failed and other deals have been done.
A summary of “the mother of all [...]
A post about the layoffs in Deloitte last August/September became a collection of not only spontaneous and real-time updates on the ongoing cuts at that firm and others but a great repository of insight about firm structure, the business model, audit vs. advisory and a host of other topics. Take a look.
As I have said before, in particular with regard to the layoffs at PwC in February that have continued since, the Big 4 do not like to talk about cuts. They have a habit of reducing staff surgically, in a thousand little cuts, across practices, geographies, offices, so that each person thinks they are unique. Those cut are often made to feel inferior and a failure, as most often the cuts are characterized as performance related and a result of forced ranking techniques. I also see the survivor rationalization too – when survivors dis’ those cut by saying they just “couldn’t make it in the Big 4″ or they were “dead wood.” Helps cut down on ongoing morale problems when the remaining staff feel more secure, safe, because they think they are superior.
Ms. Harrington made it clear on the phone, and in her statement, that the vast majority of cuts were based on the negative economic reality the firm is facing. What’s frustrating to professionals, both those cut and those left behind, is why the firms are not better at planning and forecasting.
I laughed out loud when a Google Alert pointed me to the FT article excerpted below.
I find this solicitation by the US Internal Revenue Service quite ironic given that four of the six firms mentioned have had serious, and I mean serious, issues with the IRS related to their aiding and abetting the development of [...]
In any other kind of firm, in any other profession, what these guys did would be cause for termination.
Why are they still working for Deloitte?
Do you want them on your audit? At the Compliance Week Conference earlier this month, I asked Tom Ray about the push on the part of some “activist accountants” – an [...]
Deloitte is in the news for some significant litigation issues.
First the winner.
This ruling, I think, will have a big impact on the auditor subprime cases to come. Many of these cases, when it comes to the auditors liability, will be based on whether auditors should have been more diligent, thorough, and hard on banks and [...]
 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, check the "About" page. |
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