Archive for the ‘Food for Thought’ CategorySEC News at MarketWatchBy Francine • Jul 19th, 2015On July 21 Dodd-Frank will be five years old. If I hadn’t been through the same thing with Sarbanes-Oxley now twice, I’d be more excited. But the partisan rancor on this law, especially at the SEC, is even worse. Looking Into SEC’s Equity Markets Structure Committee at MarketWatchBy Francine • Jul 5th, 2015My piece on the SEC’s new Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee, spanning several online pages, is now out at MarketWatch. Deloitte US First Female CEO; There’s More We Don’t KnowBy Francine • Mar 2nd, 2015Wouldn’t it be nice if investors and other interested parties could look up new Deloitte US CEO Cathy Engelbert in a public and easily accessible registry and find out about all the audit clients where she has been a lead partner or a Quality Control partner? Has she ever been named in a lawsuit or been sanctioned? Let’s hope not. 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. You’ll Never Eat Lunch… A Review of “This Town” By Mark LeibovichBy Francine • Aug 24th, 2014Mark Leibovich’s “This Town” is billed in the flap copy of the dust jacket as “a blistering, stunning —and often hysterically funny— examination of our ruling class’s incestuous ‘media industrial complex.’” Does anyone still eat lunch with him? In the new 24-7 news cycle, the half-life of any criticism of DC culture is about three days. Three Book Reviews: Naked Bankers, Mute Watchdogs, And Youthful LuchreBy Francine • May 12th, 2014Just in time for summer vacations, I’d like to offer for your consideration three books I’ve recently read. Guest Post From Eric Starkman: The “Unvarnished” Truth About General MotorsBy Francine • Apr 6th, 2014GM is in trouble again and this time it’s worse than some weak internal controls or even a bankruptcy. Cost cutting may have discouraged the prompt replacement of faulty ignition switches now linked to at least 13 fatalities and the recall of 2.6 million vehicles. Are you still glad we bailed the company out? A Need for Transparency In Financial Staffing: A Guest Post From Dan GaffneyBy Francine • Mar 18th, 2014According to Freelancers Union, almost one-third of the American workforce is independent. That’s nearly 42 million people and growing. The staffing industry, which should support the wave of new freelancers, hasn’t adapted since William Russell Kelly founded the Russell Kelly Office Service in Detroit in 1946. Point-by-Point Case Comparison Of MF Global, Sentinel and PFG BestBy Francine • Feb 24th, 2014Here’s a breakdown of some of what’s the same and what’s different about these three cases.
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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, 