The Plot Thickens: The House Financial Services Committee MF Global Hearing
By Francine • Dec 16th, 2011View the story “The Plot Thickens: The House Financial Services Committee MF Global Hearing ” on Storify]
Archive for the ‘Food for Thought’ Category
The Legacy of Arthur Andersen
By Francine • Dec 2nd, 2011Yesterday, The Financial Times asked me to comment on the Enron anniversary. Last week, it was the Houston Chronicle. So Arthur Andersen’s demise is ten years behind us. Today, I re-post one of my first, from October 13, 2006, which presents my thoughts from that time. As I re-read it today, how little has truly [...]
Falling In Line
By Francine • Nov 24th, 2011This post is reprinted from Thanksgiving Day 2008, November 27.
Every once and a while I have to take off my re: The Auditors hat and put on the fancy dress of a typical member of a large urban, Catholic, ethnic, up-from-the-working-class family.
We celebrate the traditional holidays like anyone else although, like anyone else, they [...]
Rogue Traders, Rogue Firms: The CME, PwC, MF Global and the Legacy of Refco
By Francine • Nov 14th, 2011Let’s not forget PricewaterhouseCoopers, MF Global’s auditors.
When it comes to hands-on access to private information, the auditor has more than any other regulator mentioned. And they are supposed to be experts in that client’s business and in the accounting and auditing standards for that industry. PwC also audits JP Morgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Goldman Sachs. They are all large players in the futures brokerage industry.
Building a Community Around Your Blog From Scratch – Ten Steps
By Francine • Oct 16th, 2011Here are my ten steps to building my blog community. They might not work for everyone, but they’ve worked for me. This is not meant to be an all-inclusive list or all the details. Please let me know if you have any questions or want to dig into a subject further.
An Update On The GM IPO: The Numbers Don’t Add Up
By Francine • Sep 11th, 2011My trusted investor “straw man” reminded me that GM’s current stock price is much lower than the IPO price and far short of the target for a U.S. Treasury breakeven on the investment. That’s an easy story to write.
An OpEd For Boston Review: What Sarbanes-Oxley Teaches Us About Dodd-Frank
By Francine • Aug 22nd, 2011Sarbanes-Oxley was supposed to end financial scandals once and for all. Will Dodd-Frank succeed where it failed? My OpEd for Boston Review is online today, Monday, August 22, 2011.
Auditor Rotation Proposal Just More Spin via Storify
By Francine • Aug 18th, 2011This is an experiment using a tool called Storify that combines text and Tweets. I’m not sure yet how to get the formatting perfect, but I thought you might like to see the results.
Going In Circles: A Few Remarks On Audit Reform
By Francine • Jul 14th, 2011Don’t get me wrong.
I’m thrilled that there’s a lot of traffic in my lane. What I mean is, it’s good for everyone that we’re talking about these issues and that someone other than me and a few other broken records are playing these tunes.
Broc Romanek’s Inside Track Covers XBRL With Dan Roberts
By Francine • Jul 7th, 2011Two of my favorite guys – Dan Roberts, CEO of raas-XBRL, and Broc Romanek, Editor of The Corporate Counsel – talk about XBRL and year three of the SEC’s mandatory phase-in.
Francine McKenna (@retheauditors) has 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. Look for my column, 