Archive for the ‘The Big 4 And Globalization’ Category

Auditors Say Jump… New “Appeals” Process Will Impede Timely PCAOB Inspection Reports

By Francine • Aug 3rd, 2010

The SEC did not issue a press release for this rule. Chairman Shapiro did not mention it in her July 27 speech that discussed actions the SEC was taking in response to the passage of the financial regulatory reform bill. It was not an explicit requirement of the Supreme Court decision regarding the PCAOB.

So where did it come from?

Why is it necessary?

What we have here, in my opinion, is a clear and obvious attempt by the SEC to placate the largest registered firms, the ones who still strongly resent being under the thumb of an “independent” rather than a peer regulator.

  • Share/Bookmark

PwC “Restructures” Indian Consulting Business: Will It Be Enough To Preserve US and UK Interests?

By Francine • Jul 12th, 2010

If any doubts remained that PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, the international global network “coordinating” firm, does the bidding of its largest and most powerful member firms – primarily PwC US and PwC UK – the latest “restructuring” in India should dispel them. PwC US and PwC UK want to be closer to their money.

  • Share/Bookmark

Bigger, Stronger, Faster: The PCAOB After The Supreme Court Ruling

By Francine • Jun 26th, 2010

The Supreme Court will hand down their decision on Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB before on June 28th. Congressional action may be necessary to reestablish the PCAOB or a comparable regulatory authority within the SEC, if we want to continue independent regulation of the audit firms. I have some recommendations for a new PCOAB law.

  • Share/Bookmark

Auditors Under Fire. In The UK. That Is All.

By Francine • Jun 7th, 2010

There are so many corks popping in the UK, hitting them in the eyes, audit firm leadership is actually trying to preempt. They’re shaking in their £1000 bespoke leather slip-ons. Well, not really.

Maybe their bottom lips are quivering a bit in quiet indignation.

  • Share/Bookmark

Worlds Apart But Two Of A Kind: Glitnir, Satyam And Their Auditor PwC

By Francine • May 17th, 2010

Taking care of family and close friends first is universal. Whether Irish, Italian, Kenyan, Mexican, or Tunisian… Legal, regulatory, ethical and moral lines are often crossed in service to family and those who are “like a brother to me…” There are obvious similarities between the Satyam and Glitnir frauds, not the least of which is they share an auditor – PwC.

  • Share/Bookmark

Keeping Watch

By Francine • May 2nd, 2010

This was my first blog post.  It was originally published in October 12 of 2006.
Financial Times, “Merger moves see firms boost their global credentials,” October 11, 2006
The big four firms such as KPMG and Deloitte never miss an opportunity to plug their global business credentials and their commitment to serving clients across borders – [...]

  • Share/Bookmark

For The Auditors Nothing’s Over Until It’s Over: Or Is It?

By Francine • Mar 23rd, 2010

The leadership of the Big 4 audit firms – Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers – are scared witless.

  • Share/Bookmark

It’s Mine, Mine All Mine: Can Anyone Catch Lehman Stealing?

By Francine • Feb 22nd, 2010

Most of what’s been written about the financial crisis and firms that were forcibly acquired, bailed out, or that failed tends to focus on “fair value” as the feckless culprit.What are the auditors’ obligations with regard to clients’ fair value measurements and disclosures? Auditors do not determine fair values. Instead, their role is to, “test management’s fair value measurements and disclosures.” But that obligation is broader than just taking the word of the “masters of the universe.”

  • Share/Bookmark

Continuing The Conversation: If Auditors Weren’t There, Why Not?

By Francine • Dec 14th, 2009

“If not, why not…” We’re talking about the auditors’ failure to be a force either before, during, or after the financial crisis…Only legally required compliance keeps us walking like dizzy children through in this hall of mirrors, never reaching the exit and sunshine.

  • Share/Bookmark

They Weren’t There: Auditors And The Financial Crisis

By Francine • Dec 7th, 2009

When I ask, “Where were the auditors?” and decry the fact that “they weren’t there,” it’s not due to some unreasonable, unfair focus on the most milquetoast of potential culprits. I bang this drum because the auditors should have been there, as a last stop, where the buck should have stopped, as gatekeepers, watchdogs, advocates, and the last bastion of standards and expected values shareholders can look to.
But they weren’t.

  • Share/Bookmark

« Older Entries