Sarbanes-Oxley For Everyone: To Be Or Not To Be? (With Postscript)
By Francine • Nov 24th, 2009Sarbanes-Oxley (SOx) made law what is best practice for all public companies or companies that issue public debt. That includes “smaller” companies.
Archive for the ‘SEC’ Category
McKenna in Accountancy Magazine
By Francine • Jul 7th, 2009I was asked by Accountancy Magazine in the UK to write a summary of the Compliance Week Annual Conference for their readers. This article, entitled ”Regulatory Reformation,“ can be found here. Please let me know what you think.
If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another – Auditors Getting Sued Over Madoff
By Francine • Dec 18th, 2008The “victims” of the Bernie Madoff scandal are not taking their losses laying down. Why are so many suits suddenly being brought against the auditors of the funds that invested on behalf of their clients in the Madoff funds?
Madoff and Blagojevich: Stealing – Easier When No One Is Watching
By Francine • Dec 15th, 2008Both are accused of being corrupt.
One gentleman has been under a cloud of suspicion for a while. He’s denied it and dared prosecutors to wiretap his conversations, to come and get him. He hid his activities in plain site. As visible as a major state Governor has to be, he also kept a low profile, [...]
PCAOB – Seeing The Big 4 Through Rose Colored Glasses
By Francine • Dec 12th, 2008Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the AICPA National Conference on PCAOB and SEC Developments in person. As much as I would have loved to be there live, to ask questions and, perhaps, walk all over the wafflers with my Manolos, it’s not always possible. In this case it may have been just as well. [...]
The SEC Meets The Web: "We Likey!"
By Francine • Aug 6th, 2008On July 30, 2008, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published its interpretive release explaining how companies can use their websites and blogs to meet their requirements for public disclosure under Regulation FD.
Dominic Jones at IR Web Report says,
“…I don’t expect a flood of companies ditching their wire services overnight and cranking out [...]
And The IRS Has What Leverage Over The Firms?
By Francine • Jul 7th, 2008I 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 [...]
Cage Match – The Lawyers vs. The Accountants
By Francine • Jul 2nd, 2008Funny thing happened last night while chatting with the COO of one of the major hedge funds, a group that has been much maligned lately for being shortys. For the umpteenth time in the last month or so it seems, someone assumed that my partner in our firm (actually my brother) was my husband.
“PS. [...]
Arthur Levitt – Looking Down From The Mountain
By Francine • Jun 9th, 2008Arthur Levitt recently gave an interview in a Dutch publication de Accountant. Accountancy Age in the UK highlights some key quotes and provides a link to the full article in English.
Levitt comments about the potential need for “audit-only” firms and his encouragement of, “…greater transparency, to understand what condition a firm is in. We [...]
Running At You – The Much Feared “Shorts”
By Francine • May 23rd, 2008Interesting article today in a publication I receive on line called Hedgeworld (Registration required, with special benefits for membership).
Short sellers are certainly on the mind of the business executive on the other side of their acumen. (My bias is showing, I know.) And the SEC has parachuted in to help their beloved business executives by [...]
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, click the "About" page link at the bottom of this page.