SAP’s Big Expensive Acquisitions
Wednesday, October 17th, 2012Here’s the background on SAP’s acquisition of SuccessFactors, a cloud-based HR application.
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Casino Industry Suffering From China Denial Syndrome
Monday, October 8th, 2012When you think about the big Las Vegas casinos, you should be thinking about Macau instead. The casino industry is a good example of the U.S. based multinationals that would suffer from any bold moves by regulators against the Chinese member firms of the Big Four audit networks.
At American Banker: Auditors Give Banks a Pass on Reserves
Sunday, September 9th, 2012My column at American Banker last week focused on the latest PCAOB inspection report for KPMG. We’ve got three more “Big Four” inspections reports to come – Ernst & Young, Deloitte and PwC. Don’t be surprised if you see the same focus on loan loss and repurchase reserves and the same kinds of auditor deficiencies.
Laboring In The Big 4 – A Labor Day Special Report
Friday, August 31st, 2012Is this really the way to run a professional services firm?
Four Years After Madoff, Audits and Auditors of Broker-Dealers Still Lousy
Thursday, August 30th, 2012How much lower does investor confidence have to go? How many more billions do customers have to lose before someone steps up?
Ding Dong: Dan Ustian Out At Navistar
Tuesday, August 28th, 2012Crain’s Chicago Business reported yesterday that Dan Ustian, Chairman, CEO, and President of Navistar was unceremoniously dumped and has also left the board. It’s about time.
Huron Consulting, Its Executives and PwC; All’s Well That Ends Well
Monday, July 23rd, 2012The Huron Consulting case is a great one if you would like to see examples of almost everything that’s wrong with the audit industry, the regulation of the industry and “reforms” like Sarbanes-Oxley.
At American Banker: Banks, Auditors, Market Concentration And More Audit Failures
Thursday, July 19th, 2012My latest column at American Banker was published online on Monday and discussed some of the reasons, I think, why bank auditors are missing or consciously ignoring increased risk and poor to no controls.
What The SEC And PCAOB Fail To Acknowledge About Chinese Fraud
Monday, July 9th, 2012There have been significant developments on the issue of Chinese frauds and in the efforts by the SEC and the PCAOB to investigate and bring responsible parties to justice, including the auditors of the companies under investigation.
But none of these developments will have any significant impact on the bigger problems facing China and investment in China.
Barclays Libor Scandal; More Client Headaches for PwC
Monday, July 2nd, 2012I’ve put a new column up at Forbes this morning, “Barclays Manipulates Libor While Auditor PwC Snoozes.”
The Barclays Libor manipulation scandal is a big deal and we haven’t yet seen the full impact here in the U.S. The Chairman of the bank resigned officially this morning and the interim Chairman is none other than our old friend Sir Mike Rake, former Global Chairman of KPMG.
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, 