It's Friday again and time to engage in some insightful chatter on any subject that you want.
Did we miss some news from the last week? Fail your CPA Exam by "that much"? Looking for some career advice? Or a new job? Need an excuse to get another cup of coffee? All these and more are fair game.
As a reminder, please keep the firm-specific compensation discussion on their respective threads. They're all on the front page right now, but here are links for PwC, McGladrey, and Grant Thornton if you get confused easily.
Audit chief welcomes debate on international regulator [Accountancy Age]
The idea of an international audit regulator is being kicked around in the EU with about as much seriousness as returning to the moon. That is, it’s absolutely something to be discussed but at this point nobody’s firing up the boosters just yet. IFRS has been proved to be, putting it lightly, a challenge but ever since the Lehman Brothers/E&Y fiasco, reform of the auditing business doesn’t seem far behind.
And while the idea is being entertained, the hurdles to an international regulator sound a little familiar:
Ian Powell, senior partner at PwC UK, said the establishment of an international regulator is “worthy of debate” but believes global consensus among nations may prove difficult.
“Most countries think their regulation is good and it is their system which should be applied – that is going to make it difficult to convince them to give up their system,” he said.
“If you talk to virtually any regulator in any country they do want to see more globalisation of regulation, but the big problem is there are certain political issues that are different in different countries.”
GMAC Said to Consider Ex-Citigroup Banker Yastine as Next CFO [Bloomberg Businessweek]
GMAC is hot on the trail for a new CFO after their last one bolted in March shortly after his TARP testimony. The ward of the state is said to be considering Barbara Yastine, who formerly was the CFO at both Credit Suisse’s and Citigroup’s investment banking groups.
FASB Defendant in Suit Alleging Antitrust Violations and Patent Misappropriation [Silicon Economics, Inc. Press Release] Silicon Economics, Inc. is suing the FASB, alleging “antitrust violations and with willfully attempting to misappropriate patented technology,” according to the San Jose-based company’s press release.
The lawsuit concerns Silicon Economics’ EarningsPower Accounting™ (EPA™) – a patented method developed by the company to improve the accuracy, validity, and usefulness of financial statements. Silicon Economics recommended the merits of EPA to FASB in response to FASB’s request for public comment on the objectives of financial accounting (No. 1260-001, July 6, 2006). FASB claims that its website terms and conditions gave it ownership of Silicon Economics’ technology, even though such terms were not part of FASB’s invitation for public comment or otherwise disclosed to Silicon Economics.
Ed. note: In observance of a day that reminds Italian-Americans and Native Americans that they are sworn enemies, we’ll be posting on a lighter schedule today. Let us know if anything exciting happens (shouting matches, faux-holiday layoffs, etc.) and we’ll manage to get something up. Back with a full slate tomorrow.
PwC clients asked to reveal information on internal accounting judgments [Accountancy Age]
“PwC auditors will ask audit chairmen to reveal more detail about internal accounting judgments on a voluntary basis. Andrew Ratcliffe, senior audit partner with PwC, said he was unsure how the audit chairs would react, but hopes to have more sensitive information in the public domain by February.
‘We will ask what are the key judgments and assumptions that the auditor discusses with the audit committee when he completed his audit,’ he said.”
Deloitte’s Phoenix partner moving to Los Angeles post [Phoenix Business Journal]
Michelle Kerrick makes a break for the L.A. OMP gig.
The Tragic Decline of Business Casual [Bloomberg BusinessWeek]
The bosses have had it up HERE with your liberal interpretation of the business casual dress code.
The Future of Fraud Investigations: A Guest Post From Tracy Coenen [Re: The Auditors]
Tracy Coenen drops in at RTA for a guest post.
Deloitte & Touche settles Kentucky Central suit for $23 million [Business First of Louisville]
“The Kentucky Department of Insurance has reached a $23 million settlement with Deloitte & Touche LLP, ending a lawsuit the state brought against the accounting firm for its dealings with the now-defunct Kentucky Central Life Insurance Co.”
Is Obama Raising Taxes on the Middle Class? According to Joe Biden, Yes [Tax Foundation]
The Veep escaped and managed to say some things that aren’t so helpful with the President’s tax rhetoric.
"Let me first say that I regret my actions in leaking non-public data to a third party regarding the clients I served for KPMG. Most importantly, and I cannot emphasize this enough, is that KPMG had nothing to do with what I did. The Firm bears no responsibility in this matter. These actions were by my choice and mine only.
Before you go!
Are you Looking for a fresh accounting career opportunity?
Going Concern now has thousands of open accounting jobs.
It's Friday again and time to engage in some insightful chatter on any subject that you want.