U.K. proposal a second blow to mandatory audit firm rotation [JofA]
Mandatory audit firm rotation was not among the measures the U.K. Competition Commission (CC) proposed Monday to promote competition in the statutory audit services market. But the CC did include mandatory tendering every five years for the United Kingdom’s largest companies in its proposal, a significant shift from the 10-year retendering period U.K. Financial Reporting Council (FRC) rules currently require. The FRC’s 10-year retendering rule includes a “comply or explain” provision that provides some flexibility, but the CC proposal does not include a “comply or explain” provision.
Firms Fortify Fraud Defenses [CFOJ]
Thousands of companies world-wide are planning to update systems and policies that act as their first line of defense against fraud and other hidden risks, following a sweeping overhaul of the most widely used guidelines for those safeguards. The new guidelines, which many companies expect to adopt by the end of next year, are for so-called internal controls, which the government has required U.S. public companies to have in place for the past decade, as part of an effort to protect investors. […] The updated guidelines, released in May, come from a group of five accounting associations known as the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. […] The new guidelines officially replace the existing ones in December 2014. Although companies face no penalty if they don’t embrace them, ignoring them could put off investors who value tight management.
Beer, Burgers, and a Two-Man Blitz on Tax Reform [TFT]
Everyone knows the code is dated,” said Baucus, repeatedly noting that the last overhaul happened back in 1986 – an era when the Soviet Union was the dominant national security threat, the Internet seemed a lot like science fiction, and Obama was a community organizer in Chicago. The federal government collects about $2.7 trillion a year – so the outcome of their push would impact 17 percent of the U.S. economy. Both chambers would have to develop bills separately that would later be reconciled in conference committee. Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, did not address how any plan could bridge an ideological divide. But half of the lawmakers’ task for the moment is educating fellow members and understanding the mechanics of the tax code.
Felice Persico appointed EY's Global Assurance Leader [NP]
This is worth getting excited about: EY!
The Longest Sentence David Foster Wallace Ever Wrote [ForthyGirlz]
Includes: "…to say nothing of putting in the hour of CPA exam review he’d promised himself this morning when he’d overslept slightly and then encountered last-minute packing problems that had canceled out the firmly scheduled hour of morning CPA review before one of the unmarked Systems vans arrived to take him and his bags out through Harpers Ferry and Ball’s Bluff to the airport…"
Woman Takes Horse Into McDonald's After Being Denied Drive-Thru Service [Gawker]
Seems like the next logical step.