H.P. Takes Big Hit on ‘Accounting Improprieties’ at Autonomy [DealBook]
Hewlett-Packard said on Tuesday that it has taken an $8.8 billion accounting charge, after discovering “serious accounting improprieties” and “outright misrepresentations” at Autonomy, the British software maker that it bought for $11.7 billion last year.
Deloitte's 2011 Autonomy Independent Auditor "All Clear" Sign Off [ZH]
Nigel Mercer is your signer.
Commodity trader Olam punches back after Muddy Waters attack [Reuters]
Olam International Ltd defended itself after short-seller Muddy Waters attacked its accounting practices and bet against the Singapore commodities trader. Olam's shares tumbled as much as 11 percent in heavy volume.
Adoboli Cleared of All False Accounting Counts, Guilty on Fraud [Bloomberg]
The $2.3 billion loss was "the largest from unauthorized trading in British history."
Stanford’s Accountants Guilty of Hiding $7 Billion Fraud [Bloomberg]
A jury of seven men and five women in federal court in Houston deliberated for 16 hours over three days before convicting Stanford’s ex-Chief Accounting Officer Gilbert Lopez, 70, and former Global Controller Mark Kuhrt, 40, of conspiring to hide a fraud scheme built on bogus certificates of deposit at Antigua-based Stanford International Bank Ltd. The men were each found guilty today of 9 of 10 wire fraud counts and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. “They knew the bank was doing one thing and promising investors another, and they helped hide it,” prosecutor Jason Varnado told jurors during closing arguments Nov. 14. “The only explanation for that is a criminal explanation.”
Olivia Kirtley, CPA, CGMA, a member of the AICPA’s governing Council and former chairwoman of the AICPA board of directors, has been named deputy president on the board of the International Federation of Accountants, a global organization dedicated to strengthening the accounting profession. […] “Olivia’s CPA and CGMA credentials demonstrate deep financial and management accounting experience that is crucial for the future of a profession that underpins the global economy,” said Charles Tilley, FCMA, CGMA, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
In China’s own Silicon Valley in Sichuan Province, the Chengdu cloud computing company has decided to reward its employees for falling in love, reports the People’s Daily. […] Chengdu executives told the People’s Daily, that they came up with the idea after seeing the emotional turmoil of his young workers, awarding a financial bonus for workers willing to tuoguang – “strip” – slang for saying goodbye to the single life. Each “stripper” would get a bonus of 1112 Yuan ($180) a number that was chosen to represent 1111+1. The company hopes that if their employees fall in love with their colleagues, they will “have an even more harmonious team” – a notion that leads us to believe that they have not really thought this through. Still, the company doesn't mind it if their employees fall in love with their counterparts in other Chengdu IT firms. On the contrary! The employees finding love outside work will be awarded a bonus of 500-1000 Yuan ($80 to $160). The idea is that the Chengdu cloud company will be able to poach these enamored young engineers.
