Apple
Apple made its displeasure with the EU's demand of $14 billion in back taxes known pretty much right away, but has now gone on an aggressive PR offensive. In an interview with Reuters, General Counsel Bruce Sewell and CFO Luca Maestri state that the company was made to be an example and serves as "convenient target because it generates lots of headlines."
Golfers
An FBI agent has admitted that he leaked information to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times about an insider trading investigation into professional gambler Billy Walters and featured KPMG billboard Phil Mickelson. Walters was eventually indicted for insider trading, allegedly acting on info given to him by the former chairman of Dean Foods. Mickelson was never charged, only named as a relief defendant and still dons his KPMG hat for dough.
CPAs going to pot
Ranica Arrowsmith reports in Accounting Today about the New York State Society of CPAs's recent marijuana symposium. The society's president F. Michael Zovistoski "noted that the society prides itself on remaining ahead of the curve in all things that affect the accounting profession, and the opening up of marijuana laws should be no different." Let GC be the first to welcome NYSSCPA to the party. We've been here since at least 2014.
Whistleblowers
Here's a Gretchen Morgenson column in the New York Times examining a recent study on the effect whistleblowers have on a company's financial and tax reporting. Turns out, those companies that have a whistleblower incident "are significantly more likely to experience a decrease in the incidence of accounting irregularities and a decrease in tax aggressiveness." In other words, it works! Morgenson notes that the SEC has awarded $136 million to 37 whistleblowers since 2011. Oh, and the article is accompanied by the perfunctory Arthur Andersen/Enron-related photo.
Previously, on Going Concern…
I wrote about LinkedIn Salary. In Open Items, what made this CPA go on a shooting rampage?
In other news:
- BDO's 2016 global revenue was $7.6 billion.
- Christine Lagarde, I.M.F. Chief, Found Guilty in France Trial
- Elon Musk hates sitting in traffic, says he’s going to build tunnels
- How One Couple Fought For The Legal Right To Leave A Bad Yelp Review
- Ghost shark!
Get the Accounting News Roundup in your inbox every weekday by signing up here.
