Hong Kong court orders EY to hand over mainland China audit papers [Reuters]
And they'd like names, too: "In a case filed by Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in 2012, the court on Friday rejected EY's contention that Chinese law prohibits the mainland partner of the firm, previously known as Ernst & Young, from passing on documents. EY must explain why it resigned as auditor of Standard Water in 2010 and provide a list of all staff involved in an application by the company to list in Hong Kong that was eventually scrapped, the court said in its ruling, the first of its kind in Hong Kong. EY has 28 days to comply, it said."
HKICPA’s reacts to PRC ban [China Accounting Blog]
Probably related: "The Hong Kong Institute of CPAs (HKICPAs) has come out with comments on the PRC proposal to eliminate temporary audit practice certificates for overseas listed Chinese companies. It is unsurprising that the HKICPAs will be opposed. The proposal, if it goes into effect, will decimate the profession in Hong Kong. The proposal will also put U.S. based CPA firms that audit many small U.S. listed companies out of the business."
Intel Files First Audited Conflict Minerals Report [CFOJ]
See? It's not that difficult: "The Silicon Valley chip giant, which has already declared that its microprocessors are now conflict-free, on Thursday bolstered that claim in a lengthy report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Intel is the first company to submit an audited report, among just a handful to file reports ahead of a June 2 deadline. Ernst & Young, which audits Intel’s financial reports, examined the company’s procedures for conducting due diligence about its supply chain. The firm did not express an opinion about whether Intel’s chips are conflict-free."
In case you've been wondering about auditor tenure in Britain.
The FTSE 100 has an average auditor tenure of 22 years. #eaa2014 pic.twitter.com/crYc6ayBS3
— Audit Analytics (@AuditAnalytics) May 23, 2014
Thousands of Federal Workers Owe Billions in Back Taxes [NBC]
Just a reminder: the Treasury Department's delinquency rate is the lowest, at 1.2%. Employees of the House and Senate are around 4%.
The AICPA doesn’t care for the “voluntary” IRS preparer regulation proposal [Tax Update]
Joe Kristan is reminded of his youth: "The AICPA has figured out that the 'voluntary' program would eventually be voluntary like United Way contributions were 'voluntary' when I was a green staff accountant at a national accounting firm. They were voluntary, but amazingly, participation in the drive was always 100%."
Woman driving Rob Ford's Caddy nabbed on drunk driving [Toronto Sun]
Maybe it was just a game of Truth or Dare gone terribly wrong? "Sources confirm to the Toronto Sun that Lee Anne McRobb, the woman allegedly driving drunk in the mayor’s black Cadillac Escalade alone on Tuesday afternoon, was in rehab treatment at GreeneStone Muskoka with Ford. McRobb wouldn’t tell reporters in Gravenhurst Wednesday at Northland Towing and Recovery why she was behind the wheel of the mayor-mobile. 'It doesn’t matter. That’s for me to know,' McRobb said in a video posted by MooseFM’s Carly Verhoeven. 'You guys don’t need to know.' "
