A Risk-Taker’s Game: Insider Trading [DealBook]
I wonder if Phil Mickelson knows the over/under on KPMG's PCAOB failure rate: "Mr. Mickelson has been dogged for years by speculation about whether his gambling is a passion or a problem. 'Phil’s the kind of guy who will bet you his luggage comes off the airport carousel first,' Bob Verdi, a writer for Golf Digest who knows Mr. Mickelson, said in a 2002 Sports Illustrated profile. 'If he ever flew commercial, that is,' Mr. Verdi added."
Charlotte’s Mike McGuire prepares to lead accounting firm Grant Thornton [CO]
Mike McGuire's plan runs 160 pages or so but he'll be giving partners the Cliffs Notes version: " I have built a plan. It was like 160 pages … a very executable plan that covers a lot of areas around our strategy and what we’re going to do, who’s going to do it, when we’re going to do it. I wasn’t going to share a 160-page plan with all of our partners, because that’s obviously overkill. I summarized it all the way to basically a five-page plan and white paper."
The vanished grandeur of accounting [BG]
Jacob Soll writes that accounting once inspired art. Not so much any more: "In Washington's National Gallery of Art hangs a portrait by Jan Gossaert. Painted around 1530, at the very moment when the Dutch were becoming the undisputed masters of European trade, it shows the merchant Jan Snouck Jacobsz at work at his desk. The painter’s remarkable gift for detail is evident in Jacobsz’s dignified expression, his fine ermine clothes and expensive rings. Rendered just as carefully are his quill pen, account ledger, and receipts."
Deloitte prepares to take on the UK legal market [The Lawyer]
Deloitte is finally getting in on the legal action in the U.K.: "Amsterdam-based Piet Hein Meeter, who took over as global managing director of Deloitte Legal on 1 June, is looking to grow the network across the globe, with the UK top of his agenda. Currently Deloitte does not offer any legal services in the UK. […] Deloitte Legal, a network of firms operating in 56 countries across Asia, the Americas and the EMEA region, is currently made up of 1,300 lawyers."
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong:
Carson Block alleges auditors continue to sign off on frauds because no perceived risk of additional liability @ CARE HK conference
— Paul Gillis (@ProfGillis) June 9, 2014
On Golden’s Con: Selling False Hope for Fundamental Changes to Financial Reporting [Accounting Onion]
Tom Selling, long a critic of the FASB at every turn, gives a clue that may stem the tide: "[M]y most fervent wish is for the Board to abandon historic cost, and the excess baggage of “impairment testing” that comes with it. If they would only do that, I promise to shut up."
Get a "Praise Pal" at Work to Avoid Self-Promotion [Lifehacker]
Your resume is far more convincing if you aren't the phone talking about it.
