Accounting News Roundup: KPMG Picks Up BAT; Hating the AMT; CPA Exam Brackets | 03.25.15

Rewriting Pension History [WSJ]
Some big companies are changing how they account for their pension plans in a way that could make their earnings look better in coming years. AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Honeywell International Inc. recently ended a longstanding practice in which they “smooth” large gains and losses generated by pension assets into their financial results over a period of years. From now on, these companies will count all such gains and losses in the same year they are incurred.

Cracking the Glass Ceiling From Both Sides [FINS]
Women looking to make it to the C-suite stand a better chance if they can get a boost from other women, according to a new study from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. The study shows that companies with more women on their boards of directors have a greater share of women in top executive positions.

Baucus skeptical of businesses taxed as individuals [The Hill]
“I think the development of pass-throughs has not been helpful to the American economy,” Baucus said after a hearing on tax reform in which witnesses also questioned that arrangement. “I don’t know the solution,” the senator added, “but I think the problem of pass-throughs is concerning.”

BofA CFO: To Cut Long-Term Debt To Near $300B In 2013 From $448B [Dow Jones]
Bank of America Corp. plans on trimming its long-term debt by a further third over the next three years, Chief Financial Officer Charles Noski said, continuing the bank’s goal of shrinking itself to handle new capital ratio requirements. Noski said, in conjunction with slashing long-term debt, the bank plans to keep its total asset level relatively stable through 2013. It will continue to run off assets it doesn’t think are core to its business, with only “modest” increases predicted in certain commercial and consumer loans.

Tchenguizes arrested in Kaupthing probe [FT]
Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz, among the UK’s highest-profile entrepreneurs, have been arrested as part of an investigation into the collapse of Kaupthing, the Icelandic investment bank. Enforcement officers from the Serious Fraud Office and the City of London police made the arrests at about 5.30am on Wednesday, while offices at Rotch Property, the investment vehicle that controls the brothers’ property portfolio, have also been raided.

Americans Oppose Government Shutdown, Fault Cuts in Poll [Bloomberg]
Almost 8 in 10 people say Republicans and Democrats should reach a compromise on a plan to reduce the federal budget deficit to keep the government running, a Bloomberg National Poll shows. At the same time, lopsided margins oppose cuts to Medicare, education, environmental protection, medical research and community-renewal programs.

Dynegy Warns It Likely Won’t Be Able To Comply With Debt Covenants [Dow Jones]
Dynegy Inc.’s auditor, Ernst & Young LLP, expressed substantial doubt that the company will be able to continue as a going concern, as the power producer said it is likely that it won’t be able to comply with some debt covenants in 2011.

How to Be the Ultimate Facebook Troll [Gizmodo]
Because if strange people are going to friend you, you might as well fuck with them.

Hearing set on Koch lawsuit over Internet hoax [AP]
A federal judge will hear arguments next month on whether to quash subpoenas filed by Koch Industries seeking the identities of the environmental pranksters behind a media hoax and bogus website. Wichita-based Koch sued an anonymous group behind a bogus website and fake new release issued in December that falsely announced the company was going to fund more environmentally friendly groups.

Auditors face rule changes in Europe [FT]
Auditors operating in Europe face proposed rule changes this year aimed at ensuring their independence and making the market ore competitive, the European Union’s top financial services policymaker said on Thursday. Michel Barnier, EU internal market commissioner, told a conference in Brussels that in the wake of the financial crisis it was no longer possible to accept the status quo. “In this area of audit things will not stay stagnant,” he said. “We are going to take decisions….I shall make suggestions with the aim of presenting a proposed directive…in November,” he said.

Wells Fargo’s Former CFO Atkins to Receive $22 Million After Stepping Down [Bloomberg]
Atkins will be paid about $9.25 million in deferred compensation and pension benefits, according to a company proxy filing and an analysis conducted by Equilar Inc., a Redwood City, California-based executive-pay researcher. He may get another $13.2 million in restricted stock and options that will vest over the next few years, Oscar Suris, a Wells Fargo spokesman, said yesterday in a telephone interview.

Twitter as Tech Bubble Barometer [WSJ]
As Internet valuations climb and bankers and would-be buyers circle Silicon Valley in an increasingly frothy tech market, many eyes are on one particularly desirable, if still enigmatic, target: Twitter. Discussions with at least some potential suitors have produced an estimated valuation of $8 billion to $10 billion. Executives at both Facebook Inc. and Google Inc., among other companies, have held low-level talks with those at Twitter Inc. in recent months to explore the prospect of an acquisition of the messaging service, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks have so far gone nowhere, these people say.

Crystal Cathedral CFO resigns after criticism [AP]
The chief financial officer of Orange County’s Crystal Cathedral has retired after 33 years, saying he wants to help the church reduce expenses. The Orange County Register reports Tuesday that the church confirmed that 75-year-old Fred Southard stepped down following the Garden Grove megachurch’s bankruptcy filing last October. The trustee overseeing the bankruptcy case has scrutinized Southard, his six-figure housing allowance, and other employees and family members of founder Robert Schuller.

Congressman Chris Lee Resigns Following Gawker Revelation [Gawker]
It took a little over three hours from exposure to resignation. Has to be a record.

House Appropriations announces partial list of spending cuts [On the Money/The Hill]
Here are cut proposals that Congressman Lee won’t be voting on, “The cuts announced Wednesday are all from President Obama’s fiscal 2011 request that wasn’t enacted and include $268 million from the Treasury Department, $593 million from the IRS, $899 million from energy efficient and renewable energy, and $700 million from the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, which provides nutritional support to low-income women and their young children.”

Ernst & Young appoints first non-executives [FT]
Three prominent figures from the worlds of business and regulation have become the first independent non-executives to be appointed by Ernst & Young, the accountant that is fighting to distance itself from the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The trio are Mark Olson, a former chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which regulates US auditors; Sir Richard Lambert, former director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, the UK employers’ body; and Klaus Mangold, a former DaimlerChrysler executive.

There Is a Credible Alternative [CEO Insights/Jeremy Newman]
NEWMAN! “I was delighted to issue a statement jointly with my counterparts from Grant Thornton, Mazars and RSM. This is the first time the four firms have issued a joint statement and shows how important this matter is to all of us in the profession and how important it is that there is a strong, and united, voice to balance the extensive lobbying of the four dominant audit firms and to provide support for the EC and their agenda for change.”

New York Leads in Pursuit of Lehman [WSJ]
In 2001, the regulator of the nation’s biggest banks told its examiners to be on the lookout for firms whose regulatory filings made them look healthier than they really were. That followed guidelines issued in 1990 that said banks could face disciplinary action if their filings “have significant inaccuracies or are ‘window dressed.’ “

But as early as this week, it is the New York attorney general—not the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the bank regulator—who is expected to file a lawsuit alleging accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP allowed Wall Street broker Lehman Brothers Holdings to fake itsppear financially healthier.

Staff Audit Practice Alert No. 7 [PCAOB]
Knowing the PCAOB like we do, we’re expecting a major dump of auditor inspections and disciplinary orders on Friday around 3 pm.

Globalization, Regulation and Offshoring Push KPMG to Hire 250,000 over Five Years [FINS]
Julie Steinberg at FINS gets the lowdown from KPMG’s Global Head of People, Rachel Campbell.

SEC Fines Audit Firm, Bars Partner Over China Energy Fraud [Bloomberg]
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fined a California audit firm and one of its partners $129,500 for “improper professional conduct” in connection with a Chinese energy company accused of accounting fraud.

Moore Stephens Wurth Frazer & Torbet LLP of Orange County “did not exercise professional skepticism and due professional care” in audits of China Energy Savings Technology Inc., the agency said in a statement today. Kerry Dean Yamagata, 53, the partner at Moore Stephens responsible for the audits, was barred from practicing as an independent accountant for at least two years, the SEC said.

Accounting Majors Score Lowest in Verbal and Writing Among All Grad Students [TaxProf Blog]
Get better, people.

Details of secret bank talks revealed [FT]
It gets more awkward for auditors in the UK.

Deloitte CEO: Better Career Preparation Starts in High School [Hire Education/WSJ]
Barry Salzberg gets academic in a blog post for the Journal.

BAE to be handed Tanzania fine on Tuesday [Reuters]
BAE Systems will be fined by a London court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to making accounting errors in Tanzania, bringing a six-year investigation into the company’s activities to an end.

The fine is expected to sign off a settlement agreed between Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and BAE in February when the British defence firm entered into a plea bargain deal with the UK fraud watchdog.

How to Make Auditors More Accountable [Room for Debate/NYT]
For those of you looking to get all pointy-headed about this E&Y/Lehman debacle.

Groupon Hires Amazon Finance Executive Child as CFO to Help Raise Funding [Bloomberg]
Groupon Inc., owner of a daily coupon website with 40 million subscribers, named Jason Child chief financial officer as it considers raising more money to fund growth.

Child, 42, previously served as Amazon.com Inc.’s vice president of finance, overseeing its $14 billion international business, Groupon said today in a statement. He will relocate to Chicago, where Groupon is based.