Accounting News Roundup: SEC Rolling Out Exec Comp Rules; KPMG Keeps Wells Fargo Gig; Stop Calling It a Death Tax | 04.29.15

Longing for the Days of the Big Eight [Reuters]
[A]s corporations become more global, the need for economies of scale may require fewer larger firms. Still, the right number is probably more than four.

A firewall to stop Europe’s crisis spreading [FT]
BO: “Given the scope of the challenge and the threat to the global economy, it is important for all of us that this strategy be implemented successfully – including building a credible firewall that prevents the crisis from spreaduropean banks, charting a sustainable path for Greece and tackling the structural issues at the heart of the current crisis. The European Union is America’s single largest economic partner and a critical anchor of the global economy. I am confident that Europe has the financial and economic capacity to meet this challenge, and the US will continue to support our European partners as they work to resolve this crisis.”

Taxes Remain Stumbling Block For Deficit Panel [WSJ]
House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) acknowledged that the 12-member House-Senate Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction was still far from reaching an agreement, but he said he was keeping up the pressure on the panel not to give up. “I expect that it’s going to be very difficult to get to an outcome, but I am committed to getting to an outcome,” he said. “We’re into the really tough time and it is going to take a lot more work.”

Republicans put faith in radical tax plans [FT]
The US budget may be drowning in red ink, but that has only spurred Republican candidates to propose cuts in tax rates for individuals and companies as they compete for the right to challenge Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election. Three candidates – Rick Perry, the Texas governor, Newt Gingrich, the former speaker, and Herman Cain, a businessman and radio host – have put forward radical plans for flat taxes. In the Reaganite tradition of supply-side economics, these candidates see their flatter tax proposals as both their main growth engines and a potential route to a balanced budget.

Consultant gets 10 years in massive accounting fraud at western Pa.’s defunct Le-Nature’s [AP]
Fifty-five-year-old Andrew Murin, of McMurray, was sentenced Thursday based on a June guilty plea to mail fraud in the scam that cost lenders, investors and vendors more than $650 million.

Exposing Auditors’ Work [Fraud Files]
Lately, there has been talk of more requirements for auditors: more disclosures, more discussion, more information on who is doing the audits. Would a narrative by the auditors add more meaning to audit reports?

Overstock’s “Likely” Breach of Debt Covenants [WCF]
Make no mistake, Sam Antar is enjoying this.

Zetas drug cartel ‘accountant’ detained [Telegraph]
Mexican marines detained alleged Zetas “accountant” Carmen del Consuelo Saenz two days ago in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, along 10 other alleged Zetas members. Saenz, 29, was allegedly in charge of receiving proceeds from drug sales, pirated goods, kidnappings and extortions in five southern states of Mexico, said Navy spokesman Jose Luis Vergara. Saenz used the illicit proceeds to bribe authorities and meet the drug gang’s payroll, he said.

PwC appoints global head of tax [Accountancy Age]
Richard Stamm is your man.

Obama Vows to ‘Knock Down’ Business Barriers [WSJ]
President Barack Obama told business leaders at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce they should stop hoarding cash and start hiring in return for tax breaks and other government support for exports and innovation. Mr. Obama’s speech Monday on the home turf of the nation’s biggest business lobby was part of an effort by the White House to patch up relations with the Chambers after two years of clashes over health care, regulatory policy and tax issues. Mr. Obama offered conciliatory words, but the thrust of his speech was a call to business leaders to use the $2 trillion ince sheets to “get in the game” and start adding jobs in the U.S., despite slow growth in consumer demand.

Groupon CFO Jason Child: ‘I Don’t See Any Limits’ [Daily Finance]
To the business, that is. An IPO, on the other hand, “If we’re a public company, I have to spend time thinking about Sarbanes-Oxley, fair disclosure requirements. I have to think about balancing the need to report sufficient information to investors without giving too much to competitors.”

Michael Moore sues Weinsteins over Fahrenheit 9/11 [Reuters]
Filmmaker Michael Moore has sued Harvey and Bob Weinstein, accusing the brothers of “Hollywood accounting tricks” and “financial deception” that cheated him out of at least $2.7 million in profits from the hit documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11.” In a lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Moore says the Weinsteins and an affiliated entity called the Fellowship Adventure Group agreed to split profits from the film 50-50 but then diverted monies to hide them from Moore.

Unlearning the Income Tax: Another Journey to Frivolity [Taxable Talk]
Russ Fox shares the latest in “taxes are illegal” education, from the Institute of Unlearning: “[I]ts proprietor, one Patrick Mooney, espouses that, ‘[A] private sector worker’s earnings are not legally subject to the federal tax on income. They never have been, and as long as we still have a Constitution, they never will be.’ Mr. Mooney was highly confident in his beliefs, so he filed a 2005 tax return with all zeroes, and claimed a refund of $2,647.48, the amount he had withheld in federal tax during the year.”

Private-Label Beers Take a Shot at Earning Joe Sixpack’s Respect [WSJ]
Your low-price alternative, “Supervalu, the third-largest U.S. grocery chain by revenue, began selling Buck Range Light, a low-priced domestic brew, in December. Drugstore chain Walgreens recently began offering Big Flats 1901 for as little as $2.99 a six pack. The retailers are trying to tempt shoppers with lower-priced alternatives to domestic mass-market brews such as MillerCoors LLC’s Keystone Light. The effort comes amid declining sales volumes for the beer industry, which has been hurt by stubbornly high unemployment.”

Fees will rise as Audit Commission is abolished [Accountancy Age]
David Heald, professor of accountancy at the University of Aberdeen Business School, said that auditors would have to charge local authorities higher fees to pay for insurance, which is currently covered by the commission itself. Speaking at the first hearing of the Commons communities and local government select committee inquiry on the future of council auditing, he said: “One of the reasons I am skeptical of audit fees going down is that private audit firms will have to buy insurance in the market, meaning that some councils will find it very hard to get audited.”