Valeant: Why Enron-era accounting never really died with Enron [Fortune]
Jack Ciesielski noticed that not a lot has changed over the last 13 years in the realm of corporate financial reporting. He covers all the evidence from failed efforts by the PCAOB to the FASB's dead-end projects to the SEC's lack of enforcement.
Parmalat settles dispute with Grant Thornton [Reuters]
The 11 year-old lawsuit was settled on Friday and "fully and finally releases" Grant Thornton. The firm will pay $4.4 million.
Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice [NYT]
Remember when we talked about arbitration way back in March of 2014? You know it's gotten out of hand when The New York Times puts out a two-part story on the subject.
Charlie Munger Isn't Done Bashing Valeant [Bloomberg]
Warren Buffett's BFF said, "Valeant, the pharmaceutical company, is ITT come back to life. It wasn’t moral the first time. And the second time, it’s not better. And people are enthusiastic about it. I’m holding my nose." In other Valeant news, Matt Levine isn't sure why journalists "equate generally accepted accounting principles with virtue, and non-GAAP numbers with deception," since Valeant's accounting seems to be the least of their problems. Also, Citron Research's Andrew Left backed off on releasing another report today because his lawyers asked him to "let the story evolve."
To Go Big 4 or Regional? [Open Items]
That is the question.
In other news:
- People are still eulogizing the 40-hour workweek. [FT]
- Dancing with friends is good for your health. [Quartz]
- Bernie Sanders Doesn’t Kiss Babies [NYT]
- Bad coffee. [SeriousEats]