Who audits Alibaba? [China Accounting Blog]
PwC Hong Kong, supposedly: "Alibaba is audited by the Hong Kong member firm of PwC, or at least that is what the audit opinion says. I am a bit skeptical about that claim. While there may be a Hong Kong partner assigned to the account, I will bet dollars to donuts that a large portion of the hours on the audit were done by mainland staff. This raises the question of whether the audit should have been signed by PwC’s mainland member firm instead of the Hong Kong member firm."
Chairman of KPMG in the Netherlands resigns, company says [Reuters]
According to the firm, Jurgen van Breukelen quit today, "less than a month after authorities launched a criminal investigation into a joint venture involving the accounting firm."
2 Banking Giants Implore U.S. Authorities to Go Easy [DealBook]
It's cute when banks beg: "To avoid the fallout from pleading guilty — no giant bank has done so in more than two decades — BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse made last-ditch appeals to prosecutors and regulators in recent weeks, according to people briefed on the talks. The private meetings came after prosecutors sought guilty pleas from the parent companies of both banks: BNP of France over doing business with countries like Sudan that the United States has blacklisted, and Credit Suisse for offering tax shelters to wealthy Americans."
Atlas Service Link LLC Joins EY in the US [EY]
A couple of EY alums, Tony LaBove and Travis Fox, went out on their own for awhile and EY is having them and their corporate tax management consulting firm back.
CFOs Are Eager to Be Consultants [CFO]
Says a survey from Bob Half: "Among 2,100 financial executives interviewed, three in four said they find the prospect of consulting either somewhat attractive (58 percent) or very attractive (17 percent)."
Worst-ever edition [Tax Upate]
A Tax Analysts correspondent prompted Joe Kristan to explain why Doug Shulman was the worst IRS commissioner ever. Joe obliged.
Cocaine use in Britain so high it has contaminated drinking water, report shows [Independent]
Well, blow me down! "Cocaine use in the UK is now so common that traces of the drug have contaminated the drinking water supply, a report has shown. In a study to assess the dangers from pharmaceutical compounds appearing in the water we drink, scientists discovered traces of cocaine after it had gone through intensive purification treatments.