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ANR: EU Lawmaker to Big 4: Gird Your Loins; Is the SEC Focusing Too Much on Ponzi Schemes?; Sweet Old Lady Enraged by Delayed Refund | 10.18.12

EU lawmaker tells accounting industry to prepare for change [Reuters]
EU member states and the EU Parliament are scrutinising a draft EU law that proposes far-reaching changes to improve information for investors and increase auditor choice in a sector dominated by just four companies globally. Sajjad Karim, the British centre-right lawmaker steering the law through parliament, said on Thursday this week's announcement of a two-month delay to January of initial findings from a UK Competition Commission probe into the audit market would hold him back. "We had hoped for some level of insight into what they are doing but we are going to carry on," Karim told Reuters. The so-called Big Four accounting firms which audit nearly all top companies – KPMG, Ernst & Young, Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers – hope the British probe won't come up with radical "remedies".

Is The SEC's Ponzi Crusade Enabling Companies To Cook The Books, Enron-Style? [Forbes]
Is a stretched SEC neglecting accounting fraud? In a statement to FORBES, SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami argued that the task force was no longer needed because accounting expertise exists throughout the agency, and the number and severity of earnings restatements (a flag for possible accounting fraud) has declined dramatically since the mid-2000s. He added: “In a world of limited resources, we must prioritize our efforts. … The reorganization helped to focus us on where the fraud is and not where the fraud isn’t, while allowing us to remain fully capable of addressing cases of accounting and disclosure fraud.”

UBS found 3 other unauthorised trading incidents, court told [Reuters]
UBS managers have detected three unauthorised trading incidents within the bank unrelated to accused "rogue trader" Kweku Adoboli, a London court heard on Thursday. The information was part of an addendum to a KPMG report into Adoboli's trading that was communicated to the accused fraudster's legal defence team last week. The court was not told when the three previously unheard-of incidents occurred, and no details were given.

Problem Solver: Delayed IRS refund steams woman [CT]
Telling a 93-year-old woman that her refund is delayed and it will arrive in 6-8 weeks once is fine. Telling her three times and warning that her identity might have been stolen will instill rage: "I was thinking, just send me the damn money and I don't care about identity theft," [Alvina] Pryor said. 

Customers Refuse to Press Charges Against Couple Having Sex on Restaurant Table Because, Hey, Dinner and a Show [Gawker]
32-year-old Jeremie Calo and his date, Tiffani Lynn Barganier, were casually dining on the establishment's patio when the mood suddenly struck them and they decided to hump each others' brains out right there on the table. […] "Compose yourself, pay your tab or I'll call the police," Tom Murphy reportedly told Calo, to which he responded by writing out "NO" on his bill and trying to leave. An altercation ensued, and Calo was eventually subdued and held until the police showed up.

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