Category: ANR

Sino-Forest independent committee appoints PwC [Reuters] Canada’s Sino-Forest Corp said late on Monday that an […]

CFOs Wary of Auditor Rotation [CFO Journal]
[T]here is currently very little auditor turnover among large companies. As of last year, companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index have on average been with their auditor for 24.5 years, according to data from Audit Analytics. Of that group, only 77 companies have been with their auditor for seven years or less, while seven companies have used the same auditor for over a century.

PCAOB Shifts into High Gear under Jim Doty [Accounting Onion]
[T]he fact remains that PCAOB inspectors have uncovered far too many problems, in far too many audits, to conclude that something short of broad-based change is called for.

Puma take leap towards green accounting [Accountancy Age]
Puma took the brave step of producing the first environmental profit and loss account from a global organisation. It not only put a price on its carbon usage, but also represented the cost of future damage incurred from its emissions and water usage.

BDO in the News! [The Summa]
Professor Albrecht takes a little trip down memory lane in accounting firm failures.

Cat lady’s feline foster care tax deduction slashed from $12,000 to $250 [DMWT]
A house full of feral cats demands some sort of tax planning.

“Sideshow Bob” Marshall Gets His Panties In a Bunch Over Richmond Fed’s Gayness [JDA]
Who knew a rainbow flag could cause so much trouble?

Updating a Résumé for 2011 [WSJ]
In case you’re looking.

Madoff’s underwear fetch $200 at Fla. auction [Reuters]
It was fourteen pairs of boxers.

Learn to Like Your Job [WSJ]
Toxic workplace relationships, failing company fortunes and limited advancement opportunities are just a few compelling reasons to quit a job. But career experts say many workplace problems that employees may think are irreconcilable can be improved or even resolved with some action and a change of attitude.

Companies May Face Rule to Shift Audit Firms [NYT]
Publicly traded companies may be forced to change their audit firms after several years, the chief regulator of the industry said Thursday. James R. Doty, who became chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board this year, said in a speech that he had been disturbed by evidence turned up by board inspectors that many auditors failed to show sufficient independence from their clients. “Considering the disturbing lack of skepticism we continue to see,” he told a conference at the University of Southern California, “the board is prepared to consider all possible methods of addressing the problem of audit quahether mandatory audit firm rotation would help address the inherent conflict created because the auditor is paid by the client.”

Deloitte attacked for appointing former RBS auditor as chairman [Telegraph]
A group of institutional investors has launched an extraordinary attack on Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu for appointing the former auditor of the Royal Bank of Scotland as its new global chairman. The investors are angry that Steve Almond, who was responsible for vetting the accounts of RBS between 2005 and 2009, has been promoted to the head of one of the “Big Four” audit firms.

Virgin America hiring new CFO from Pinnacle Air [AP]
Peter D. Hunt will become CFO and senior vice president effective July 11, replacing Holly Nelson, who is leaving “to pursue other opportunities,” Virgin America said. Hunt has spent six years at Pinnacle, which operates regional flights for Delta, Continental and US Airways through subsidiaries that include Colgan Air and Mesaba Aviation.

IRS Loosens Aug. 31 Deadline for Offshore Tax Disclosures [Bloomberg]
The Internal Revenue Service will let taxpayers with undeclared offshore accounts apply for a 90-day extension of the Aug. 31 deadline for coming forward. The change, announced on the IRS website today, would let taxpayers seek the extension in writing by showing that they have made a “good-faith attempt” to meet the deadline and explain what information they are missing. “This would be a welcome relief to many taxpayers,” said Barbara Kaplan, an attorney at Greenberg Traurig LLP in New York. “There is difficulty in getting the records together.”

Groupon’s Non-GAAP Measures Raise Questions [CFO Journal]
Beware non-GAAP accounting measures. In the case of Groupon’s IPO filing, at least, they seem to raise more questions than they answer about the company’s earnings prospects.

SEC Probes China Auditors [WSJ]
The SEC has publicly indicated it was examining accounting and disclosure issues regarding Chinese companies that engaged in “reverse mergers,” which allow companies to list on U.S. exchanges without as much regulatory scrutiny as an initial public offering. People familiar with the matter say the investigation also includes auditors, which hadn’t previously been known. As part of its inquiry, the SEC has suspended trading on some Chinese companies, questioning their truthfulness about their finances and operations.

Key Dem: Tax reform should not hurt working families [The Hill]
Rep. Sandy Levin, the top Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee is set to say Friday that, while there is a need for tax reform, an overhaul of the code should not punish working families. Officials on both sides of the aisle have called tax reform a priority, and Republicans are pushing a plan to reduce both the top corporate and individual rates to 25 percent, down from their current 35 percent.

SEC Still Struggling to Stop Its Porn Problem [ABC]
A new report from the SEC’s inspector general David Kotz details how three employees and a contractor were caught checking out porn at work, the latest string of incidents uncovered by the agency’s watchdog. Kotz only launches investigations after the SEC’s security system flags employees for repeated attempts to access porn websites, but as he outlines in his new semi-annual report to Congress, he recently conducted probes into four workers.

Deloitte Elects New Chairman of the Board, Deloitteited [Deloitte]
Stephen Almond takes the reins from John Connolly.

Key GOP chairman says Geithner might be looking for revenue in tax reform [The Hill]
Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he got that impression after speaking with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner following Wednesday’s meeting between President Obama and House Republicans. “I think the secretary would like to see revenue as part of any sort of tax package,” Camp said.

India Allows Accounting Firms to Set Up LLPs [WSJ]
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, through the issue of two notifications, has allowed chartered accountants to form limited liability partnership firms. The circulars have removed the ambiguity around the terms “partnerships” and “body corporates”, which would otherwise have required amendments to the Companies Act, 1956, and the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.

Auditors in China burned by cash balance scandals [Reuters]
[Q]uestions have been raised about whether auditors need to beef up procedures for confirming bank statements. Cash is the lifeblood of any company, and bank balances have figured in a number of recent Chinese accounting scandals.

The Art and Science of Business Valuation [AW]
Would you know how to value Linked In? Four billion? Ten billion? The real value of LinkedIn has been talk of the business media since its IPO on May 19. Is the company overvalued? Does Wall Street “get it” about valuing social media companies? The controversy over LinkedIn value puts the spotlight on the art and science of business valuation.

Taxpayer-ID Theft Climbs Despite IRS Crackdown [Bloomberg]
Taxpayer identity theft is growing even as the Internal Revenue Service has taken a series of steps to prevent it, according to a Government Accountability Office report. The IRS identified 248,357 instances of such theft in 2010, compared with 169,087 in 2009 and 51,702 in 2008, according to the GAO. Identity thieves cash in on stolen names and Social Security numbers by filing fraudulent tax returns or by using such data to obtain a job.

Speaker Boehner calls for debt ceiling deal by the end of June [The Hill]
In a press briefing with reporters, Boehner said that waiting until later in the summer could negatively affect financial markets. He claimed an agreement “needs to be done over the next month.”

Deloitte Expands Cloud Computing Practice [Deloitte]
Paul Clemmons will lead the new practice.

Studies Fuel Dueling Views on U.S. Corporate Taxes [WSJ]
While Congress duels over whether U.S. companies should pay more in taxes, a pair of reports provided fodder for each side of the debate this week.

Sherron Watkins and Harvey Pitt on SEC’s Whistleblower Rules [CFO Journal]
Pitt said that paying up to 20% of penalties collected for a securities-law violation to the person who provided the information that led to the case would “undermine corporate governance.” Employees seeking “lottery-like” returns will inundate the SEC with marginal claims, he warned. “There will be two gems within those 10,000 or 20,000 complaints but whether the SEC will be able to pick those two out is a different question.”

Satyam case: HC rejects auditors plea on disciplinary action [Business Standard]
PricewaterhouseCoopers auditors, Subramani Gopalakrishnan and Srinivas Talluri, accused in the Rs 14,000-crore Satyam accounting fraud, today received a jolt as the Delhi High Court today rejected their pleas against the disciplinary proceedings initiated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). A Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna dismissed the petitions filed by the two auditors, who had sought a stay on disciplinary proceedings initiated by the ICAI for their alleged involvement in the Satyam accounting fraud.

Navistar Sues Deloitte Proving No Statute of Limitations On Idiocy [Forbes]
Nearly one hundred years together. Down the drain.

‘Tax Lady’ Roni Deutch faces tax lien of nearly $183,000 [Modesto Bee]
Tax attorney Roni Lynn Deutch has been slapped with a nearly $183,000 federal tax lien, according to Internal Revenue Service filings, another sign of the Tax Lady’s financial woes. Deutch, who built a $25-million-a-year tax resolution law firm promising clients relief from the IRS, was hit with a lien of $182,722, filed May 9 in Placer County Superior Court.

KPMG Executive Poll: 39% Say Anti-Corruption Laws Disadvantage Them [WSJ]
A KPMG LLP poll of 214 executives in the U.S. and the U.K. showed that only 39% believed anti-corruption laws had hurt them competitively, and fewer than 20% though enforcement of such laws was “excessive.” The survey offered a glimpse into the C-Suite as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce intensifies efforts to amend the FCPA on the grounds that aggressive enforcement has held back U.S. business.

Cellphone Cancer Warning [WSJ]
Using a cellphone may increase the risk of a certain type of brain cancer, an international panel of experts said Tuesday, adding to a growing debate about whether a now nearly ubiquitous form of communication poses health risks. The experts said cellphone radio waves are “possibly carcinogenic,” classifying them in the same risk category as lead, chloroform and coffee. The classification from the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer could lead the United Nations health body to look again at its mobile-phone guidelines, the scientists said.

At I.M.F., a Strict Ethics Code Doesn’t Apply to Top Officials [NYT]
Over the last four years, the fund has tightened internal systems for catching ethical misconduct among its 2,400 staff members, establishing a telephone hot line for complaints like harassment; publishing details of complaints in an annual report; and empowering an ethics adviser to pursue allegations, which last year led to at least one dismissal. But the fund’s board members remain largely above these controls. The ethics adviser, for example, is not able to investigate any of them.

Are Taxes in the U.S. High or Low? [Economix/NYT]
In short, by the broadest measure of the tax rate, the current level is unusually low and has been for some time. Revenues were 14.9 percent of G.D.P. in both 2009 and 2010.

Liquidation of Stanford Bank taken over by Grant Thornton [Telegraph]
The accountants were appointed after bank creditors challenged the appointment of Vantis. The listed accountancy firm had itself gone into administration in June last year, at which point the liquidators dealing with the business joined FRP Advisory.

Ryan Says Rich Should Pay More as Sanders Defends Entitlements for Wealthy [Bloomberg]
Bernie Sanders, the U.S. Senate’s only avowed socialist, may be the chamber’s fiercest advocate of taxing the rich to cut the federal deficit. That doesn’t mean he wants to reduce their Social Security and Medicare benefits. Representative Paul Ryan, the Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee, wants to give the wealthy big tax breaks to encourage them to invest and create jobs. He also wants to take away many of their retirement benefits.

“Goodwill Impairment” Accounting Could Become Less Costly – and Earnings Management a Lot Easier [Accounting Onion]
Among the “panoply of misnomers in financial accounting,” Tom Selling finds “goodwill” to be the most overt example. Don’t even get him started on trying measure “impairment.”

Memorial Day Tax Resources for U.S. Armed Forces (& Their Families, Employers) [TaxProf Blog]
We didn’t get yesterday off “just cuz.”

The Audacity of Chinese Frauds [NYT]
In mid-March, just after the fraud at China MediaExpress was exposed, Longtop announced plans to put some of the cash to use by spending up to $50 million to repurchase its own shares. On April 28, the company tried to assure analysts that the fraud claims were bogus. Derek Palaschuk, a Canadian accountant who served as the company’s chief financial officer, wrapped himself in Deloitte’s prestige, saying that those who questioned Longtop were “criticizing the integrity of one of the top accounting firms in the world.”

Funding Concerns Still Surround IASB [CFO Journal]
The International Accounting Standards Board has faced questions for years about whether its funding sources are stable enough for it to truly be the world’s top accounting standard setter. So it was likely an uncomfortable day last month when it disclosed an operating deficit of £1.3 million ($2.1 million) for 2010. But perhaps even more awkward for the IASB is the fact that the Financial Accounting Foundation, which funds and oversees the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board, recently stepped forward to help it with its finances.

Goldman Sachs Needs a New Audit Committee [Bloomberg]
Jonathan Weil takes a look at the members of Goldman’s audit committee – the chair of which is James Schiro, PwC’s former CEO – and doesn’t like what he sees.

Goldman CFO says clients “past” Levin — analyst [Reuters]
Goldman Sachs believes its clients are “largely past” the regulatory investigations and accusations that have surrounded the bank, according to an analyst who met its Chief Financial Officer. Goldman Chief Financial Officer David Viniar said the bank does not expect the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to bring any more claims against it after a $550 million settlement last year, according to a report from Susquehanna Financial Group analyst David Hilder.

SJSU announces scholarships in memory of 2 slain honor students [SJMN]
Days before Marcory “Cindy” Tarlit Caliguiran and Thomas Kyle Williams would have graduated with honors from San Jose State’s business school, SJSU announced scholarship funds have been created in their memories.

Small Businesses Fight IRS Over Data [WSJ]
The Internal Revenue Service, moving aggressively to collect more taxes from small businesses, is telling companies being audited to turn over exact copies of the electronic records kept in their business-software programs, according to a letter from an agency official to the American Institute of CPAs. The accounting group fears this will force small businesses to turn over customer lists, personnel data, confidential client information and other unrelated information often contained in the off-the-shelf software programs many businesses use to manage all aspects of their finances.

Conservative Group Wins Nonprofit Status From I.R.S. [NYT]
The Internal Revenue Service has granted nonprofit status to the group that brought down two senior executives at NPR and dealt a death blow to the community organizing group Acorn with videos of its employees giving tax advice to people claiming to be a pimp and prostitute.

SEC Staff Presents “Condorsement” as Possible Method for Move to IFRS [JofA]
A staff paper published Thursday by the SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant (OCA) presents in detail and solicits comments on the so called “condorsement” approach to incorporating IFRS into the U.S. financial reporting system. “The Staff’s discussion in this Staff Paper is not intended to suggest that the Commission has determined to incorporate IFRS,” the paper says, “or that the discussed framework is the preferred approach or would be the only possible approach.”

~ Sorry for the late start today, the Internet gods were not smiling on me this morning.

IRS Scrutinizes Gifts of Real Estate [WSJ]
The Internal Revenue Service has a low-profile but sweeping effort under way to use state land-transfer records for evidence of omissions in reporting gifts of real estate to family members. Beth Shapiro Kaufman, a partner in the private-client group at law firm Caplin & Drysdale in Washington, D.C., said many tax advisers may not be aware of the IRS effort. She added that as the agency gets records from more states, “we can expect additional examinations.”

Report: Philips looking at accounting in Mexico [AP]
A Dutch newspaper says Royal Philips Electronics NV is investigating possible accounting mistakes at its Mexican business in 2009. The Eindhovens Dagblad newspaper says it has papers from a KPMG accountant indicating the company’s earnings statements may have to be adjusted as a result. The report gave no indication of the size of the potential problem. Mexico accounts for a small percentage of the company’s sales. Philips spokesman Steve Klink said Wednesday he couldn’t comment on the accuracy of the report, but added that the company takes adherence to accounting and ethical rules seriously and would take appropriate action if warranted.

SEC Approves Rewards for Whistleblowers [WSJ]
The Securities and Exchange Commission approved in a 3-2 vote a plan to pay financial rewards to whistleblowers who report evidence of corporate wrongdoing merely to the agency, without also informing their employers. Business groups and others had argued that to earn such “bounties,” employees should have to first report their findings through internal company channels before going to the SEC.

KPMG – ‘the greenest building on the wharf’ [Guardian]
London’s rapidly expanding Canary Wharf may not be the most obvious place to look for innovative examples of sustainable building and design. Yet when KPMG selected 15, Canada Square as the site of its new UK headquarters, it had a very clear vision – to go beyond the demands of environmental and building legislation to create the greenest building on the wharf.

Improving the Code of Professional Conduct [JofA]
The AICPA’s Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC) is undertaking a project to recodify the Institute’s ethics standards. The Ethics Codification Project’s primary focus is to improve the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct so that members and others can apply the rules and reach correct conclusions more easily. To achieve this, PEEC will restructure the Code into topical areas, edit the Code using consistent drafting and style conventions, and revise certain Code provisions (primarily independence) to reflect the “conceptual framework” approach. PEEC will expose the restructured and redrafted Code for public comment before considering it for final adoption.

Senate rejects Ryan budget [The Hill]
The Senate on Wednesday resoundingly rejected a budget sponsored by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) that calls for significant cuts to future Medicare benefits. The 40-57 vote came one day after Republicans suffered an upset defeat in a special election in upstate New York where Democrats made Medicare cuts the primary issue.

AIG Share Sale Raises $8.7 Billion for Treasury, Insurer [Bloomberg]
The Treasury sold 200 million shares yesterday at $29 each, compared with the closing price of $29.46 on the New York Stock Exchange. The government, which retains a majority stake, needs to sell shares at an average of about $28.73 to recover a $47.5 billion investment. AIG disposed of 100 million shares, raising $2.9 billion, according to a statement from the company.

Only China can tackle its own dodgy accounting [Reuters]
What about the hostage takers?

John Edwards: U.S. Green-Lights Prosecution for Alleged Campaign Law Violations Tied to Affair Cover-Up [ABC]
A source close to the case said Edwards is aware that the government intends to seek an indictment and that the former senator from North Carolina is now considering his limited options.

State Tax Revenue Increases by 9.1% [WSJ]
The revenue gains, which were driven by a 12.4% jump in personal income taxes, reflect the improving economy as well as tax increases passed during the recession. Sales taxes grew 5.6% while corporation income taxes, which are volatile and make up only a small portion of states’ tax collections, grew 6.9% in the quarter.

Resume Debate: Word v. PDF [FINS]
Hey, it matters.

RubinBrown joins forces with Bondi & Co. accounting firm of Denver [KCBJ]
RubinBrown LLP will merge with Bondi & Co. LLC on June 1 in a move designed to put the combined company among the nation’s 50 largest accounting firms. RubinBrown Chairman James Castellano said the deal will boost the firm’s annual revenue from $54 million to $65 million. Bondi partners were given a partnership stake in RubinBrown, but financial terms were not disclosed. The Bondi name will disappear.

LarsonAllen to Merge in Raymon Pielech Zexter [AT]
“RPZ has built a strong tax practice over the years, and we’re very proud of that,” RPZ managing shareholder Jeff Raymon said in a statement. “But in today’s business and financial market, we need to offer our clients more to help them succeed and stay competitive. Joining with LarsonAllen will give us the capacity to serve the broader spectrum of their financial and advisory needs almost immediately.”

Huguette Clark, the reclusive copper heiress, dies at 104 [MSNBC]
“IRV1040” is lurking.

Evidence Said to Tie Ex-I.M.F. Chief to Housekeeper [NYT]
Evidence from the work clothes of a hotel housekeeper matched DNA samples taken from Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund who has been charged with sexually assaulting her, a person briefed on the matter said Monday. The test results were consistent with what law enforcement officials have said about the account provided by the woman, the person briefed in the matter said.

FAF Unveils New Accounting Review Process [CFO Journal]
The Financial Accounting Foundation unveiled a new process for reviewing financial accounting rules on Friday, but some observers wonder if the process will undermine the independence of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, and give greater weight to the needs of filers and their consultants, rather than the investing public the rules were meant to serve.

Accountants shun social media when attracting clients [Accountancy Age]
Less than one in ten accountants use social media as a main means of attracting clients, according to a survey by the CCH IT company and YouGov. At its annual conference, CCH said that, even with the vast technological advances, “traditional” and “conventional” methods such as face to face meetings continued to dominate the way accountants draw in new clients.

Democrats request $15 million for taxpayer aid program [The Hill]
House Democrats are urging appropriators to include $15 million in a bill to expand and strengthen services provided to low- and moderate-income taxpayers through matching grants to Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) centers.

Are the Feds Going Insane? [WCF]
When people start snooping around your illegal activities, just conduct an internal investigation to get them to back off.

Wanted: a New PCAOB Member [The Summa]
Dan Goelzer’s term wraps in October. Feel free to throw your hat in the ring.

State Corporate Income Tax Rates [Tax Foundation]
Iowa?

Why Obama’s Corporate Tax Reform Will Fail [Tax.com]
A large reduction in the U.S. corporate tax rate is inevitable. It can’t miss when proponents have an easy-to-understand talking point: The United States will soon have the highest corporate tax rate in the world. If it weren’t for the Japanese earthquake, we would already have the number one spot.

Lagarde is Front-Runner to Head IMF [Bloomberg]
Support mounted for French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde to head the International Monetary Fund as Mexico offered its central bank governor as an emerging- market candidate, challenging Europe’s 65-year hold on the job. U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said in a May 21 statement his nation will back Lagarde to become the first woman to head the Washington-based lender. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said consensus was emerging in Europe for her to get the post, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported two days ago.

Citi Hiresmuel Di Piazza As Senior Banker [Dow Jones]
Samuel Di Piazza Jr., the former Chief Executive of PricewaterhouseCoopers International LLP, joined the growing group of rainmakers Di Piazza, who left PwC in 2009, joined Citi as vice chairman of the bank’s “institutional clients group,” the bank’s name for its investment banking division, and as a member of the senior strategic advisory group. He is one of several prominent executives and politicians hired to help Citi get and maintain a seat at the table when multinational corporations and governments seek strategic advice for deals and issue securities.

The Right Job? It’s Much Like the Right Spouse [NYT]
Barry Salzberg’s interview with the Times features a lot of the same anecdotes as his speech at Wharton and he throws in a marriage metaphor for good measure.

House Arrest Starts for Strauss-Kahn [WSJ]
Dominique Strauss-Kahn is out of jail, but the experience of others who have faced house-arrest arrangements as tight as his suggests the former International Monetary Fund chief faces a trying time. Mr. Strauss-Kahn, accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid earlier this month, will be forbidden to leave a New York City apartment for all but a few situations. The arrangement calls for at least one armed guard to keep him under close surveillance 24 hours a day, seven-days a week—all at Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s expense.

Sears CFO Departs, Company Taps Controller Phelan [WSJ]
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) said Chief Financial Officer Michael D. Collins resigned Friday and appointed William K. Phelan, a senior vice president and controller at the department-store operator, as his temporary replacement. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Sears said Collins resigned “to pursue another opportunity,” but said he would remain at the company until June 10 to ensure a smooth transition.

Koss settles suit against directors in embezzlement case [MJS]
Koss Corp. has reached an agreement to settle a shareholder lawsuit filed against the Milwaukee stereophone manufacturer last year in connection with the $34 million embezzlement by a former executive. The company said Friday that the agreement in Milwaukee County Circuit Court calls for the dismissal with prejudice of claims against individual Koss directors. Claims against former Koss auditors Grant Thornton and Sujata Sachdeva, Koss’ former executive vice president of finance, would be dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled.

SEC Asks Wipro to Prove KPMG Independence [WSJ]
Wipro Ltd. said it has received a notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, asking the company to prove the independence of its financial auditor, KPMG India Pvt. Ltd., failing which the software exporter will have to appoint a new auditor. In an SEC filing dated April 20, Wipro said it is cooperating with the U.S. regulator’s request and that the outcome of the SEC’s review on the matter is uncertain.

Deloitte Aims To Nearly Double China Staff By 2015 [Dow Jones]
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu International plans to nearly double its China staff by 2015 to support its business expansion in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, a senior executive said Friday. China is now Deloitte’s fourth-largest market in terms of employees, with more than 8,000 people in 14 cities across mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

China Unicom Uncovers Improper Accounting But Says No Impact On Results [Dow Jones]
China Unicom [,,,] Ltd. (CHU) said Friday a national audit conducted last year found improper accounting procedures at the telecom operator, but it has rectified the issues and doesn’t anticipate any material impact on its past earnings.

Secret Donors Multiply in U.S. Election Spending [Bloomberg]
Commission on Hope and four other Republican-leaning groups spent at least $4.05 million attacking candidates in the run-up to the November voting, according to Campaign Media estimates and TV station records obtained by Bloomberg News. None of that spending can be found searching the public database of the Federal Election Commission, and FEC spokeswoman Mary Brandenberger said the commission has no record of it.

Tax overhaul should begin with (second) home-related tax breaks [DMWT]
Gotta start somewhere.

Christine Lagarde Is Favored to Head IMF [Bloomberg]
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde emerged as the leading contender to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the International Monetary Fund as developing nations failed to unite behind a candidate. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner called for the quick appointment of a new managing director yesterday while the Obama administration avoided backing any one person.

Coburn: Newt Needs to “Keep His Mouth Shut” [ABC News]
Senator Tom Coburn says Gingrich needs “keep his mouth shut” about Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan until he has his own plan to deal with skyrocketing entitlement spending. “If you haven’t put a plan on the table, you need to keep your mouth shut because the problem hasn’t gone away,” Coburn told ABC news in an interview on the Capitol subway. “You’re elevating yourself by being critical of someone else.”

Is Corporate Tax Reform Realistic? [TaxVox]
A panel of veteran international tax experts tried to put the U.S. struggle to fix its corporate tax system in broader perspective. Unfortunately, they concluded that the U.S. is lagging well behind the rest of the world in corporate reform and, worse, the odds of any serious progress anytime soon are slim.