Category: ANR

Gaddafi’s Plastic Surgery: Brazilian Surgeon Claims He Operated On Dictator [HuffPo]
It was well past midnight when the Brazilian surgeon says he was escorted deep inside a bunker in the Libyan capital. His assignment: to shave years off Moammar Gadhafi’s appearance by removing fat from his belly and injecting it into his wrinkled face. The Libyan leader also got hair plugs. “He told me that he had been in power for 25 years at that time, and that he did not want the young people of his nation to see him as an old man,” Dr. Liacyr Ribeiro recalled. “I recommended a facelift, but he refused.”

The evolution of the CPA as CFO [CPA Success]
Tom Hood explains.

Trial dates set for Fairbanks-area ‘241’ defendants [Daily Newsminer]
May trial dates have been scheduled for a Salcha couple accused of plotting to murder a federal judge and an Internal Revenue Service agent, along with two others who reportedly helped them stockpile illegal weapons. Lonnie and Karen Vernon are accused of threatening to kill U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline and the IRS agent, along with threatening Beistline’s family.

KPMG names new managing partner for Birmingham [BBJ]
Joe Reid takes over for Matt Lusco.

How Long Has He Been President Now? [Tax Update Blog]
Joe Kristan, headline debunker.

Woman has fingertip bitten off in Walmart love triangle tiff [MSNBC]
In Florida, natch.

Auditors respond to Big Four clause investigation [Accountancy Age]
Restrictive bank clauses that force customers to use Big Four firms are to be investigated, and auditors have scrambled to respond. Martyn Jones, senior audit partner at Deloitte, professed no shock at the announcement, saying his firm welcomes the removal of restrictive agreements. “I believe in a level playing field”, he insisted, saying he had heard smaller auditors complain about the clauses, but had personally seen little evidence of them.

How Can I Securely Send Sensitive Tax Docs to My Tax Preparer? [Lifehacker]
News you can use.

China ‘to overtake US and dominate trade by 2013’ [BBC]
China’s global trade is set to surge past the US’ by 2030, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Currently, China’s international trade is worth $2.21 trillion (£1.36tn), compared with the $2.66tn (£1.64tn) for the US. China was confirmed as the world’s second-biggest economy earlier this year, overtaking Japan. According to the report by PwC, the coming years will see global trade undergo “fundamental change” as emerging economies such as China and India begin to “dominate the top sea and air freight routes”.

Republican Tax Chiefs Cool to Cisco, Google Offshore Tax Plan [Bloomberg]
The top Republican tax writers in the U.S. Congress aren’t endorsing a call by Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Google Inc. (GOOG) and other multinational corporations for a temporary tax break on repatriating profits held offshore. Representative Dave Camp, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Senator Orrin Hatch, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, said through aides yesterday that they want to consider the repatriation issue as part of a comprehensive look at rewriting the U.S. tax code.

Skype names new chief financial officer [Reuters]
Internet telephone service Skype said it named Jonathan Chadwick, a former McAfee financial executive, as its chief financial officer. Chadwick replaces Adrian Dillon as CFO. Dillon has left the company, Skype said in a statement.

Big Four clause under the spotlight [Accountancy Age]
Restrictive bank clauses that force businesses to use one of the Big Four auditors are finally coming under public scrutiny. Smaller auditors have widely complained about the restrictive rules, but until now there has debate as to whether they even exist. The Office of Far [sic] trading has been ordered to investigate whether the clauses – typically found in banks’ lending agreements – are stifling competition in the market.

CFOs Exit Restating Companies, Study Finds [CFO]
Restatements of financial reports usually convey bad news about a company to the stock market, and CFOs, as chief stewards of financial reports, tend to like nothing less than bearing such tidings. In fact, when companies restate, their finance chiefs show a pronounced tendency to leave, new research confirms. Usually, however, it’s their own decision to walk — or at least that’s what the companies are reporting.

Three Key Steps for Managing Young CPAs [JofA]
Unless, of course, you’ve already got things completely under control.

The Best Free Small Business Accounting Software [PC Mag]
Free is good.

Ja Rule Pleads Guilty to Tax Charges [AT]
Rap singer Ja Rule has admitted to failing to file tax returns for five years, causing a loss to the government of over $1.1 million.

Divorce Over 50: 3 Mistakes to Avoid [SmartMoney]
Forward it to your boss (or bookmark it for yourself).

Finance and Accounting Outsourcing to Grow 15-20% [AT]
The finance and accounting outsourcing market is expected to grow 15 to 20 percent this year and top $4 billion in annual contract value. A new report by the Everest Group found that annual contract value for multi-process finance and accounting outsourcing grew almost 15 percent last year and 10 percent in 2009. The total contract values of new engagements reached a market high last year of nearly $5 billion, according to the study by the research and advisory firm.

Fair Value, Comprehensive Income Rules Due Q2 [Compliance Week]
The Financial Accounting Standards Board will soon issue final standards on fair value measurement and the statement of comprehensive income, with delivery expected early in the second quarter, said Chairman Leslie Seidman. The fair value measurement standard produces more significant change for International Financial Reporting Standards than for U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, said Seidman. The United States made a significant overhaul in fair value measurement when it issued Financial Accounting Statement No. 157 Fair Value Measurement in 2006. The new standard will not require any new uses of fair value but it produces some clarity and consistency in how it is measured across U.S. and international rules.

Judge Rakoff Indicts No-Fault Securities Settlement Syndrome [Forbes]
He doesn’t much care for the SEC allowing violators to pay a fine and simply “neither admit or deny the charges.”

Thank God, CPA Exam Scores are Finally on Their Way [JDA]
Some interesting Google searches led to Adrienne’s website.

Howard Stern’s Agent Sues Sirius XM Radio Over Stock [WSJ]
In a lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court, Mr. Stern’s production company, One Twelve Inc., and his agent Don Buchwald, alleged that Mr. Stern enabled Sirius to surpass its internal subscriber targets by more than 2 million subscribers every year since he went on air since 2006.

Man charged with killing wife after IRS visit [Boston Herald]
A man was charged with murdering his wife in Webster, an attack that apparently happened less than an hour after two Internal Revenue Service agents arrived to seize the family’s vehicle for nonpayment of taxes, authorities said.

U.S. Warplane Crashes in Libya; Pilots Safe [WSJ]
A U.S. warplane crashed in a field in northeast Libya Tuesday, but the two crew members ejected safely, U.S. military officials. The U.S. F-15 Eagle was the first to warplane to crash since the start of military operations on Saturday, and officials said they didn’t believe the crash was caused by enemy fire.

Claire McCaskill failed to pay taxes on aircraft [Politico]
he Missouri Democrat has tried to be proactive in dealing with the matter. When contacted initially about the propriety of taxsements for the 89 flights, McCaskill voluntarily issued a check to the Treasury Department to cover the cost of the trips. Yet there remained questions about whether McCaskill and her husband had fully paid property taxes on the plane. McCaskill called a Monday press conference after POLITICO had been pressing her for several days over that issue. “I have convinced my husband to sell the damn plane,” McCaskill said. “I will never set foot on the plane again.”

Greenberg’s Starr Investments sues China MediaExpress [Reuters]
Starr Investments, a firm run by former AIG chief Maurice Greenberg, has sued China MediaExpress Holdings , saying it was fraudulently induced to invest about $13.5 million in the firm, court documents show. Starr has also sued China MediaExpress auditor Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. The investment firm said the auditor had resigned as “it was no longer able to rely on the representations of the management.”

Charlie Sheen, out of work, faces tax issues [AW]
Taxes never kept anyone from winning! DUH.

Regulating Audit Firms: News and a Short Wishlist [Fraudbytes]
Dr. Mark Zimbleman has some ideas on how to take the heat off auditors including an idea on the litigation front, “if auditors were simply penalized for missing a fraud and no litigation process took place, they would be more vigilant. In other words, audit penalties would not be based on whether or not you could show you followed the required process, but whether or not you had the right outcome.”

Will Auditors Be Held Accountable? The PCAOB Has A Plan [Re:The Auditors]
Francine McKenna goes through last week’s recommendations from the IAG.

Barnes named to lead KPMG in Memphis [MBJ]
Greg Barnes takes the big chair from Matt Lusco.

Barry Bonds Steroids Perjury Trial to Open Before Jury of 8 Women, 4 Men [Bloomberg]
Barry Bonds’s perjury trial, to be heard by an eight-woman, four-man jury that includes a data center engineer at Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), two nurses and a business college student, is scheduled for opening statements today. Bonds, 46, who holds Major League Baseball records for career and single-season home runs, faces four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice for telling a 2003 grand jury he didn’t knowingly take performance-enhancing drugs. The trial in federal court in San Francisco is expected to last as long as four weeks.

AT&T Faces Year-Long Scrutiny for ‘Unthinkable’ T-Mobile Bid [Bloomberg]
AT&T Inc. (T)’s $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile USA, the biggest acquisition worldwide in almost a year, may take a year to gain regulators’ approval even if the carrier pledges to sell assets and expand rural coverage. The acquisition would push AT&T past its largest rival, Verizon Wireless, to become the biggest U.S. mobile-phone carrier. AT&T and T-Mobile combined have 39 percent of the market, according to research firm EMarketer Inc.

Allies Press Libya Attacks [WSJ]
The U.S. and its allies intensified air attacks against forces loyal to Col. Moammar Gadhafi on Sunday, keeping anti-Gadhafi rebels from being immediately overrun and bringing a reprieve to the increasingly desperate pro-democracy uprising. Allied jets and missiles pounded Libyan military targets over the weekend, including one of Col. Gadhafi’s armored columns seen charred on the road to Benghazi, the rebels’ de facto capital. Rebels emboldened by the international support renewed fighting in Ajdabiya, a strategic city they had lost last week, witnesses said.

It Turns Out That Lower Taxes Could Kill You After All [JDA]
Some states (namely those with mottos like “Live Free or Die”) aren’t going to buckle to the pressure of tax lovers like the American Lung Association.

Is There Death in the Accounting Classroom? [The Summa]
Speaking of death.

Promise on Taxes Sparks GOP Rift [WSJ]
A few prominent GOP lawmakers believe they will have to raise some tax revenue if they are to bring Democrats along on a bipartisan compromise to address the U.S.’s long-term fiscal problems. Many Democrats want higher taxes to cover at least part of future budget gaps. That has led to clashes between Republican lawmakers and a Washington advocacy group, Americans for Tax Reform, the self-appointed keeper of the party’s anti-tax flame.

US banks face fresh scrutiny on lending [FT]
US banks could be forced to disclose when they give clients below-market rates on loans as a part of their efforts to secure further business, under rules being considered by accounting regulators. The proposed change could lay bare cases in which larger lenders use their balance sheet to secure lucrative investment banking business.

Companies: Gov. Rick Snyder’s business tax plan simple, appealing [DFP]
CPA turned Michigan Governor Rick Snyder wants to Michigan’s 6% corporate tax in a overhaul for the state.

Taxing Gestational Surrogacy [TaxProf Blog]
For those interested.

Libya Ceasefire Announced After U.N. Approves Intervention [Reuters]
Libya declared a ceasefire in the country to protect civilians and comply with a United Nations resolution passed overnight, Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa said on Friday. “We decided on an immediate ceasefire and on an immediate stop to all military operations,” he told reporters. “(Libya) takes great interest in protecting civilians,” he said, adding that the country would also protect all foreigners and foreign assets in Libya.

Frantic Repairs Go On at Plant as Japan Raises Severity of Crisis [NYT]
Japanese engineers battled on Friday to cool spent fuel rods and restore electric power to pumps at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station as new challenges seemed to accumulate by the hour, with steam billowing from one reactor and damage at another apparently making it difficult to lower temperatures.

H&R Block Chairman Breeden Stepping Down to Focus on Hedge Fund [Bloomberg]
H&R Block Inc. (HRB), the biggest U.S. tax preparer, said Richard C. Breeden will step down as chairman more than three years after the hedge-fund manager and former securities regulator seized control in a proxy fight. Breeden, 61, plans to leave at the end of the tax season on April 18, the Kansas City, Missouri-based company said yesterday in a statement. He intends to devote more time to his hedge fund, Breeden Capital Management, H&R Block said.

April 1 Deadline Fast Approaching for Illinois CPA Society Scholarships [PR Newswire]
IL accounting wannabes pursuing an accounting degree with plans to become a CPA can apply for four different scholarships funded by the CPA Endowment Fund of Illinois.

Deloitte Fired For Kabul Bank But PwC Missed Fraud [Forbes]
Plenty of blame to go around!

Deloitte taps Miami native to head its Florida offices [SFBJ]
Peter T. Pruitt, Jr. is the new chief.

Tax-Writer Camp’s Push for Lower Rates Forces Deduction Choice [Bloomberg]
Representative Dave Camp’s call to lower U.S. corporate and individual tax rates to 25 percent would require Congress to make the type of difficult choices that have doomed tax overhaul plans for a quarter century. Camp, a Michigan Republican who heads the House Ways and Means Committee, this week said he wants to lower the top individual and corporate rates by 10 percentage points. His aim would be to collect revenue totaling 18 percent to 19 percent of gross domestic product, which is near the recent average.

Charlie Sheen’s Oprah Tax Problem [TaxProf Blog]
Of course it has to do with WINNING.

Texas Legislature Looks to Soda Tax to Fill Budget Gap [Tax Foundation]
Supposedly this will raise $2 billion for Texas, narrowing its budget deficit to $25 billion. Progress!

Tax Plan Aims for 25% Cap [WSJ]
The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee wants to cut the top U.S. tax rate to 25% for individuals and corporations, and cut or eliminate many popular deductions. The odds of quick action appear slender. But the move, from Rep. Dave Camp (R., Mich.), is significant as a marker in what will likely be a multiyear debate over revamping the tax code. The plan also provides Republicans with a position to pitch in the 2012 election, a campaign that promises to focus heavily on the economy and jobs.

Moral for CEOs Is Choose Your Fraud Carefully [Jonathan Weil/Bloomberg]
Of all the stories to come out of the 2008 collapses of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, this one may be the most incredible: To this day, neither company has admitted that any of the numbers on its financial statements that year were wrong. It seems the Securities and Exchange Commission won’t be doing anything to challenge that pretense, either, and that this may be by design. The SEC for years has been bending over backward to avoid accusing major financial institutions of cooking their books, even when it’s obvious they did.

A Long, Painful Reckoning [WSJ]
The number of dead and missing after Japan’s twin earthquake and tsunami stood late Wednesday, officially, at 12,920. In reality, Japanese widely agree, the toll of last week’s disaster is likely much higher. In Miyagi, a coastal prefecture that bore some of the tsunami’s worst destruction, officials estimate the toll there alone will be in the tens of thousands.

The Ten Worst Things to Put on Your Resume [FINS]
Your experience as a lifeguard in high school won’t do much good.

Accountants gone bad… [AW]
The latest batch of bad apples.

Congress Deliberates on Taxes and Abortions [AT]
Stamping tax provisions into the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” doesn’t make a lot of sense.

How do tax forms get their names? [MSN]
Some trivial information to distract your clients when they’re about to fire you.

Economic hit from Japan quake seen up to $200 billion [Reuters]
Japan’s devastating earthquake and deepening nuclear crisis could result in losses of up to $200 billion for the world’s third largest economy but the global impact remains hard to gauge five days after a massive tsunami battered the northeast coast. As Japanese officials scrambled to avert a catastrophic meltdown at a nuclear plant 240 km (150 miles) north of the capital Tokyo, economists took stock of the damage to buildings, production and consumer activity.

Two Obsolete Models: Global Financial Reporting and Audit — And Pimping Spam Viagra With AOL’s Rogue E-Mail [Re:Balance]
[F]or the last twenty-five years, nothing but in-bred regulatory inertia and supine user acquiescence have propped up the standard auditor’s report on a financial reporting model that is no less obsolete than that of AOL.

US audit reform debate not as raucous as in UK? [Accountancy Age]
Francine McKenna looks at the U.K.’s attempts at reforming the audit biz versus the U.S.’s attempt to…well, never mind.

Morale at SEC Remains High Despite Obstacles [FINS]
Morale at the SEC is high despite a frozen budget and staunch Republican opposition to increasing funds, according to deputy director of enforcement Lorin Reisner. “Morale is high because we continue to bring important enforcement actions,” he said. “We have empowered our staff with greater responsibility, more tools and more streamlined decision-making.”

IRS pays Enron whistleblower $1.1 million [WaPo]
Before Enron was publicly exposed as a financial house of cards, a whistleblower tipped the Internal Revenue Service that the company was using abusive tax shelters to generate fictitious income, a law firm representing the informant said Tuesday. Now, more than a decade later, the IRS has paid that whistleblower a $1.1 million reward, the law firm said.

Top 50 Companies for Executive Women 2011 [AOL]
Accenture #2; KPMG #25.

In Lehman’s Demise, a Dwindling Chance of Charges [DealBook]
Can it be that the largest bankruptcy ever will simply pass into history with no one held accountable for the losses inflicted on investors and the market?

Afghan Contract for Deloitte Suspended [WSJ]
The U.S. government has suspended Deloitte Consulting LLP’s contract to advise Afghanistan’s central bank ahead of the release Wednesday of an investigation into the regulator’s failure to stem corruption at the country’s largest private lender. An investigation by the inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development, which issued the contract to Deloitte, is expected to be highly critical of the firm’s failure to flag corruption at Kabul Bank, saddled with losses estimated to be as high as $900 million.