Deloitte CEO Joe Echevarria and former President Bill Clinton at the Middle Market Perspectives Event in New York.
Category: Deloitte
Former Deloitte Employee Swings to Settlement with SEC Over Insider Trading Charges
Remember Annabel McClellan? She’s the wife of former Deloitte partner Arnold McClellan who sorta got wrapped up into an insider trading mess with her sister and brother-in-law last fall. Annabel is also a former Deloitte employee who gave up the glamorous life of a Salzberg solider to be a stay-at-home mom. Oh! and she was working on swingers app called My Nookie that was on the verge of taking the scene by storm. The whole insider trading thing put those ambitions on hold due to the fact that Annabel may be looking at some jail time and she settled civil charges with the SEC yesterday for $1 million. The good news for Arnie is that if judge gives the settlement the thumbs-up, he’ll be off the hook who, prosecutors say, had no clue that the Mrs. was engaging in extracurricular activities:
McClellan, who pleaded guilty in April to one count of obstructing the SEC’s investigation, said she overhead her husband talking about the deals and passed the information to her brother-in-law, according to a transcript of her change of plea hearing.[…] McClellan told prosecutors that her husband wasn’t aware of or involved in passing information, according to documents filed in the SEC case.
Of course, if Arnie wasn’t aware that Annabel was trading under his nose, it makes you wonder with whom she was researching Amazon Squat and the Foldover.
Wife of former Deloitte partner to pay $1 million [Bloomberg]
PCAOB Publishes Part II of Deloitte’s 2008 Inspection Report, First Ever for a Big 4 Firm
They really, really, really don’t appreciate it when you blow off their recommendations. Here’s the statement from the Board:
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, in anticipation of questions about the publication of previously nonpublic portions of its May 19, 2008 inspection report on Deloitte & Touche LLP, issued the following statement today:
“The quality control remediation process is central to the Board’s efforts to cause firms to improve the quality of their audits and thereby better protect investors. The Board therefore takes very seriously the importance of firms making sufficient progress on quality control is n inspection report in the 12 months following the report. Particularly with the largest firms, which are inspected annually, the Board devotes considerable time and resources to critically evaluating whether the firm did in fact make sufficient progress in that period. The Board can and does make the relevant criticisms public when a firm has failed to do so.”
So to clarify, Deloitte had until May 19, 2009 to get their methods up to par but failed to do so. To put this into a little bit of context, Jim Doty was not yet the Chair of the PCAOB and Barry Salzberg was still the CEO of Deloitte’s U.S. firm. Does this mean that the PCAOB has been stepping up its game and this is the first instance of many to come? Hard to say but the audits that this inspection report cover are nearly five years old, so it’s debatable as to the value of Part II being made public now.
For Deloitte’s part, here’s current CEO Joe Echevarria’s statement:
“Deloitte is committed to the highest standards of audit quality and as newly elected CEO, it is my foremost priority. Our commitment extends from the top and cascades throughout our entire organization. We place great value on the PCAOB’s input and continue to work with the Board in support of our shared objectives. We recognize that audit quality is fundamental to protecting investors and ensuring the effective functioning of the capital markets.
“We have complete confidence in our professionals and the quality of our audits, and agree that there were and always will be areas where we can improve. In our drive for continuous improvement, we have been making a series of investments focused on strengthening and improving our practice, and will continue to do so to make Deloitte the standard for audit quality.”
In other words, a non-response response. However, it’s much more measured than Deloitte’s response to the initial release of the report. Their response letter spelled out their feelings quite clearly:
Professional judgments of reasonable and highly competent people may differ as to the nature and extent of necessary auditing procedures,conclusions reached and required documentation. We believe that reasonable judgments should not be second guessed and therefore disagree with a number of comments as indicated[.]
Deloitte’s letter is located Appendix C. You can read the full report, including all the details from Part II that were previously unpublished, on page 2.
Thankfully, Dillard’s Disputes with Audit Firms Haven’t Resulted in Anyone Disappearing into Thin Air
Your mother’s third favorite department store, Dillard’s, has fired PwC as their auditor over a dispute related to the timing of a “tax benefit related to its new real estate investment trust.” The Little Rock-based company replaced P. Dubs with KPMG (who will take every chance they can get to stick it to Team Autumn). Basically the two didn’t see eye on this matter (here’s the 8-K that explains it), Dillard’s asked the IRS for their opinion, who said the treatment was kosher and next thing you know, the audit committee was on the hunt for a replacement.
Anyway, this isn’t really news until you consider the fact that PwC had only become Dillard’s auditor in 2009. Deloitte had been the auditor of the company for 20 years and in many auditor-client relationships, that’s just the honeymoon phase. So that seems a little odd. And couple that with the most recent firing of PwC and you’ve got to wonder what’s the scoop is over at DDS. But all that pales in comparison to this:
In 2008, [Dillard’s] had a dispute with CDI Contractors LLC’s chief financial officer [Ed. note: Link is broken], John Glasgow.
At the time, Dillard’s owned half of CDI. It has since bought the half that it didn’t own.
Glasgow objected the way Dillard’s CFO James Freeman was conducting an audit of CDI. Glasgow disappeared during the dispute and was declared dead [Ed. note: Ditto] more than three years later, although no trace of him has been found.
After Glasgow’s disappearance, Dillard’s restated earnings for several previous years, blaming an accounting error by CDI.
The last thing we want to see are pictures of auditors on milk cartons.
Dillard’s Fires PWC After Accounting Dispute, Hires KPMG As Auditor [AB]
Chinese Gold Company ‘Respects’ Deloitte’s Decision to Kick Them to the Curb
Your auditor-of-a-Chinese-company-resignation news du jour:
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd , the world’s largest accounting and consulting firm, has resigned as auditors of Hong Kong-listed Real Gold Mining , more than four months after the Inner Mongolian miner was reported to have filed conflicting accouting [sic] reports.
Real Gold, which halted trading in its shares on May 27. is under investigation by the Securities and Futures Commission for corporate governance breaches. The miner’s announcement to the Hong Kong stock exchange late on Thursday said it was looking for a replacement for Deloitte, which resigned on October 12.
“The company is disappointed that Deloitte has decided to resign at this time but respects its decision,” the firm said.
Deloitte Auditor, Contemplating a Busy Season Walkout, Concerned That Fellow Employees Aren’t as Enthused as He Is
You may have heard a few stories about a little campout going on down on Wall Street the last week or so. It’s been quite a ruckus and now Hizzoner is even getting a little tired of it. Despite the good, the bad and the hippies, all this standing up and shouting and whatnot seems to have inspired one “disenchanted” Deloitte auditor who sent u
I know that I work for my firm in an at will contract, I can quit at anytime and get another job. But I’ve been feeling so slighted for the last several months by leadership’s complete lack of concern for the well being of their workforce that I want to do something more significant. If I quit, some managers will be temporarily upset because my hours will need to be replaced, and they will find someone who doesn’t have the same experience with the client etc. They will get over it in a day, and the giant audit machine will keep turning the same as always, and employees will continue to get the worst of it.
But this is America, we are champions of workers’ rights. Can’t we do a little better than this for ourselves? I understand that with unemployment currently so high this isn’t really a time when workers’ rights are a high priority, but we still deserve better treatment. With Deloitte still swelling based on last weeks’ figures, and loving the attention in the media for being a model of a growing global enterprise their vulnerability becomes clear. They would hate bad press or anything that would stunt growth.
This is why I think an organized but non-unionized strike/walkout, perhaps around, I dunno, the upcoming busy season, would be very effective at getting leadership’s attention. I know I’m no Cesar Chavez, and a white collar walkout it rare thing, as white collar unions are uncommon, and that this is something that would be difficult for generally conservative accounts who are typically anti-union to get done. But I figure, if there is any forum where this sort of movement would/could begin it would be on Going Concern where people are more openly cynical and feel just as disappointed with Deloitte’s version of an audit practice as I do. Not sure who would actually put their careers on the line because I doubt most really believe in the cause, but I think they feel the same sentiment. It would be interesting to hear the true anonymous thoughts of others on this idea, and if there are any brighter ideas on reminding firm leadership whose backs they are standing on to potentially improve the livelihood of those backs. What do you recommend?
Well, Cesar, I do have a few recommendations for your planned walkout. First – take pictures. Lots of them. And then send them to us. Secondly, get a noisy instrument. Preferably a drum or vuvuzela. If you have to do this mission solo like you think you will, you’ll need some help in the noise department. Third – a costume of some sort – I’m thinking Benji Bankes – would advisable and then be sure to incorporate suggestion number one. Fourth – read Adrienne’s post from this summer on why this is an awful idea. The whole thing is worth a read but here’s a taste:
I think part of the reason why anyone you suggest this to might think you’re one tax season away from the funny farm is that CPAs already have a large, powerful trade association which allegedly exists to serve its interests. Granted, the AICPA does more lobbying in Washington than it does to accounting firm partners about easing up on you poor shlubs who have to do all the work, but it’s still a trade association.[…] [T]hough it may not feel like it, most of you are paid pretty fairly compared to, say, McDonald’s cashiers, Starbucks baristas and Walmart greeters. It may not feel fair based on the service you provide (understandably) but in the big picture, making $50,000 a year fresh out of school in middle America ain’t too bad of a gig. You get vacations, safe work conditions, bonuses, insurance and even free CPA review materials if you’re lucky. I bet OSHA has never seen the inside of a Big 4 office to investigate a fatal Excel accident or random intern decapitation at the coffee machine.
Maybe I’m wrong but the leaders of these firms would love – LOVE! – if you wrote them an email about your concerns. If the response you get sounds canned, then there’s nothing wrong with saying so. Your partner may catch some heat (that will eventually blow back on you) but Dr. Phil and JoeE aren’t really doing their jobs if they simply dismiss the widely held concerns of the Green Dot community. If you’re feeling inspired enough to rally some fellow opiners, make some signs and sit on the sidewalk shouting, then by all means do so but do keep in mind that you will end up in these pages, may be permanently confined to a JIT or straight up lose your job. Just some things to mull over.
Deloitte Resents the Notion That They Should Have Known That Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Was a Massive Fraud
As we mentioned briefly, Deloitte has been sued for $7.6 billion by the bankruptcy trustee of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker and Ocala Funding, LLC. If you’ve never heard of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker then check out Jr. Deputy Accountant who’s been all over it since the Feds starting kicking down the doors. Long story short – TBW was a giant fraud perpetrated by its management, Colonial Bank owned a lot of TBW’s mortgages, Colonial failed, Bank of America bought up a bunch of the mortgages, Fannie Mae says they’re owed money, CHRIST, it’s a mess.
Anyhoo, Steven Thomas, who is known for suing the pants of Big 4 firms (and BDO!), is the lead attorney for the plaintiffs and it sounds like the age-old story of auditors BEING COMPLETE IDIOTS:
“Deloitte missed this fraud because it simply accepted management’s conflicting, incomplete and often last-minute explanations of highly-questionable transactions, even though those explanations made no sense and were flatly contradicted by documents in Deloitte’s possession,” one of the lawsuits says.
Of course Deloitte isn’t amused by this, as Deloitte spokesman Jonathan Gandal’s statement attests:
Gandal said the blame for the fraud and losses should rest squarely on Taylor Bean, Ocala Funding and Farkas. “The bizarre notion that his engines of theft are entitled to complain of injury from their own crimes and to sue the outside auditors they lied to defies common sense, not to mention the law,” Gandal said on behalf of Deloitte.
If this statement strikes you as a little confusing, then you’re not alone. First off, when Mr. Gandal is referring to the “the law” he’s probably referring to this. In less legalese, basically what Deloitte is saying is that Lee Farkas and his merry band of crooks are the ones responsible for this shitshow not the Green Dot and therefore, this whole thing is ludicrous. I mean, come on guys, what could a firm that just reported nearly $29 billion in revenue could possibly have done differently? Crooks are just far too smart far auditors. Just ask one.
Deloitte’s Recent Promotion Awards Fail to Impress One New Senior Associate
A “New Senior” passed along this little tip this morning:
Over the last couple of weeks Deloitte has been sending out Promotion “Awards.” I find it funny they think two years of service is worth only a $100 applause award. Honestly getting only $100 is more insulting than getting nothing at all.
On a day where Barry Salzberg is doing a happy dance in the hallways, our friend must have felt compelled to share the news of generosity. If you’re a recipient of a crisp new hundo, share your story in the comments and email us with any other cheery tidbits on the first day of autumn.
Some Are of the Opinion That Deloitte’s Services Aren’t Worth $90,000 a Day
I don’t care how you try to explain it away, in this day and age of tight budgets and runaway deficits, $90,000 per day is way too much to pay an accounting firm for advice on how to cut $4 billion from Ottawa’s budget, particularly since the proposed cuts Deloitte comes up with are unlikely ever to be acted upon[.] [NP]
PwC, Deloitte Enjoying Their Booming Advisory Businesses, Thankyouverymuch
This morning we linked to a Reuters report about the horse race between Deloitte and PwC for the biggest of the Big 4. It reports virtually nothing new that we haven’t discussed here already including Deloitte jumping P. Dubs last year by a whopping $9 million (thanks mostly to keeping their consulting business in house), the hiring sprees, the acquisitions, and oh! the audit business sucks:
With audit revenues leveling off in developed markets, the firms have been making a push in growing countries such as China and India and plowing ahead with investments in consulting, where business is growing after a recessionary slump.[…] The big four are expected to report their fiscal 2011 revenues in coming weeks and any significant growth will likely once again be in the consulting area, said Jonathan Hamilton, managing editor of Accounting News Report. “The audit business, while certainly the staple of all these firms, is a slow-growth business,” Hamilton added.
In other words, the consulting advisory business is hot and audit is not. And what causes some people to fly off the handle is how the firms have sold everyone on the idea that they can still miraculously be the bastion of good business principles ethics. Well, maybe not everyone:
More worries loom from stepped-up regulatory scrutiny. As consulting revenues grow, complaints are surfacing again that firms will be tempted to go easy on audit clients for the sake of winning or keeping a consulting job — a charge the audit firms deny.
Last week, European Union lawmakers approved a report that calls for barring auditors from providing audit and non-audit services to the same client. The report is nonbinding but could shape a draft law in the works.
PwC and Deloitte both said there was no conflict of interest in the consulting services they provide. Much of their consulting is done for companies they do not audit and they follow regulators’ standards and companies’ own restrictions on the kind of consulting they do for audit clients.
The report doesn’t mention many things that have cropped up (some recent, some not so much) including the nearly 500 reprimands Deloitte had in 2009, the rash of insider trading, or PwC’s incestuous Satyam scandal but talking points are also used to address those issues. These firms didn’t get to where they are without figuring out how to play the media game.
One thing is for sure – the firms are going to depend on their consulting/advisory businesses for growth until someone banishes audit firms from offering any other services at all. And God knows what that will take.
Comp Watch ’11: PwC Partners Making Deloitte Counterparts Look Like Peasants
The FT reports that the average partner in the UK took home £763,000, up 1% from last year. Ian Powell, the Chairman of the UK firm, took home £3.7 million. The average take home at P. Dubs puts Deloitte partners to shame who only managed to scrape together an average of £758,000, down from £873,000. What does the mean for the partners in the States? Probably nothing but it could indicate that Deloitte’s reign as the biggest of the Big 4 could be a one year wonder. [FT]