Category: PwC

PwC Sustainability Partner Blames His Dull Job for Not Rocking “Green” Shoes

If you’re a sustainability professional, people might make the assumption that you are a tree hugger. A green weenie. A dirty hippie. A person who has as much need for a pair of wing tips or business appropriate pumps as a fully loaded H2. Well you can put those suspicions to bed my friends.

Above is PUMA CEO Jochen Zeitz along with a couple of guys from environmental consulting firm Trucost and PwC sustainability partner Alan McGill. As you can see, Mr. Zeitz and the Trucost boys opted for some “green” sneakers to go with their Brooks Brothers. Mr. McGill, on the other hand, is in the standard issue Allen Edmonds. The reason for not getting on board with the hip skids? He’s lame:

The firm’s sustainability partner jokingly suggested his job was too dull to warrant a jazzy pair of sneakers.

Sceptic Tank reports that a PwC spokeswoman clarified the meaning of “dull” to be “PwC can’t be seen to be promoting their clients products in any way.” Which probably also explains why McGill wore a tie as well. Can’t be too careful about these things.

PwC and the fashion faux pas [The Sceptic Tank]

PwC Is Still Looking For (Other Big 4’s) Talent

We didn’t say poaching. But if we did say poaching, we’d also mention PwC is pretty damn good at it.

A non-PwC but Big 4 tipster shares an unsolicited email received on LinkedIn. Names have been redacted to protect the innocent (and guilty):

Significant Audit Opportunity with PwC in Chicago!
Dear ______,

Hello! I took some time to review your profile and felt that it would be mutually valuable for us to connect. I am a the manager of the talent acquisition team for our Assurance group at PwC, and we are currently experiencing substantial growth in this area across the US. In fact, our Chicago region ranked # 1 out of 6 markets with respect to growth in 2010.

Therefore, I’d appreciate the opportunity to set up some time with you to have a dialogue around industry and marketplace trends and PwC’s current expansion plans.

Even if you are not currently exploring outside opportunities, I would welcome the chance to network with you. Alternatively, if you know of anyone else who is open to considering new ventures, please feel free to pass on my details. With all the changes going on in the industry, especially at PwC, it’s always good to do a little information gathering.

Please feel free to contact me, or _____, Experienced Recruiting Associate – Assurance, at________ or at _______.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Is it just me or is “a little information gathering” a totally creepy proposition? And really?! “Significant” position? That’s the best they could do? I’m sorry but if I were a Big 4 grunt happy with my employer, it would take more than “significant” to get me to double cross them by abandoning them for the enemy.

Of course, this teaches those of you miserable in your current positions that it is important to have an updated LinkedIn presence that will draw in those anxious recruiters in like flies to Caleb’s armpits after a marathon yoga session.

Go get ’em, PwC!

PwC India Consultant Did Not Technically Die From Work-Related Hazards

Over the weekend, we got news that a 34-year-old PwC India senior consultant was found dead at his Calcutta home. A maid noticed smoke and alerted the man’s parents, who lived downstairs. When the parents rushed into the room, they found their son’s bed partially in flames. Police and fire department officials initially suspected Sayan Chowdhury died of electrocution after discovering his charred body lying close to his charging laptop and iPod, headphones still in his ears. Police believe the man fell asleep with the laptop on.

“The preliminary post-mortem suggests he died of carbon monoxide inhalation, apparently while asleep,” joint commissioner of police Damayanti Sen said.

A friend told The Telegraph (India) that Chowdhury was “a very bright professional and had been rising fast in the organisation since switching from Cognizant Technology Solutions.” He leaves behind a six month old daughter and a wife, who also happens to work for PwC.

It is suspected at this time that Chowdhury died of carbon monoxide poisoning after the laptop charger short circuited in his tightly closed bedroom. The victim’s wife and newborn daughter were not in the home at the time, as they have been staying with his wife’s parents, who have been helping to care for the baby.

Experts suggest that it is possible the adapter attached to the power supply cord may have failed, leading to a 230-volt alternating current surge into the laptop, turning it into a death trap. Or, the battery may have got overcharged and exploded, spilling lethal chemicals on Chowdhury. Aside from the short circuit scenario, investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the fire and subsequent fatal CO inhalation was caused by a burning cigarette. “To identify the source of the CO, we have to wait for the forensic reports. The state forensic science laboratory officials collected samples of charred wire, the sample of half-burnt cigerettes,” an officer said.

What is the lesson here, kids? Well for one, don’t work too hard. Two, don’t leave your laptop on the charger. Three, don’t pass out with your laptop on the charger. Safety first!

 

PwC Didn’t Do CME Group Any Favors

The CFTC’s action against PwC probably came as a result of a shocking CME Group announcement late Wednesday: “It now appears that the firm [MF Global] made … transfers of customer segregated funds in a manner that may have been designed to avoid detection.” These transfers, CME Group said, appeared to have taken place after its audit team showed up last week at MF Global to take a look and found everything to be in order. CME Group couldn’t have been hoodwinked like that if PwC had been doing its job all along. You can’t circumvent controls unless there are none or there are holes. It was PwC’s job to review controls and the adequacy of policies and procedures to support them. [Francine McKenna/AB, Earlier]

Bloomberg: PwC to Receive CFTC Subpoena UPDATE – Yeah, They Got It Yesterday

Don’t an expect an apology from PwC, like some firms.


PwC declined to comment.

UPDATE: Can you believe that they didn’t bother to call us? BBW reports:

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission sent the subpoena seeking information about $633 million missing from customer accounts, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter isn’t public. The subpoena was received yesterday, the person said.

[@BloombergTV, Earlier]

PwC’s MF Global Audit Team Really Could Have Used This Artificial Intelligence a Few Days Ago

Or maybe months ago. Or years ago. Unfortunately this news just came out today:

Free iPhone 4S at PwC! Well, for some people anyway – Email went out this morning that if your current contract is up for renewal, you can switch your service to AT&T (keeping your existing #) and receive a FREE iPhone 4S 16GB. Only question remains is what will Siri’s bill rate be?

Obviously the opportunity here is to delegate some of the more important intern duties to Siri such as where the team will get takeout, advice on how to fix the copier, among others.

How Much Trouble Is PwC Looking at for All This MF Global Business?

As has been reported, MF Global may have done some commingling of client money with its own which is a big no-no. This means the Feds are now on the case, which means typically cool-as-a-cumcumber cucumber Jon Corzine could be sweating a bit. MF Global’s auditor, PwC, on the other hand, has it made in the shade (at least somewhat). Why? How? Alison Frankel over at Reuters tells us:

[E]ven if it turns out that MF Global was illicitly dipping into customer accounts, if that commingling of funds helped keep the business afloat, PwC is protected by in pari delicto.


If you’ve never heard of in pari delicto, that’s the obscure doctrine that says a bankruptcy trustee that’s representing the corporation can’t go after another party for stunts pulled by said corporation. In other words, if MF Global commingled funds, if (probably more like “when”) the trustee attempts to recover funds from PwC, the firm will be protected. Francine McKenna has been writing about in pari delicto since early 2010 saying that it’s “like a pair of needle nosed pliers by audit firm defense lawyers to diffuse a bomb” and last year’s ruling for KPMG in Kirschner v. KPMG and the favorable ruling for PwC in Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana v. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP reaffirmed that sentiment. PwC probably isn’t sweating this.

But what about PwC’s audit opinion on MF’s financial statements? The Grumpies pondered the idea of what might constitute grounds for P. Dubs to issue a going concern opinion for MFG:

Might that include four years (2008-2011) of massive losses, as occurred at MF Global? Might that include severely negative free cash flows for three of the last four years? Might that include an exposure to European sovereign debt that will lead to greater future losses? Might that include several downgrades in the credit ratings?

Say you’ve got a broker-dealer client that has no European sovereign debt exposure and isn’t covered by a ratings agency. You simply have massive losses for four straight years and negative free cash flow for three out of the last four and few signs that things are turning around. Do you think there’s any doubt about this business’s ability to continue as a going concern? What about substantial doubt? Throw in the Eurotrash debt and junky bond ratings again and where do you stand now? Yikes.

But PwC was cool with it. We probably know the why (money and client retention, natch). But how? Love to hear some opinions on that. No matter the answer, our lawyer friends will do well by it all.

MF Global Owes CNBC More Money Than PwC

As you may have heard, MF Global Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this morning. You may have also heard that for some strange reason, MF owes CNBC about $845k and change. Turns out, that is more money than it owes to PwC ($312,598), Alvarez & Marsal Tax Advisory Services ($65,000), The Siegfried Group ($30,000) and KPMG ($10,000) combined.


The bright side for P. Dubs is that they got most of the $12 million that they charged the company with last year. Of course if the shareholders take this bankruptcy as well as Lehman’s have (not to mention the NYAG and the State of New Jersey), then that really doesn’t serve as much consolation.

MF Global Bankruptcy Filing [via DB]

PwC Wasn’t About to Let October Pass Without Announcing Their Latest Talent Acquisition From KPMG

If you’ve been paying attention, you know that PwC has made KPMG it’s own personal farm system for partners and directors. It seems that P. Dubs follows all the talent out there and then simply calls the men and women up when they’re ready for the big leagues. We’ve noted four press releases put out by PwC announcing appointments of partner/directors that were brought over from the House of Klynveld. And who knows how many other, non-PR worthy partners, have also joined Team Autumn. Trust us, it’s happening; we hear things.

ANYWAY, in today’s Daily Grind newsletter, I wondered if PwC would take the opportunity of All Hallow’s Eve to pull a trick on KPMG, announcing that yet another partner or director had recently joined up with P. Dubs. My wonderment was largely in jest but I guess I’ve misunderestimated the scamps in PwC’s communications department:

Eric Israel, who joins PwC as a managing director, is a former KPMG managing director and that firm’s US advisory practice leader on climate change and sustainability. He has more than 25 years of experience with KPMG where he began his career in the Netherlands as a Chartered Accountant. Later, Israel moved into sustainability consulting where he has focused his work for nearly 14 years. Israel has global experience in sustainable development concepts and application, finance and sustainability assurance, climate change and carbon consulting & verification, business research and development, as well as knowledge management and corporate governance. He also has participated in the work of organizations such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Sustainability Consortium and the AICPA’s and CICA’s joint Sustainability Task Force.

Israel co-founded KPMG’s Global Sustainability Services practice and wrote KPMG’s first Sustainability Audit Manual. He received his BA in Accounting and Business Administration from the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. He will be based in PwC’s New York office.

In other words, Izzy is was KPMG’s Global Sustainability practice. He wrote the audit manual for crissakes! Of course since he’s just a co-founder, that hopefully means that his fellow co-founder is still around. At least until he/she gets their own press release.

PwC Gives KPMG a Break, Appoints Insider as New Head of U.S. Tax

I guess it was funny the first four times (and that doesn’t count the chumps that don’t get press releases) but for the extra special positions, P. Dubs must prefer to keep things in house.

Mark J. Mendola has been named as PwC’s U.S. Tax leader and a vice chairman of the firm. He will also serve as a member of the firm’s U.S. leadership team and the global Tax leadership team. Additionally, he will be responsible for the network of Tax practices across the Americas, including Canada, Mexico and South America.

For those keeping close tabs on this sort of thing, MJM joined PwC in ’86, no doubt inspired to join the tax practice thanks to the efforts of the Gipper & Co. He joined the partnership in ’98 with no indication that he strayed to the HoK. Word on the street is that KPMG is pretty bent out of shape over the competitive poaching, so PwC must be backing off. For now, anyway.

[via PwC]

PwC Associate Quits…To Work For a Food Truck

Sorting through Moanday’s emails, I received one from a very proud (and former) P’Dubber. He wanted to share his resignation letter, where he pretty much tees off on his former colleagues.

An excerpt: “burning bridges ain’t all that bad if people want to jump off of them.”

Thought you guys may enjoy this – my name is [redacted] and this was my resignation letter to PwC I sent to the entire group a few weeks ago…. had to get this forwarded from friends within the group as they confiscated my laptop and disconnected my phone service after i sent this out – also deleted it from everyone’s mailbox by the next afternoon. nonetheless, already has circled around like wildfire. if you do happen to use this – please take out any other names, don’t want word getting back of my moles within the group 🙂

[DWB note: names removed and yes, there’s lots of capitalization issues.]

Sent on : 10/03/2011 06:50:43 PM
Subject : dueces!

fellow underpaid laborers,

no need to bs here, it’s been a pleasure w some, a nightmare w most. my
last words –

to my friends, see you on the flipside

to the newbies, one word: dignity. you are not a part of a meritocracy and climbing the corporate ladder’s just a game. if you a snake, slither your way to the top and look down on everyone with misguided pride. otherwise be real and dont do anything that jeopardizes your values. if you plan on being the future of this group don’t bitch about it together in secret and ruin the sacredness of the pantry, with all that free milk and napkins. and soap. lead by example, not your examples. shit gets pushed down and blame gets pushed up, your boss’s boss’s boss has a boss to blame your grievances on. don’t just be a product of a farming system of the ML of finance. you may leave and feel better, but you’re leaving a bunch of people behind that will go through the same shit you did. respect and loyalty is nonexistent in this group.. act on it. if you can spare yourself a moment in retrospect that you’d remember with disdain, why not. and if this isn’t for you and you already know it stop wasting your time.

to my “superiors”, from the great and timeless Remember the Titans, “Attitude reflects leadership, captain”. oh and this whole external hiring thing is completely hit or miss, the lack of trust in organic growth is pure use-em-while-you-can turn over (pun…HA) culture and it shows.

well, I guess I won’t be getting any recs from here, but f it burning bridges ain’t all that bad if people want to jump off of them.

ohh and to the all bark, no bite HR Manager with an office for midgets, give the man credit for havin some sass, but he has memory issues. the people you told verbatim that sittin for the gmats would be enough, the email that proved it, the way you denied it and put it back on them and didn’t have a care in the world u were losing good talent (not myself of course, letsbehonest), manager of the year. I’d say you were the [redacted] of pdub managers. and don’t text message me man, cmon, seriously? i ask who u are, u reply “your HR manager”? well, not anymore (expletive). and no one likes to be text messaged by middle aged men, no one.

on that note, in the words of the amazing [redacted], dueces!

SHAMELESS PLUGS *YAY*
KorillaBBQ – the new face of Korean BBQ
As seen on the Food Network’s “Great Food Truck Race”
Web: www.korillabbq.com
Facebook: Korilla BBQ
Twitter: @KorillaBBQ

Those of you at PDubs – was it really erased from computers? Do former colleagues get a discount at the truck? We want details.

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]