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The SEC Doesn’t Care if ‘The Numbers Don’t Work’

magic money.jpgTry to control yourselves, the SEC continues to kick some ass. The Commission has charged Terex Corporation of Westport, CT with accounting fraud:
Check out the details, after the jump

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Terex Corporation, a Westport, Conn.-based heavy equipment manufacturer, with accounting fraud for making material misstatements in its own financial reports to investors, as well as aiding and abetting a fraudulent accounting scheme at United Rentals, Inc. (URI), another Connecticut-based public company.

The Commission had previously charged URI executives with fraud back in September when the company paid $14 mil to settle with M. Schape and the gang. Terex is settling for $8 mil.
The complaint alleges that both companies engaged in some shady revenue recognition which enabled them to meet earnings forecasts. It also states that from 2000 to 2004, accountants at Terex couldn’t figure out some of their inter-company transactions so they just decided to RAM some journal entries in there to make it work.
We understand that. Every once in awhile it’s 1 am-ish and you’re looking at a bunch of numbers that are getting blurry and you say “F THIS“. Entry gets made. Done.
Problem is, the SEC doesn’t like that.
SEC Charges Terex Corporation With Accounting Fraud [SEC.gov]

UBS is Naming Names (Finally)

300px-Toblerone-1.jpgIn what probably amounts to UBS caving out of pure exhaustion from the nagging of U.S. Tax authorities, the Swiss Bank reached an agreement in which it will turn over names of wealthy clients. The Wall St. Journal is reporting that it could be between 8,000 and 10,000 names which will likely get UBS on the list at Hop Sing’s with Ned Isakoff.
More, after the jump


The whole sitch has caused many to confess their offshore banking sins and may make for more begrudgingly honest reporting of offshore accounts in the future but we hope that in hindsight, future Swiss negotiators see the wisdom of considering the undying power of the cocoa bean.
UBS Tax Lawsuit Settled by U.S., Swiss Governments [Bloomberg]
UPDATE: Read more at our sister site, Dealbreaker.

KPMG Europe Makes an Announcement that Won’t Upset Anyone

8ball.jpgIn a demonstration of spreading the wealth or possibly just a strategic international ploy, KPMG Europe is adding seven new nations to its firm.
Regardless of the motivation, it clearly demonstrates that the most positive news that the Scrooge American firm is capable of announcing is that it is ruining everyone’s holiday season prior to the start of football season so you have plenty of time to get over it.
KPMG Europe will add Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Georgia to its stable of bean counters. They join the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands and will increase the Europe revenues to over £4bn which probably could pay for a few parties (but not full bar) in the States.
KPMG Europe spreads wings to take in seven nations [Accountancy Age]

Preliminary Analytics | 08.12.09

ben_old.jpg• Economists Call for Bernanke to Stay, Say Recession Is Over – “Economists are nearly unanimous that Ben Bernanke should be reappointed to another term as Federal Reserve chairman, and they said there is a 71% chance that President Barack Obama will ask him to stay on, according to a survey.” Sure, why not? [WSJ]
• U.S. Firms Probed in Mexico Oil Scam – “The probe is part of a broader two-year joint U.S.-Mexican investigation into a network of Mexican oil smugglers supported by the Gulf drug cartel, one of Mexico’s most powerful and brutal criminal organizations.” Appears reasonable. [WSJ]
• Lying Low After a Layoff – Are you really going out of your way to look employed? [Washington Post]
• Amex, Discover to end fees going over credit limit – Back to maxing out! [AP via Miami Herald]
• Feinberg’s Pay Decisions May Set the Template for Wall Street – “companies must tell him how they plan to pay the 25 top-earning employees. Feinberg will rule on the plans within 60 days after they’re completed.” Uh oh. [Bloomberg]

Review Comments | 08.11.09

thumbs down col.gif• Bankruptcy Filing Near for Taylor Bean – “The motion, submitted in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, was filed on Aug. 6, one day after the privately owned Ocala, Fla., company ceased its lending operation and dismissed most of its work force.” No surprise, but that sucks guys. Try to keep truckin. [WSJ]
• Benmosche Said to Start AIG Tenure With Croatian Trip “plans to spend part of his first month leading the insurer in Croatia on vacation, according to two people familiar with the situation.” The guy’s got stones, that’s for sure. [Bloomberg]
• IRS Impostors Burglarize House “The IRS impersonators made off with a weed trimmer, chain saw, jewelry and a utility trailer.” [Web CPA via TaxProf Blog]
• The Sweet Sixteen: A List of Audits I Need in my Life [Accounting Nation]

SEC Would Like the Stanford Receiver to Relax a Little

r.jpgRalph Janvey, the court appointed receiver in the Allen Stanford “where’s the f’n money Lebowski” case is what some people might call, shrewd.
Janvey is fighting to have certain brokerage accounts held by investors frozen because the holders of said accounts made principal withdrawals prior to the uncovering of the fraud.
The SEC kinda, maybe thinks that this is a little overboard and filed papers opposing Janvey’s suing of what the Commission calls “innocent fraud victims”.
We’re thinking that since Janvey is on the wildest of wild goose chases, he has had to resort to suing regular people that had the fortunate dumb luck to pull their money out of a Stanford Bank Institution garbage bag prior to the poop + fan.
SEC Opposes Motions in Stanford Case [WSJ]

Guilty Madoff CFO Update

It’s offish. DiPascali pleaded guilty to all ten counts against him and faces 125 years in prison, just quarter century short of Boss Ponz. However, because he is cooperating with the U.S. Attorney, DiPascali may be lucky enough to get a sentence under the century mark.
The bright side for Frank DiPascali is that he gets to spend his last few days as a free man courtesy of a very nice sister who put up her house for the $2.5 million bond. Sentencing is tentatively set for May 2010.
DiPascali was the man that many Madoff investors corresponded with directly so it’s clear to us that he was LYING A LOT.
Per the WSJ:

The former chief financial officer for Bernard Madoff says he helped the disgraced financier and others “carry out a fraud that hurt thousands of people”…Mr. DiPascali said at the plea hearing that the transactions were “all fake. It was all fictitious. It was wrong, and I knew it was wrong at the time.”

Okay then, nothing really new there but we will be waiting patiently to hear the other names. Next bean counter up for book throwing is David Friehling, who was kind enough to rubber stamp the Madoff financial statements for around $14k a month. Bright side for Friehling is that he’s looking at 50% less time in jail then Bernie.

Let’s Get Right to the Heart of this Thing

money.jpgAnd by that we mean money. We’ve started hearing rumors about the starting salaries for new associates and we don’t know what the hell to believe, so we need your help to set us straight.
We’ve heard $50k in Atlanta, $52k in Houston, $57k in DC and $61k in New York. Nothing yet from the left coast, so help us out. Sounds like signing bonuses are either significantly reduced and in some cases completely eliminated. Nothing has been firm specific but we’re guessing they’re all pretty close.
Talk to your fellow newly minted bean counters and find out the sitch on this year’s salaries and how it compares to last year’s newbies for your respective city. Also let us know if your start date has been pushed back. Discuss in the comments or send us the deets at tips@goingconcern.com.

Huron Consulting Has a New Problem

Cooking the Books.jpgHuron Consulting, after cleaning house, admitting to some book cooking, and having multiple class action suits filed against it, now has a brand new SEC investigation to look forward to. This new investigation is in addition to a separate investigation the SEC was conducting related to its chargeable hours.

The new investigation relates to the accounting hocus-pocus that led to the announcement that three years of financial results were being restated. On top of all this, the 10-Q, due yesterday, has yet to be filed. The company said everything is cool though and that it will be filed…who the hell knows as soon as possible.

Huron crossed its heart and hoped to die that it would cooperate with the new investigation. After all, they’ve won new business since the scandal dropped, so not everybody thinks they’re crooks.
SEC investigating Huron accounting errors [Chicago Tribune]

Respect the Expense Reimbursement Policy Or…

With the firms cracking down on expenses of every sort, including canceling the Holidays prior to the autumnal equinox, hopefully the following story doesn’t occur to any of you. At the very least, it can show what can happen when you have blatant disrespect for your firm’s expense reimbursement policy:
More, after the jump

A former Deloitte Consulting manager who disappeared on the day of her sentencing for bilking her employer out of more than $500,000 was found dead in a Costa Mesa park Saturday morning, authorities said….[Jamie] Watkins, a former operations manager for the Santa Ana office of Deloitte Consulting LLP, faced up to 10 years in federal prison after abusing the company’s expense reimbursements to steal about $550,000 to pay for things including property taxes and furniture.

As tragic as this story is, it serves as example to those of you that find yourself regularly explaining to an HR rep the $500 lunches you had at Bobby Vans and the theatre tickets that ended up on your last expense report. This may be where you are headed if you don’t shape up.
Deloitte manager hangs self [Orange County Register]