The SEC Has Charged Marcum’s Former National Assurance Services Leader With Being Ass at His One Job
The SEC’s rock-hard justice boner for Marcum continues, this time it’s charges against the firm’s former national assurance services leader for “causing widespread quality control deficiencies.” Or in casual parlance, “totally fucking up.” From today’s news release: The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Alfonse Gregory Giugliano, CPA, the former National Assurance Services Leader at […]
SEC Nabs Its First NFT Case, Commissioner Peirce Won’t Be Throwing a Party
Yesterday the SEC announced charges against Impact Theory, LLC, a media and entertainment company headquartered in Los Angeles, for conducting an unregistered offering of crypto asset securities in the form of purported non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Impact Theory raised approximately $30 million from hundreds of morons investors, including colossal idiots investors across the United States, through […]
The SEC Did Not Appreciate Crowe UK Putting Total Noobs on the Audit of a Shady Company
A couple days ago the SEC charged Crowe U.K. LLP, its CEO Nigel Bostock, and senior auditor Matthew Stallabrass for the firm’s deficient audit of music streaming company Akazoo Limited. All three agreed to settle the charges. The client, Greece-based Akazoo S.A, settled with the SEC for $38.8 million back in 2021 “for allegedly defrauding […]
EY’s Top In-House Lawyer Just Quit
EY US Vice Chair & General Counsel Ann Cook is saying goodbye to the firm after just two years in the role and ten total at EY, an exit that Financial Times ties to the Great Cheating Scandal of 2019. We too shall find some red string and put it all together in a moment. […]
The SEC Charges and Then Trolls Crypto Exchange Binance
Who needs an entire article about the SEC filing 13 charges against crypto exchange Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao when the SEC is cranking out tweets like this? Today we charged Binance Holdings Ltd. (Binance); U.S.-based affiliate, BAM Trading Services Inc., which, together with Binance, operates https://t.co/swcxioZKVP; and their founder, Changpeng Zhao, with a […]
SEC Enforcement Released Its Greatest Hits for FY 2022
The SEC Division of Enforcement cracked a lot of skulls in fiscal 2022, as it brought in a record $6.439 billion in penalties and disgorgement, up from $3.852 billion in fiscal year 2021. Of that total, the $4.194 billion in civil penalties the SEC doled out was also a record, but the $2.245 billion in […]
The SEC’s Attrition Rate is Up But Is It Worse Than Public Accounting’s?
Answer: nope. POLITICO: The SEC has seen attrition rates jump from 5.4 percent in fiscal year 2021 to an estimated 6.4 percent in 2022 — the highest in a decade, according to the report, which began circulating late last week. The SEC is not unique in seeing employees depart. Attrition rates across the federal government […]
The SEC Is Finally Going After People With Cartoonish Butt Implants Who Shill Shady Crypto ‘Investments’
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday announced charges against Kim Kardashian for promoting a crypto asset security on her social media without disclosing the payment she received for the promotion. She agreed to settle the charges, pay $1.26 million in penalties, disgorgement, and interest, and cooperate with the Commission’s ongoing investigation. The SEC’s order […]
A Bunch of Auditors at RSM F*cked Up
Today in Auditors Not Doing Their Jobs, the SEC has charged RSM, three senior-level employees who work there, and a couple partners with improper professional conduct for failing to properly audit Revolution Lighting Technologies Inc.’s financial statements over a four-year period when Revolution was violating accounting principles by inflating revenue with bill and hold sales. […]
Did the SEC’s Acting Chief Accountant Have EY in Mind When He Wrote This?
The Australian Financial Review reported today that EY had hoped to temporarily share the EY brand name between a new independent consulting firm and its existing auditing firm if a decision is made to split the two businesses into separate entities. But according to a statement this week from SEC acting chief accountant Paul Munter, […]
A Petition to Fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler Has Almost 25,000 Signatures
“Al from Boston” and 23,919 other individuals would like to see SEC Chairman Gary Gensler gone, namely for obstruction of justice, incompetence, and screwing over retail investors. From the change.org petition: SEC Chairman Gary Gensler is complicit in criminal activities perpetrated by Citadel Securities, Citadel the Market Maker in naked short selling and dark pool […]
How Exactly Did EY Auditors Cheat on CPE Exams? Details From the SEC Order
With the EY cheating scandal making headlines even outside of our precious little accountosphere we decided to take a look at the full SEC order to answer the question — how and why were EY auditors cheating on CPE exams? This post will be long so we’ll get deeper into the CPA ethics portion of […]
EY Auditors Cheated on Ethics Exams and Tried to Cover It Up, Will Pay a Record Fine for Naughtiness
Well this is bad. The SEC has fined EY a record $100 million after an investigation revealed auditors at EY were cheating on ethics exams (open book ethics exams we presume) and CPE; worse than cheating alone, they actively tried to cover it up and hide the cheating from the SEC. From the SEC news […]
SEC Slaps CohnReznick and Three Partners with Improper Professional Conduct
This press release from the SEC is wayyyy too boring to be rewritten in an interesting way on a sunny Friday afternoon so have some copy paste instead: The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged audit firm CohnReznick LLP with improper professional conduct on engagements for two clients in 2017. The two clients, Sequential Brands […]
SEC and PCAOB Enforcers Took An Extended Smoke Break In 2021
People who work in the enforcement divisions at the SEC and the PCAOB must have been busy doing other things than monitoring the gatekeepers of the capital markets last year, as accounting and auditing enforcement activity decreased and monetary settlements fell sharply, according to a recently released report from Cornerstone Research. The two regulators made […]
The SEC Only Gives Out Wrist-Slaps to the Big 4 When They Break Independence Rules On Providing Non-Audit Services to Audit Clients
The big news in the accounting profession yesterday afternoon from Dave Michaels of the Wall Street Journal was that the SEC is investigating the Big 4 and other public accounting firms on whether the consulting and non-audit services they sell to clients is conflicting with their independence as the auditors of said clients. Michaels reported […]
A Few EY Partners Didn’t Get the Auditor Independence Rules Right
The SEC on Dec. 10 decided that two EY partners and one principal didn’t take the auditor independence rules seriously and doled out a few fines and sanctions. And like many of these auditor independence violations that get firms in hot water with the SEC or the PCAOB, the flagrant rules bending by EY had […]
Two of the ‘KPMG 5’ Barred By the SEC Indefinitely For Being Dirty Cheaters
Ex-KPMG partners David Britt and Thomas Whittle were told by the SEC on Wednesday that their accounting privileges were being taken away for a long time because of their involvement in a multiyear scheme with three other KPMGers to steal regulatory information from the PCAOB to cheat on audit inspections. The administrative proceeding orders released […]
Two Ex-KPMG Auditors Were Told By the SEC to Have a Seat On the Sidelines For a While
Two former KPMG auditors who worked on the ill-fated audit of a not-for-profit college agreed to having their wrists slapped by the SEC for their roles in the school’s collapse: The Securities and Exchange Commission today suspended two former KPMG auditors [Christopher Stanley and Jennifer Stewart] from practicing before the SEC in connection with settled […]
Your Naughty Corporate Controller of the Day
Edward Kelly has been suspended from appearing or practicing before the SEC as an accountant because he got caught insider trading. You can read the SEC order from Feb. 16 here. But the blog SEC Actions put together a nice little synopsis of the case against Kelly: Now the agency has brought an insider trading […]
Your Naughty CEO and CFO of the Day
By making false statements and omissions to external auditors, which resulted in the improper recognition of $3.6 million in revenue related to a contract with a large public-sector client, ex-WageWorks CEO Joseph Jackson and former CEO Colm Callan had to pay their way out of the SEC’s doghouse. According to the SEC: In March 2016, […]
FASB and PCAOB Do a Poor Job on Diversity and Inclusion
I’ve spent a good portion of my career monitoring the accounting and auditing standard-setting world and Big 4 firms. So, I read with great interest the letter to the editor to Going Concern on whether the Big 4’s equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) efforts are corporate BS. It made me think about the FASB and […]
If the Economy Gets Any Worse You Can Always Find a Promising Career In Snitching
Browsing our stats on any given day, I can’t help but notice how many people arrive at this website by Googling “careers after public accounting” or some variation of such. “Fuck public accounting” is also a popular one, I can’t possibly imagine why. Given the current economic environment, we’ve seen an uptick in searches of […]
Here Are 6 Reasons Why the SEC Whistleblower Program Is Successful
In response to the 2008 financial crisis, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July 2010, which, among other things, created the SEC Whistleblower Program. A decade later, the program has proven to be successful in generating high-quality information regarding securities laws violations that have enabled the SEC to halt fraud schemes and protect investors. Since issuing […]
So What If the SEC Swallowed the PCAOB?
Skepticism is called for in reaction to the budget proposal to roll up the U.S. audit regulator, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, into the Securities and Exchange Commission, its statutory overseer. Do not mistake this reluctance to join the anxieties voiced by the usual suspects—among them former SEC chairman Arthur Levitt and former PCAOB chairman Jim […]
SEC Employees In DC Will Be Working From Home for the Time Being
While some accountants are wondering why their firms haven’t told them to just work from home until the coronavirus hysteria dies down, the SEC told its employees in Washington, DC, just that in an email yesterday. The Washington Post reported: The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday asked employees at its D.C. headquarters to stay […]
Unsurprisingly, James Doty Is Not a Fan of the PCAOB Possibly Being Folded Into the SEC
The former PCAOB czar joins a group of people that includes ex-SEC chairman Arthur Levitt, former PCAOB interim chairman Dan Goelzer, and others who say the Trump administration’s 2021 budget proposal to consolidate the duties of the audit regulator under the SEC starting in 2022 would be a big mistake. In a blog that was […]
Let’s See What Some Folks Are Saying About the Proposal to Fold the PCAOB Into the SEC
Since we posted our take last week about the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2021 budget proposal to eliminate the PCAOB and fold its duties into the SEC by 2022, we’ve gotten some emails from accountants about what they think of the PCAOB. Most of them have been negative, like this one: Reducing or better yet, […]
Could We Soon Be Living In a PCAOB-less World?
I cut out of the office early yesterday afternoon to watch my oldest daughter’s junior high basketball game, thinking: “It’s a slow news day, I’m not missing out on anything.” It wasn’t until I had my first cup of coffee this morning that I saw a couple of articles posted yesterday afternoon, including one from […]
SEC Takes Away Privileges From Another Felon In KPMG/PCAOB Scandal
David Middendorf’s trial buddy, Jeffrey Wada, the now-former PCAOB inspections leader who fed confidential information about upcoming audit inspections to some folks at KPMG, including Middendorf, in the hopes of landing a job at the Big 4 firm, is now prohibited from appearing or practicing before the Securities and Exchange Commission as an accountant. Wada’s […]
Convicted Ex-KPMG Partner David Middendorf Suspended By the SEC
Another “KPMG 5” executive who will be serving prison time for his role in a scheme to steal confidential audit inspection lists from the PCAOB was suspended today from appearing or practicing before the Securities and Exchange Commission as an accountant. The SEC released the following two-page order of suspension against David Middendorf, former national […]
Jailed Ex-KPMG Executive Director Barred By the SEC Because Why Not?
Cynthia Holder, one of the “KPMG 5” who was sentenced to eight months in federal prison in August for her role in a scheme to steal confidential audit inspection information from the PCAOB, was “denied the privilege” of appearing or practicing before the SEC as an accountant, the commission announced on Nov. 29. The SEC […]
It’s That Time of Year When the SEC Gets Braggadocious
Now that the SEC is a little more than a month into its new fiscal year, the commission wanted to remind everyone that its enforcement division staff didn’t spend FY 2019 watching porn at work all day long. Yep, the SEC Division of Enforcement 2019 Annual Report is hot off the press, and in it […]
Senators to SEC Chair Jay Clayton: What the Hell Is Going On At the PCAOB?
It seems we weren’t the only ones who were disturbed by the Wall Street Journal article last week detailing the dysfunction at the PCAOB under the tremendous leadership of chairman and meetings hater William Duhnke. In a letter dated Oct. 17 to SEC Chair Jay Clayton, Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Jack Reed (D-RI) called […]
The SEC Got Rid of the Only PCAOB Member Not Drinking the William Duhnke Kool-Aid
Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is the current state of your PCAOB under the leadership of William Duhnke, according to the Wall Street Journal: A watchdog tasked with protecting investors by policing audits of public companies has slowed its work amid board infighting, multiple senior staff departures, and allegations that the chairman has created a “sense […]
SEC Fines and Bans Three Accounting Firm CPAs for Not Doing Their Jobs Very Well
Three CPAs from a New Jersey public accounting firm most of you probably have never even heard of got their wrists slapped by the SEC on Sept. 30 for signing off on the audits of an IT company’s financial statements, even though the company’s CEO and CFO were perpetuating a massive fraud. Schulman Lobel Zand […]
Finding a Good CFO Is So Hard Companies Are Just Making Them Up Now
h/t Sam Antar for shooting this story our way. If you have a story you think we should cover go ahead and use the contact info at the bottom of this post to get in touch. Finding a good CFO is tough. So tough, in fact, that one company recently got in a bit of […]
PwC Fined $7.9 Million By the SEC for Making Pretty Dumb and Obvious Independence Violations
About a month ago, we chided RSM US for being fined $950,000 by the SEC for getting caught providing non-audit services to audit clients, saying that a firm like RSM should’ve known better. But PwC got busted today by the SEC for also doing non-audit work for audit clients, which pretty much reinforces how shady […]
RIP James Schnurr, Former SEC Chief Accountant
The SEC confirmed last night some sad news we saw being shared on Twitter yesterday that former Chief Accountant James Schnurr has passed away. SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said in a statement: “Jim was a dedicated and respected public servant who left us far too soon. While at the Commission, he was committed to establishing […]
RSM US’s $950,000 Fine Is a Reminder That Performing Non-Audit Services for Audit Clients Can Get You Into Trouble
You’d think a firm like RSM US would know this by now, but guess not. The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged public accounting firm RSM US LLP with violations of the agency’s auditor independence rules in connection with more than 100 audit reports involving at least 15 audit clients. Yes, auditor independence is a […]
Ex-KPMG Partner’s Broker Probably Won’t Be Doing Any Insider Trading For a While
The last man standing in the KPMG insider trading case (the one not involving Scott London) has finally fallen. From the SEC: Today [Aug. 14], jurors in Atlanta federal court returned a verdict finding New Jersey securities broker Raymond J. Pirrello, Jr. liable for insider trading in advance of three merger and acquisition transactions. Pirrello […]
Ex-KPMG Partner Will Be Giving the SEC a Bag Full of Money
We have an update on one of the members of Caleb’s fantasy KPMG insider trading golf team. From Law360: With a trial looming, a Georgia federal judge has granted approval of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s settlement with a former KPMG LLP partner accused of tipping off a stockbroker about the upcoming acquisitions of […]
What Price Wrong-Doing? Sanctions Against KPMG Are Complicated
“Sell in May and go away” was an investors’ adage invoked as vacation strategy in a more genteel era. Returns in the summer were said to lag the rest of the year—and in any event, that’s how brokers justified their holiday cottages on the eastern seaboard. This year the maxim has twice failed my attempt […]
The SEC Removed ‘Acting’ From Sagar Teotia’s Job Title
Sagar Teotia is officially your new chief accountant at the SEC, a position he had held in an acting role since Wesley Bricker surprisingly announced he was stepping down as chief accountant in June. Teotia definitely has the chops for the chief accountant office. He had served as deputy chief accountant under Bricker since 2017 […]
SEC Says $50 Million Fine For KPMG Is ‘Significant’ and ‘Appropriate’ For All That Cheating Going On
The SEC made official today the news that Dave Michaels of the Wall Street Journal broke late last week, announcing that KPMG will pay $50 million to settle allegations that former partners “stole the test” by using confidential information that was being fed to them by a PCAOB insider to improve the firm’s performance on […]
$50 Million Fine SEC Is Reportedly Giving KPMG Over PCAOB Scandal Isn’t Big Enough
Dave Michaels of the Wall Street Journal broke some huge news late last night about a huge fine the SEC could levy against KPMG later this month because of several former partners’ involvement in one of the biggest U.S. accounting scandals in recent years—stealing secret audit inspection information from the PCAOB. KPMG LLP is preparing […]
Wesley Bricker Is Stepping Down As SEC Chief Accountant
This just in from the SEC: The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Wesley R. Bricker, Chief Accountant, plans to leave the agency after more than six years of distinguished service. Mr. Bricker was named as the SEC’s Chief Accountant in 2016, after serving as the deputy chief accountant. Earlier, he served as a […]
Former SEC Chief Accountant Broke His Neck In 2016 Bike Crash, Awarded $41 Million In Damages By Jury
Back in July 2016 when I was working at AccountingWEB, I remember an SEC press release coming across my virtual desk announcing that Wesley Bricker had been named interim chief accountant. I remember thinking, “Wait, what happened to James Schnurr? He had just spoken at some accounting conference, somewhere, about something, it seemed.” The July […]
Two Internal Auditors Thought They Could Get Away with Insider Trading, LOL
Two internal auditor buddies got a starring role in an SEC litigation release after they were charged with insider trading for monkeying around with secret information about their respective employers. Lloyd Schuman, a former senior internal auditor at Verso Corp., and Dane Janes, an internal auditor with Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc., agreed to pay a […]
It Seems the PCAOB and SEC Are Giving Accountants the Benefit of the Doubt More These Days
Maybe it’s because the PCAOB had a new chairman and a whole new board at the beginning of last year. Or maybe it’s because the audit regulator’s longtime enforcement chief bolted last May and the position still hasn’t been permanently filled. Whatever the reason, the PCAOB settled only 13 enforcement actions against accountants in 2018, […]
Accounting Fraud Watch: Jumio Founder, Former College Controller, Ex-Roadrunner Execs
We arrived late to a couple accounting fraud settlement parties thrown by the SEC recently. All the Lagunitas and buffalo chicken dip were gone, and we were stuck drinking Busch Light and munching on carrot sticks. But we’ll still recap what happened at these shindigs anyway. Silicon Valley startup Jumio’s ex-CEO settles SEC fraud charges […]
As a Result of Breaking SEC Rules, Deloitte Japan Is $2 Million Lighter In the Wallet
There was some bad decision-making going on at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in Japan. Dozens of its employees had bank accounts at the subsidiary of a client for which Deloitte Japan issued audit reports, which is a no-no because Securities and Exchange Commission rules don’t allow accountants to have bank accounts with audit clients that have […]
New Year’s Eve Was Kind of a Bummer for Hertz
Man, I hope executives at Hertz got shitfaced on New Year’s Eve, because being told the company has to pay a $16 million civil penalty to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle a case involving numerous accounting violations is not a stellar way to end 2018/begin 2019. An SEC cease-and-desist order filed on Dec. […]
SEC Got All Grinchy on Crowe, Four Partners for Bad Banana of an Audit
We interrupt your Christmas Eve merriment to bring you this press release from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which on Dec. 21 announced not-so-glad tidings about Crowe LLP’s audit team: The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed settled charges against national audit firm Crowe LLP, two of its partners, and two partners of a now-defunct audit […]
Longtime KPMG Client General Electric Looking to Mess Around with Another Audit Firm
109 years. That’s how long KPMG has been General Electric’s auditor. When that engagement started, the rotund William Howard Taft was in the White House, there were 46 states in the U.S., and the start of World War I and Babe Ruth’s professional baseball career were still five years away. But the spark in the […]
Elon Musk Made It Clear He Gives an Immaterial Number of F*cks About the SEC
ICYMI, Elon Musk appeared on 60 Minutes on Sunday, and while it wasn’t quite as good as him sparking a blunt on Joe Rogan’s podcast, it was still a tad incendiary. Musk’s beef with the SEC started in August when he tweeted that he was “considering” taking Tesla private at $420 a share (LOL 420, […]
eBay’s Former Director of SEC Reporting (and Deloitte Alum) Charged With Insider Trading By SEC
A CPA who once was the director of Securities and Exchange Commission reporting for eBay Inc. was charged with insider trading by the SEC on Sept. 28 for allegedly using insider information ahead of a PayPal Holdings acquisition to make nearly $36,000 in illegal trading profits, according to documents released on Oct. 16. Bryan Long, […]
How Do We Fraudulently Boost Revenues for Thee? Let Me Count the Ways
If you’re going to get busted for using fraudulent accounting practices to artificially inflate your company’s revenues, you might as well make it worth your while—or at least worth the fine you’re going to have to pay to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC levied fraudulent accounting charges against Tangoe, formerly a public telecommunications […]
Federal Judge Strikes Down Ex-KPMG Partners’ Request for SEC Evidence Search
If you’re dying to know what’s going on with David Britt, David Middendorf, and Thomas Whittle, the former KPMG partners who are accused of participating in a scandal in which confidential Public Company Accounting Oversight Board inspection information was leaked to the accounting firm, Law360 has an update: A group of former and would-be KPMG auditors […]
PCAOB Told SEC ‘Hold My Drink,’ Went All Enforcement-Crazy on Accountants in 2017
2017 was a banner year for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board when it came to enforcement actions against accountants. For the Securities and Exchange Commission, not so much. The PCAOB finalized 35 enforcement actions involving “accountants”—otherwise known as CPAs employed by SEC registrants, auditors, and audit firms—last year, up from 28 in 2016, according […]
SEC Calls Off the Dogs on Exxon Mobil
Exxon Mobil Corp. is out of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s doghouse for now, as the regulator ended its two-year accounting investigation into how the company calculates the value of its assets, as well as possible oily investor disclosures about climate change. According to a Bloomberg News report, Exxon Mobil received a letter from the […]
The SEC Would Like a Word With Long Blockchain
Back in my day, it was enough to take an iconic cola brand and make a clear version to boost stock prices. Of course, that didn’t exactly work out for Pepsi in the long term either. In December of last year, New York-based Long Island Iced Tea Corp. changed its name to Long Blockchain Corp. and […]
Earnings Forecasts Look Sunnier When You Put GAAP in the Shade
More and more of the largest companies in the United States are using their favorite nonstandard accounting metrics to forecast earnings, and as long as the Securities and Exchange Commission allows it, they’ll continue to do it. For example, Newell Brands Inc., which makes Sharpie markers and Rubbermaid containers, forecasts that a key measure of […]
Toshiba Seems to Have Escaped SEC Penalty After Accounting Probe Ends
It was reported in March 2016 that the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department were investigating the “accounting problems” at Toshiba Corp.’s business units in the United States. Well, according to Reuters, the SEC has completed the investigation, and Toshiba is likely breathing a sigh of relief. “We understand that all SEC investigations […]
SEC in No Rush to Make a Decision on PCAOB Chair
SEC Chair Mary Jo White said that she'll wait until two new commissioners are appointed before deciding on whether James Doty will remain the head of the PCAOB. Currently, the SEC only has three commissioners after Dan Gallagher and Luis Aguilar both left last year. But how long do we have to wait?! That all […]
At Least One SEC Commissioner Has a Sense of Humor
Michael Piwowar made a funny: Imagine a world where GAAP or other reporting standards did not exist – where management could develop its own numbers based on its own poorly-defined criteria. Management might be tempted to create numbers that provide the illusion of performance but in reality are largely irrelevant to measuring the actual performance […]
Auditors, PCAOB Earn Attaboys From SEC Chief Accountant
SEC Chief Accountant James Schnurr says that, although "there's room for improvement" audit quality "is getting better" and the PCAOB has "deepened their expertise" and "their inspection process has matured." This explains why we've seen more deficiencies, he says. I'm sure KPMG appreciates the vote of confidence. [AT]
The SEC Put Out Its 2015 Highlight Reel
The SEC's fiscal year wrapped on September 30, so naturally, they wanted to take a victory lap with their enforcements results. Among the accounting and auditing highlights brought up are: Computer Science Corporation's manipulation of "accounting models that artificially increased its profits but had no basis in reality." Deutsche Bank's overvalued derivatives that exposed them […]
FASB Supports the SEC’s Commitment to Tiptoeing Around IFRS Adoption Indefinitely
This week, the AICPA Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments is going down in Washington and unfortunately I am missing it this year as I'm due in Dallas this week for AccountingWEB Live which is exponentially more exciting (or something). Today, SEC Chief Accountant Jim Schnurr reiterated the commission's commitment to pussyfooting around any […]
A Quick and Dirty Guide to Getting Away With Insider Trading
Insider trading: the classic white collar money-making scheme. Do it right, and you’ll amass a fortune. Screw it up, and you’ll wind up stamping out license plates and teaching ethics CPE from behind bars with Scott London. We're here today to tell you how NOT to get caught because who knows, some day you may […]
This Massive SEC Whistleblower Award Will Make You Wish You’d Seen Something and Said Something
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an expected award of more than $30 million to a whistleblower who provided key original information that led to a successful SEC enforcement action. The award will be the largest made by the SEC’s whistleblower program to date and the fourth award to a whistleblower living in a […]
How I Learned to Stop Hating Networking and Love Mary Schapiro
A few months ago, my boss sent me to a business conference to learn technical stuff but mostly to network. If someone had told me years ago how much networking and ass-kissing the accounting profession actually involves, maybe I would have rethought my career path and become a statistician or something. The only thing I […]
The SEC Is Tired of Procrastinating Late Filers Taking Their Sweet Ass Time
The SEC announced action yesterday against 28 officers, directors, or major shareholders for violating federal securities laws requiring them to promptly report information about their holdings and transactions in company stock. Additionally, six publicly-traded companies were charged for contributing to filing failures related to this chronic procrastibation. From the SEC release: The charges stem from […]
Former SEC Chief Accountant Predictably Curmudgeony About the SEC’s New Chief Accountant
Financial Executives International (FEI) has a pretty good piece on the struggles newly-announced SEC Chief Accountant Jim Schnurr will face in his time at our favorite porn-loving securities regulator. You should go read it. Like the whole thing. Make sure you don't miss this part: Lynn E. Turner’s take on the matter, perhaps not unsurprisingly […]
SEC Names a New Chief Accountant, You’ll Never Guess Where He Worked Before
Did you like that lame Upworthy headline? Did it get you to click on this? Sorry about that, you're about to be disappointed. The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced it has named James Schnurr as its chief accountant. Mr. Schnurr will begin his new post in October. He will replace Paul A. Beswick, who […]
SEC Steps In to Stop Sketchy City Comptroller From Bankrupting City on Bad Bond Deals
The city of Harvey, IL has angered the SEC with some shady bond offerings to the point that the SEC felt it appropriate to obtain an emergency court order to stop these clowns from issuing these bonds: The SEC has filed fraud charges in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against the […]
The SEC Is On An Insider Trading Losing Streak
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in a third insider-trading trial defeat in the past year, lost its lawsuit claiming STEC Inc.’s former chief executive officer made $134 million by selling stock before divulging a sales setback to investors. Federal jurors in Santa Ana, California, returned their verdict on the first day of deliberations. The […]
SEC Working On Protecting Ridiculously Rich People From Investing In Stupid Startups
Since 1982, the SEC has defined an "accredited investor" as someone with $1 million sitting around collecting dust or annual income of $200,000 in each of the previous two years with the reasonable assumption of making at least $200,000 in the year ahead. In 2006, Chris Cox wanted to bump that up to $3 million, […]
Ex-Deloitte Chief Risk Officer Learns Not to Gamble with Independence the Hard Way
As everyone who is anyone knows, it's important to maintain independence in both fact and appearance. James T. Adams — once Chief Risk Officer at Deloitte's San Francisco office — was reminded of that part of CPA Ethics 101 today when the Securities and Exchange Commission charged him for causing violations of the auditor independence […]
The SEC Has Warned Against Investors Putting all Their Money into Marijuana
Thank goodness we have the SEC to protect us from ourselves. The SEC sent out a warning today cautioning investors to be on the lookout for shady "microcap companies that claim their operations relate to the marijuana industry after the agency suspended trading in the fifth such company within the past two months." The SEC […]
SEC Chief Accountant Paul Beswick Is Leaving For the Private Sector
The SEC announced today that Chief Accountant Paul Beswick is out, with his sights set on the private sector. He'll hang around for a bit (a "transitional period" for you corporate drones) to make sure his exit doesn't screw up all his hard work over the last 2 years. Beswick first joined the SEC in […]
SEC Charges BP Insider With Cleaning Up His Portfolio After the Deepwater Spill
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a former 20-year employee of BP p.l.c. and a senior responder during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill with insider trading in BP securities based on confidential information about the magnitude of the disaster. The price of BP securities fell significantly after the April 20, 2010 explosion on […]
The SEC Wants You to Know What Ponzi Scheme YouTube Videos Look Like
It's kind of like an infomercial but with fewer incompetent idiots trying to accomplish basic tasks like using Tupperware and cracking eggs. Before we get to the video, let's get to the press release from the SEC: The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges and an asset freeze against the operators of a […]
Retired SEC Lawyer Calls Agency Penalties “At Most a Tollbooth on the Bankster Turnpike”
James Kidney, who joined the SEC in 1986 and retired this month, offered the critique in a speech at his goodbye party. His remarks hit home with many in the crowd of SEC lawyers and alumni thanks to a part of his resume not publicly known: He had campaigned internally to bring charges against more […]
Crime May Not Pay But Whistleblowing Certainly Does
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that the whistleblower who received the first award under the agency’s new whistleblower program will receive an additional $150,000 payout after the SEC collected additional funds in the case. The whistleblower, who the SEC did not identify in order to protect confidentiality, has now been awarded a total […]
Investors Want Disclosures That Make Sense; Also a Pony, World Peace
This according to Compliance Week: “Investors pretty much said to a person they're not turning down disclosure,” says Kenneth Daly, president and CEO of the National Association of Corporate Directors, which recently convened an investor summit to hear from major investor groups. “At the same time, they made it abundantly clear, there are lots and […]
The SEC Wants a Bigger Allowance Because Robots
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission needs more money to properly police equity markets and detect potential misconduct, especially in a world of rapid-fire trading, SEC Chair Mary Jo White told lawmakers on Tuesday. "We… have focused intensively on potential misconduct in the equity markets," White told a U.S. House of Representatives appropriations panel in […]
Being a Good Husband Means Listening to Your Wife, Except When Insider Trading is Involved
Women everywhere who are convinced men never listen might gain just a small sense of satisfaction out of these two clowns who — despite getting in trouble with the SEC — prove that not all dudes check out once the lady starts talking. “Spouses and other family members may gain access to highly confidential information […]
Who Needs a CFO When You Have an Ex-KPMGer Running the Show?
Colin already got to this L&L Energy LOLery in ANR but in case you missed it, here's just a teaser from the SEC: The SEC’s Enforcement Division alleges that L&L Energy Inc., which has all of its operations in China and Taiwan, created the false appearance that the company had a professional management team in […]
Idiots Accused of Insider Trading Used Sketchy Post-It Method, Creative Digestion
Insider trading accusations are often boring, routine and totally predictable. But this reads like something out of a poorly-written detective novel, for real: The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a stockbroker and a managing clerk at a law firm with insider trading around more than a dozen mergers or other corporate transactions for illicit […]
Deloitte Client and Trading Firm Wants to Go Public, Admits To Being Awful at Accounting
Anyone who has ever struggled through Intermediate or scored two consecutive 74s on FAR can tell you accounting is hard, man. But when you're in the financial business and hoping to go public, there is a minimum expectation that you at least have some idea what you're doing before you invite the auditors over to […]
SEC Floats the Idea That the More You Pay For an Audit, The Better the Audit Will Be
We'd say you heard it here first, kids but actually you heard it from CFO Journal: U.S. securities regulators are wary that pressure to reduce auditor fees could lead to worse audits. Regulators grow “worried” when auditor fees appear to fluctuate with economic cycles, Paul Beswick, chief accountant at the Securities and Exchange Commission, said […]
The SEC’s Four Year Plan Conspicuously Missing a Commitment to IFRS
The SEC is the worst long-distance boyfriend ever. For years it's been telling the IASB to just be patient and one day, they'll move in together, into an apartment with mostly the IASB's furniture except for the SEC's favorite ratty recliner and big screen TV. And everything will be wonderful! But the SEC's latest Strategic […]
The Allscripts Director of Corporate Audit Accused by SEC of Insider Trading Once Worked at Deloitte
Feel free to refer to our earlier post about Steven Dombrowski's trouble with the SEC. So, there wasn't much about our pal Steve in the SEC complaint, but that's what interns are for. I put my kitten to work against Google and she was able to pull up this now-removed LinkedIn profile that tells us […]
Chicago CPA Charged By SEC For Insider Trading on His Wife’s Account
OH MAN. Someone is going to be in the doghouse for quite some time. Let's take a look at what this clown allegedly did: The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it filed a civil enforcement action against Steven M. Dombrowski, a C.P.A. and formerly Director of Corporate Audit at Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. ("Allscripts") […]
Per the SEC, Insider Trading Is Not the Right Way to Start a Hedge Fund
Meanwhile, in the land of SEC complaints: The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a senior portfolio manager at Microsoft Corporation and his friend and business partner with insider trading ahead of company announcements. The SEC alleges that Brian D. Jorgenson, who lives in Lynwood, Wash., obtained confidential information about upcoming company news through his […]
SEC Union Warns SECers They Should Learn To Shovel Lunch Into Their Faces In a Prompt Manner
Of all the SEC's "time management" issues (I need not mention to what I am referring), is lunch really up there? Apparently so: Add the ability to eat quickly to the list of skills needed to work at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In a dispute that has sent pangs of resentment — and […]
Ex-SEC Chief Accountant Taking His Experience in Unfinished Business to the FASB
James Kroeker, 44, will be a vice chairman of the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board, the board's parent organization, the Financial Accounting Foundation said in a statement on Wednesday. Kroeker is known for handling difficult policy decisions during the 2008-2009 financial crisis and will face projects that have been slowed by disagreements between board members and […]
SEC Creates The Accounting Fraud Untouchables (or Something)
The Financial Reporting and Audit Task Force is one of the three new initiatives in the DepartmentDivision of Enforcement that were announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission today. So if you're one of those people that cause Andrew Fastow to blush, then you're likely to be right in the FRATF's wheelhouse: The Financial Reporting and Audit Task Force will […]