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Footnotes: Howe You Like that Corporate Tax Debate; Audit Sans Report; Snitches | 09.04.14

Posted on by Adrienne Gonzalez

Students Who Exercise Regularly Have Higher GPAs Get off your ass [TaxProf]

What's an accounting puzzle like Alibaba (really) worth? Where's a good accountant when you need one… [Fortune]

Thank you for the clarification [Twitter]


What's up with the mystery audit at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport? The report seems to be missing [Cincinnati.com]

The IRS reminds you not to tweet them your Social Security number [Fox Business]

CPA Executives Have a Positive Outlook on Hiring: AICPA Study [AccountingWeb]

Study Finds Insiders Dump Stock Before Comment Letters Go Public [Compliance Week]

Here's video of EY Americas managing partner Stephen Howe on the corporate tax debate from Opening Bell this morning [Fox Business]

New Study: Ebola Virus Could Reach the U.S. by "Late September" Hope you saved up some PTO [Gawker]

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Handbridge Swag Now Available

Earlier in the week we told you about DB brokering a new venture. We’re happy to report that it is up and running with all the proceeds going to charity. For you cheapskates out there, don’t get your panties in a bunch, as we’ve got it on pretty good authority that it’s a 501(c)(3) organization. That’s right, we cited the code.

Madoff Feeders Getting Some Unwanted Attention

The SEC, feeling confident these days, has filed a complaint against Cohmad Securities Corporation and its Chairman, Chief Operating Officer, and one of the brokers, saying they “actively marketed Madoff investments while ‘knowingly or recklessly disregarding facts indicating that Madoff was operating a fraud.'”
Call us Captain Obv but that sounds like they were either dumb or in on the scam. Either way, they can’t be too psyched about it.
An additional complaint has been filed by the SEC against Stanley Chais, an investment adviser who put all of the assets he oversaw into casa de Madoff.
Irving Picard, who might have the most thankless job in America, also sued both Cohmad and Chais, because, you know, a few people want their money back. The trustee’s complaint against Cohmad spells it out:

The trustee’s lawsuit asserted that fees paid to Cohmad by Mr. Madoff were based on records showing the actual cash status of customer accounts — the amounts invested and withdrawn — without including the fictional profits shown in the statements provided to customers. When a customer’s withdrawals exceeded the cash invested, Cohmad’s employees no longer earned fees from that account — even though the customer’s statements still showed a substantial balance, according to the lawsuit.

This arrangement indicated that Cohmad and its representatives knew about the Ponzi scheme and knew that the profits investors were allegedly earning were bogus, according to the trustee’s complaint.

Good luck explaining that.

Brokerage Firm and 4 Others Sued in Madoff Case [New York Times]

PCAOB Reminds Us That They Have Their Own Oversight Board

overtheshoulder.jpgGod bless the PCAOB. Back in 2004, they created the Office of Internal Oversight and Performance Assurance (IOPA) just in case those smartass Peekaboo inspectors were getting a little too self-righteous all over your audit.
Apparently, the fact that the PCAOB has its own internal oversight board is supposed to make all of you auditors comfortable. That assumes you knew about it in the first place. We sure didn’t know this internal affairs-esque board-within-a-board existed.
Maybe realizing that the IOPA had virtually no identity among anyone, anywhere, the PCAOB did everyone the courtesy of updating its “About” section of its website today reminding us of the internal watchdog. So whether you’ve got a legitimate complaint or you’re just seeking sweet, sweet revenge on that know-it-all dick questioning your tickmarks and indexing method, now you can give the PCAOB a taste of their own medicine.
Internal Oversight [PCAOBUS.org]