Good morning and happy Monday! Here’s some news.
The PCAOB wants to dismiss a lawsuit brought by an anonymous auditor who challenged the board‘s “secret” disciplinary proceedings:
Among other reasons, the board noted that John Doe‘s Jan. 19, 2023, suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. But the board is located in Washington, D.C., and its disciplinary proceedings occur there.
The plaintiff‘s complaint “does not come close to alleging that the Board has contacts with the State of Texas sufficient to meet the due process requirements for asserting personal jurisdiction,” lawyers for the board wrote in their motion to dismiss. “And nothing in the Complaint suggests that the conduct at issue in the underlying enforcement proceeding has any connection to Texas. There is thus no possible basis for this Court to exercise personal jurisdiction over the Board in this case.”
The board ‘s attorneys said that the proper venue is the District Court for the District of Columbia.
Doe was an auditor based in the South American country of Colombia at a firm that is part of a global network of accounting firms. His complaint does not say that Doe lived in, worked in or even visited the U.S. or Texas while he was employed at the firm.
Here’s a little malicious compliance. What “multinational accounting firm” can’t afford indiscriminate waste of pens?
Can’t take lunch because of training? I don’t think so!!
by u/According-Air5665 in MaliciousCompliance
China starts ‘surgical’ retaliation against foreign companies after US-led tech blockade:
China is starting to target western interests in the country after five years of snowballing trade and technology restrictions spearheaded by the US under presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Following the finance ministry’s record $31mn fine on Deloitte over audit deficiencies, experts said they expected pressure to increase on the Big Four accounting firms.
Cheng Lin, an accounting professor at China Europe International Business School in Shanghai, said while audit quality had long been problematic at foreign and local firms, the “main drivers” were Beijing’s worries about data and national security.
The International Tax Review article is behind an aggressive paywall but we don’t need to read the article do we?
Accenture is delaying new hire starts after they let 19,000 people go:
Accenture Plc is delaying start dates for some recent hires as it looks to recalibrate its massive workforce for a more cost-conscious environment.
“In some cases, for example for some recent graduates, we are adjusting start dates based on the needs of our clients and business,” Accenture spokeswoman Rachel Frey said by email Thursday, declining to provide further details.
One of those recent grads, who declined to be identified as it could risk her future employment prospects, said she had accepted a full-time consulting position with Accenture in the UK that was supposed to start in June. Her start date was delayed twice, first to October and then to early 2024. She ultimately decided to pass on the job rather than keep waiting.
An Accenture recruiter apologized for the delay and said “the decision was made to create the best possible new joiner experience,” according to an email seen by Bloomberg. Accenture is offering an additional signing bonus to some people whose start dates have been pushed back, according to a person familiar with the company’s hiring practices who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
Albany’s BST & Co. showed off their internship program to the Times Union:
The company has focused on improving its paid internship program in recent years, said Adam Lawrence, chief talent officer. The structure was more lax; interns would come aboard randomly throughout the year, working in only a couple of departments. Now, BST has three internship cycles annually to align with the semesters and summer breaks of the surrounding colleges. Interns are placed in one of five departments across the company, which employs roughly 120. Currently, BST has nine interns for the spring session.
In accounting and auditing, 10 out of the 24 team members are former interns, [partner Nia] LaParl said. That retention rate and the success former interns have at BST, several working their way up to leadership roles, is what motivated BST to grow its internship program, [chief talent officer Adam] Lawrence said.
More:
- Accountants do not find it funny when clients say “Ho, ho, ho, we don’t keep track of our money, like some kind of nerds.”
- Confidence among CFOs at the UK’s biggest companies has seen its sharpest rise since 2020.
- Deloitte launched a generative AI practice
That’s all I’ve got. Have a good one and don’t work too hard.
