The government, a PwC Australia client, has accused the firm of sharing confidential information about new anti-tax avoidance measures with its corporate customers to win more business in what it has called a major breach of trust.
“We’ve got Treasury looking at an investigation into what has occurred, and looking at whether criminal charges should be referred to the AFP,” Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Some lawmakers have called for a total ban on granting the auditor more government contracts.
The Irish Examiner understands the consultant team, believed to include 23 staff from PwC, has been paid more than €1m since October last year to work on a “transformation and improvement programme” for CUH and associated hospitals — Mallow, Bantry, St Finbarr’s Rehabilitation Unit, and CUH Wilton — known collectively as the CUH Group.
During those months and throughout this year, patients attending CUH faced some of the longest waits for a hospital bed in the country. The cost of the services so far this year has yet to be released.
In March, some six months after PwC began work, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation warned overcrowding was “out of control” in Cork, with one day seeing 74 patients waiting for a bed.
Russia-linked ransomware syndicate ALPHV/BlackCat claims to have stolen sensitive data from Mazars Group. A post on the gang’s dark web blog says that crooks took over 700 GB of data, including agreements, financial records, and other sensitive information.
Mazars Group is an international professional services provider headquartered in Paris, France. However, the company maintains a global presence, boasting staff exceeding 47,000 professionals and yearly revenue of over $2 billion.
via Cybernews
Mazars did not respond to Cybernews’ request for comment.
EY has extended the tenure of its UK boss Hywel Ball, allowing him to work beyond the firm’s mandatory retirement age of 60 and launch a cull of its executive leadership just weeks after the collapse of a plan to split its global business in two.
Ball’s future had been cast into doubt after his backing of EY’s failed attempt to split its audit and consulting divisions globally. The UK board decided to extend his tenure before the plan, codenamed Project Everest, unravelled last month, people at the firm told the Financial Times.
No idea why this is news but you know what, let’s signal boost it anyway. ‘Grats, Alec.
Widmer Roel hires Alec Tolson as an Audit Associate
Alec Tolson has joined Widmer Roel, a local public accounting and business advisory firm, assisting the audit department. As an Audit Associate at Widmer Roel, Alec provides audit and assurance services to a wide range of clients, with a focus on government entities.
Alec previously worked for a regional accounting firm and has two years of experience.
Tolson is a graduate from Minnesota State University Moorhead where he earned a Bachelor’s in Accounting and a Masters in Accounting and Finance.
Several companies with their feet immersed in the crypto space have targeted the Big Four Audit firms PwC, KPMG, EY and Deloitte for being either unwilling or unequipped to take care of the books of their complex business. In a recent conference in London, Noah Perlman, Binance’s Chief Compliance Officer, said,
“They want nothing more than to work with Binance and other players in the industry. But when they go to their internal risk committees, some of them face obstacles in terms of can they work with us, do they want to work with us.”
However, a recent survey by Bloomberg conflicted the argument. Out of the companies that disclosed details about their current auditor, 46% of them revealed they are working with one of the Big Four companies. Specifically, Bloomberg pointed out,
“Their roster includes the likes of crypto exchanges Coinbase and Bitpanda, stablecoin operator Circle, crypto brokerage Galaxy Digital and blockchain payments firm Ripple — indicating that Big Four firms do have both the desire and the capacity to audit crypto businesses.”
“Clearly, we are at an inflection point in terms of technology evolution and AI in general,” said longtime Deloitte executive Gopal Srinivasan, who helps lead the company’s new Generative AI practice. “Generative AI is pulling forward the entire discipline of AI. Google and Deloitte have been working ahead of several things that are now coming out in public.”
“A lot of the benefit of generative AI is about augmenting human capability and advancing it. So that also requires humans to relearn the way they do things,” said Srinivasan. “These technologies allow you to drive more productivity, but it’s also going to require proactive workforce transformation.”
Deloitte US-India Offices on Sunday announced the opening of three new delivery offices in Pune, Chennai, and Kolkata to serve companies globally. This move is in response to the growing demand for skilled professionals across Deloitte’s advisory businesses.
In the coming year, over 10,000 skilled professionals specialising in various areas such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, cybersecurity, cloud, human capital, assurance, tax, valuations, and mergers & acquisitions will operate from these locations, the firm said in a statement.
The organisation plans to continue to invest in people with a focus on innovative approaches to support learning, digital skills development, and training opportunities, the statement added.
Deloitte recognises the exceptional talent available in India and the increasing opportunities in business services exports. The country’s skilled workforce is being sought after by global organisations for high-end work, highlighting the specialised and nuanced skill sets available.
That’s all I’ve got for now, bit quiet out there today other than the many, many headlines about PwC’s growing troubles on the other side of the equator. If you see anything worth writing about, gimme a shout. Later.
Accounting Body Picks New Chief [WSJ]
“Former Italian Finance Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa has been named to head the group that oversees international accounting rulemakers. Mr. Padoa-Schioppa will assume the chairmanship of the trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation in July. The foundation’s monitoring board appointed him chairman for a three-year term. The IASC Foundation oversees the London-based International Accounting Standards Board, selects its members and raises funds for its operations. It also helps promulgate the move toward a single set of accounting rules used world-wide.”
New York Reaches Deal to Raise Cigarette Tax [NYT]
Smokers might want to start hoarding cartons as Governor David Paterson and legislators have reached a tentative agreement to raise the cigarette tax in New York. Taxes on cigarettes in NYS, currently $2.75 a pack, would rise an additional $1.65. Taxes in New York City would rise to $5.85 a pack, marking the first city in America with a tax of greater than $5 on cigarettes.
The proposal would raise $440 million this year, according to the Times. The state’s budget deficit is approximately $9 billion.
Open Letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission: Is Medifast Complying with Revenue Accounting Rules? [White Collar Fraud]
Sam Antar is a little skeptical about a plethora of Medifast’s financial reporting and disclosures including: revenue recognition policy, “the company is possibly recognizing revenue up to 8 business days too early”; their low allowance for doubtful accounts, “the $100,000 reported for such an allowance does not seem reasonable enough given Medifast’s volume of revenues and the dates it either ships or delivers its orders to customers after processing them.”; and lack of deferred revenue liabilities, “Medifast’s financial reports going back to 2004 disclose no deferred revenue liabilities for customer orders processed before each fiscal year ended and either shipped or delivered after those respective fiscal years.”
This trifecta has Sam concerned enough that he’s asking the SEC to poke around a little more than they did the last SEC review in 2007, when the SEC found…nothing.
BP Chief Draws Outrage for Attending Yacht Race [NYT]
Probably seemed like a nice idea at the time, “BP officials on Saturday scrambled yet again to respond to another public relations challenge when their embattled chief executive, Tony Hayward, spent the day off the coast of England watching his yacht compete in one of the world’s largest races.”
BP, Transocean tap a well of Washington lobbyists and consultants [WaPo]
The obvious solution to CEOs attending yacht races, Joe Biden-esque articulation and such is paying someone a lot – a lot – of money to rep these companies. It’s pretty much the only option they have left.
