Going Concern

Uncategorized

Your 2009 Halloween Costume: Zombie Phil Mickelson

Caleb Newquist
October 28, 2009

It’s only three days until Halloween and most of you are probably procrastinating on costume ideas. Fortunately we’ve come up with an idea that will incorporate your profession/firm and maybe your love of golf.
Inspiring examples, after the jump

You can go black:

Or white:

Small problem: The only place that we’ve been able to find a KPMG golf hat is on eBay and the auction doesn’t end for four days. Good news is that’s going for grand total of $0.01. So if you don’t already own one of these beauties, it’ll have to wait until next year.

EY
On Campus

Memo to E&Y’s Steve Howe: Choose Your Ice Breaker Carefully

Caleb Newquist
October 28, 2009

If you’ve got nothing going on tonight and you’re in the Chapel Hill, NC neck of the woods, Steve Howe, E&Y’s Americas Area Managing Partner will be speaking at UNC tonight starting at 5:30. Don’t worry, it’s scheduled to end at 7:00 sharp so you’ll have plenty of time to get home in time for baseball or whatever else is on TV these days.
We’re mostly curious how Steve-o will break the ice with the audience, considering it’s been an awkward moment for some of his fellow partners in the past. We’re confident he’ll be fine though, especially since he’s not phoning in the speech and leaving a voicemail for everyone.
It’s not clear if there will be a Q&A, so if you have questions that you’d like to ask Steve-o, kindly leave them in the comments and we’ll pass them along.
Dean’s Speaker Series – Steve Howe, Americas Area Managing Partner of Ernst & Young [UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School]

Uncategorized

Accounting Rulemakers Already Talking Plan B on Fair Value

Caleb Newquist
October 28, 2009

Sounds like Bob Herz and Sir David Tweedie are phoning it in with regards to fair value rules.
Herz and Tweedie and their respective accounting wonks met in Norwalk, CT on Monday and they’re all but admitting that there’s no chance that they’ll get on the same page:

At a joint meeting in Norwalk, Connecticut on Monday, members of the London-based International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) sparred over whether fair value, or “mark-to-market,” accounting rules should be expanded to a broader array of financial assets, such as loans and deposits.
In a move opposed by the banking industry, the FASB has proposed that all financial instruments be valued at market levels, while the IASB has proposed to have those assets valued at “amortized cost,” which would mostly provide information about expected cash flows.
“If FASB and IASB can’t agree on mixed model or full fair value model … the next best thing is something to move between the two,” Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the IASB, said on Monday…”By the end of 2010… if we can’t get it together, we should be appreciably together,” Tweedie said.

Plan B is already in full effect! Instead of one fair value rule, the two standard setters will provide a “presentation for fair value for more financial assets on corporate balance sheets so that investors would be able to quickly reconcile numbers in U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).”
Some board members are worried that this approach may be too confusing, however. Confusing financial statements? That’s only a problem for average investors. No biggie.
Oh, well. We know 2010 is coming up fast and those politicians get impatient when the bank lobbyists are threatening to cut off the money. Thanks for trying guys. You did your best.
Accounting boards try to reconcile fair value views [Reuters/Emily Chasan]

Preliminary Analytics

Preliminary Analytics | 10.28.09

Caleb Newquist
October 28, 2009

• GMAC Asks for Fresh Lifeline – Third round of bailout aid should be the charm. [WSJ]
• Ex-Chief of AMD Is Linked to Galleon – So far, Hector Ruiz isn’t in any trouble but this certainly doesn’t look good. [WSJ]
• World Series Games Add $15.5 Million Each to NYC, Agency Says – Much of which goes to Billy’s and Stan’s. [Bloomberg]
• Pitchfork Watch: Couple Charged With Torturing Suspected Mortgage Fraudsters – Mortgage brokers, this is your warning. [Naked Capitalism]
• Madoff victims lobby judge to deny Frank DiPascali Jr. bail – Surprise. [NYDN]
• It may be BYOB as fewer firms plan holiday parties – Roll in with the High Life. [Reuters]

Review Comments

Review Comments | 10.27.09

Caleb Newquist
October 28, 2009

• Hedge and private funds to register, open up books to SEC – Barney Frank, steering the ship: “The legislation would require fund managers to keep additional records and make new disclosures about their transactions to both the SEC and a proposed systemic risk regulator. The SEC would disclose additional information about trading to investors, creditors and other counterparties.” [Market Watch]
• Bank protesters descend on downtown Chicago – Angry people with signs, costumes. No Oprah though. [Chicago Breaking News]
• Only You Can Prevent White-Collar Crime: A Guest Post – Got it? [RTA]
• U.S. Revokes Licenses of Pilots Over Wrong-Way Flight – Solitaire is so damn distracting. [Bloomberg]
• Chicago Offers Bounties to Tax Whistleblowers – Protestors will now have something to do. [TaxProf Blog]

Whatever You Do, Don’t Bring Up Tax Shelters

Caleb Newquist
October 28, 2009

Well you can if you want but somebody will probably flash a piece on the lanes and you’ll end up entering a world of pain.
If you’re in Beta Alpha Psi at the University of Illinois, KPMG is hosting a charity bowling event tonight at 6 pm. Hell, even if you’re not a member you should do a jay and head on over and get your roll on. What’s the worst they can do, throw you out?

KPMG

KPMG Partner Named in $240 Million Tax Fraud

Caleb Newquist
October 28, 2009

This is getting awkward, KPMG. Tax shelters continue to be a problem for some of your partners.

Fairfax Times:

Three local businessmen have been indicted on a charge of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service of more than $240 million.
According to the indictment filed in federal court on Oct. 22, two of the men allegedly attempted to defraud the IRS by making several “false and misleading statements” concerning a corporate tax shelter that was implemented by them.
Daryl J. Haynor, a partner in KPMG’s federal tax practice for the mid-Atlantic Area, based in Tysons Corner; and Jon Flask, a Vienna-based attorney, are both named in the suit.
“Mr. Haynor has been placed on administrative leave pending a review of the situation,” said George Ledwith, a spokesman for KPMG, on Monday.

Obviously our little warning concerning tax shelters was way too late.

According to the federal indictment, Flask, Haynor and Parker implemented and marketed a tax shelter named “Sale Leaseback of Tenant Improvements Strategy (SLOTS),” from 1998 through 2006.
The shelter enabled various U.S. corporations to claim tax deductions totaling more than $240 million on corporate income tax returns.
The indictment alleges that Flask, along with Haynor and Parker, misled and deceived the IRS by misrepresenting facts concerning the SLOTS tax shelter during IRS audits of companies claiming tax losses generated by the shelter in the years 2002 through 2004.

Mr. Haynor has been with KPMG for over 25 years. He and Mr. Flask face up to eight years in prison and $500,000 in fines. If you know any details, shoot us an email or discuss in the comments.

Deloitte

Deloitte’s Version of Delta Chi Breaks Ground Tomorrow

Caleb Newquist
October 28, 2009

Presumably this new $300 million, 800 room facility in Westlake, Texas will help centralize the destruction caused by Deloittians when they attend various training sessions. If you’ve got any additional details or opinions on this new Mecca in the Deloitte universe, kindly enlighten us.

Announcements

Thanks to This Week’s Advertiser

Caleb Newquist
October 27, 2009

A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertiser on Going Concern:
• Verizon Wireless
If you’re interested in advertising on Going Concern, email us at advertising@breakingmedia.com. Thanks!

Big 4

What a Relief. There’s Now a Global List of Best Employers

Caleb Newquist
October 27, 2009

Technically its Unverisum’s 50 Most Attractive Employers.

Universum, an “employer branding company”, claims FIRST! on a global list:

This is the first global index of employer attractiveness and highlights the world’s most powerful employer brands, those companies that excel in talent attraction and retention. The global rankings are based on the employer preferences of students from US, Japan, China, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, Spain, Canada and India.

The usual suspects all made the top ten with PwC coming in at #2, E&Y at #5, KPMG at #8, and Deloitte at #10. This varies considerably with the BusinessWeek list that the Big 4 dominated, with Deloitte on top.

Personally, if we never saw a list of “best employers” of any variety we’d be thrilled but we’re sure the firms are happy to send you an email about this latest triumph. Feel free to speculate on your firm’s ranking, including Deloitte’s big drop, or pass along any spirited communication from your firm.

The World’s Top 50 Most Attractive Employers [Universum]

Review Comments

Review Comments | 10.26.09

Caleb Newquist
October 27, 2009

• Rajaratnam Changes His Defense Counsel – Raj is going to the bullpen early. [DealBook]

• Tannin ‘Blow Up’ E-Mail Won’t Be Seen by Fraud Jury – “U.S. District Judge Frederic Block in Brooklyn, New York, ruled that the government’s search warrant filed in July with Google Inc. to obtain access to the e-mail was overly broad and ‘did not comply with the Warrants Clause of the Fourth Amendment.'” [Bloomberg]

• McDonald’s closes in Iceland as currency collapse takes a bite out of Big Mac profits – Just doesn’t seem right. [AP via CT]

• Senate Health Bill Includes Public Option – …Annnnd there goes the filibuster. [WSJ]

• IRS Unit to Target High-Income Tax Evaders – The Global High Wealth Industry group will be your official government carriers of pitchforks and torches. [WSJ]

• Madoff Investor Said to Have Drowned [NYT]

Fraud
PCAOB

Auditors, You’re Just Going to Have Start Finding Fraud, Okay?

Caleb Newquist
October 27, 2009

Because that’s your job, right? The PCAOB is giving consideration to new auditing standards that would presume that certain related party transactions would constitute a fraud risk.
This just serves as another example of auditors’ responsibility for discovering fraud reaching a ridiculously unrealistic level.

According to Web CPA, “Although such standards have been in the talking stage at the PCAOB for at least five years, there is fresh interest in this area now because related-party fraud has been a factor in a number of recent corporate financial scandals.”
Classic reactive measures being employed by the Board here. No sense in developing any kind of standard until after something happens. The Board hasn’t really been doing a bang-up job on much of anything but no matter, the effectiveness of a government regulator is not the issue here.
Auditors, you’re being duped. That’s unacceptable and according to some, the procedures you currently perform over related party transactions just won’t do any more:

But some officials at the PCAOB as well as members of the accounting profession have suggested that these standards may not be sufficient. At least part of the problem involves what some have described as widespread related-party transaction fraud slipping under the radar screen of auditors.

As we’ve mentioned in the past, the PCAOB simply is not satisfied with your ability to follow the current rules, auditors. Accordingly, the PCAOB will make more rules for you to follow until they are proven inadequate and then more rules will be written and on and on. You get the idea. It’ll be routine before you know it, if it isn’t already.
PCAOB Mulls New Related-Party Standards [Web CPA]
Also see: Fair Value, Audit Committes, Related Parties Highlights Of Day 2, PCAOB SAG Meeting [FEI Financial Reporting Blog]

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