• PwC: Sour Economy Sparks Divestitures – “Each of the Big Four accounting firms have scrutinized the corporate divestiture market over the last three quarters and have come up with largely the same conclusions.” Anyone surprised by this? [CFO]
• Galleon Clients Abandon Ship – “Galleon’s chief operating officer, Rick Schutte, directed portfolio managers Monday to shed some positions in a “coordinated, orderly fashion,” according to a Galleon trader. The trader said he wasn’t told to sell everything but to begin raising some cash.” [WSJ]
• NYC Judge Tosses Suit Against Biden’s Son, Brother – The non-Joe Bidens had been sued for $10 mil by an investor who says he was double-crossed on a purchase of a hedge fund firm. [AP via NYT]
• Huron, others could get caught in Galleon Group problems – Raj held nearly 6% of Huron in mid-August according to the Trib. [CT]
Related Posts
Preliminary Analytics | 08.18.09
• UBS tax deal may pave way for bank’s recovery – Actually we really thought the best course of action would to be to drag the whole thing out until armed IRS Agents descended on Zurich. [Reuters]
• Schwab Vows Court Fight in Cuomo’s Auction-Rate Securities Suit – Who’s doing all this work? God knows it isn’t AC. [Bloomberg]
• Hertz to Photograph Cars in Dent Scan to Boost Damage Payments – Could this be the death of, “It’s just a rental.”? [Bloomberg]
• German investor optimism at 3-year high – Zee Germans are leading us out of this? [FT.com]
• CalPERS Backs S.E.C. Move to Open Corporate Ballots – Look out, someone supports a move by the SEC. [DealBook]
Preliminary Analytics | 12.14.09
• H.R. 4173, Summary of Accounting and Audit Related Provisions – Lots to digest here but it’s all important, including a possible GASP name change for the PCAOB. [FEI Financial Reporting Blog]
• Invitation to a Conversation: If the Auditors Were Missing from the Financial Crisis — Let’s Ask Why – Jim Peterson doesn’t mince words: “The simple if depressing reason is that their core product has long since been judged irrelevant. The standard auditor’s report is an anachronism — having lost any value it may once have had, except for legally-required compliance.” [Re: Balance/Jim Peterson]
• Accenture Makes Right Decision, Drops Tiger Sponsorship – The awkward inappropriateness of the whole situation is now hitting T. Dubs in the wallet, as Accenture jumps into the “your services are no longer needed” camp. He won’t starve. [The Big Four Blog]
• Open Letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (Part 5): Issuer Retaliation Complaint Against Overstock.com – Patrick Byrne’s attempt to develop his own Richard Nixon-esque enemies list has been met with fierce resistance. [Sam Antar/White Collar Fraud]
• CPA firms face pricing pinch – “After years of gains since the government started keeping track in December 2003, overall prices for CPA firm services plummeted with the onset of recession in December 2007.” [CPA Trendlines]
• Citigroup to Repay $20 Billion of Government Bailout – $25 bil to go. Get on it. [Bloomberg]
Preliminary Analytics | 01.13.10
• SEC to Name Investigative Chiefs – Robert Khuzami will name the five new members of the dream team are expected to be named at a press conference today. [WSJ]
• California Creditors See IOUs With Schwarzenegger Missing Obama – Those ‘skinny legs’ and ‘scrawny little arms’ comments are really working so well for Arnie. [Bloomberg]
• Panel Seeks ‘Accountability’ In Financial Crisis – Once Phil Angelides (and others) get to the bottom of this, “There’s a need for accountability and responsibility” said Angelides, the blame will be official. That will be comforting for everyone. [NPR]
• Questions for the Big Bankers – From some experts the NYT picked. The word “bonus” or “bonuses” appears ten times. [NYT]
• Google Threat Jolts Chinese Internet Industry – Google has had it up to here (hand to forehead at least) with the censorship and is threatening to pull the plug altogether. [WSJ]