Announced on Thursday, the SEC’s next chief accountant — effective July 7 — will be Kurt Hohl, a former EY partner who put in four years in audit at Deloitte after graduation before jumping there in 1989. This won’t be his first rodeo at the SEC.
Mr. Hohl most recently founded Corallium Advisors, which helps businesses navigate the complexities of auditing, regulatory compliance, risk management, and initial public offerings. Before that, he spent 26 years as a partner at Ernst & Young (EY) in a variety of roles. His final EY role was as global deputy vice-chair of EY’s Global Assurance Professional Practice. In that role he was responsible for the operation and oversight of the technical, regulatory, risk, and quality oversight functions of EY’s global professional practice organization — a team of more than 1,400 professionals. Mr. Hohl previously served at the SEC from 1989 to 1997, rising to Associate Chief Accountant in the Division of Corporation Finance. There he authored what became the Financial Reporting Manual, a primary guide for the SEC accounting staff and practitioners in the application of the federal securities laws. He began his professional career at Deloitte Haskins & Sells.
Mr. Hohl received a B.B.S. in accounting from James Madison University and is a certified public accountant in Virginia.
Guaranteed that guy will have a bulldog on his desk, those JMU people are zealous when it comes to their alma mater. Let’s give his long LinkedIn about section a look:
Soon-to-be SEC Chief Accountant Kurt Hohl via LinkedIn
I am a firm believer that change is constant and adaptability is critical to success. My career has focused on anticipating and addressing emerging business trends and risks, continually evolving regulatory changes and organizational challenges with a strong global mindset. From my early professional start as the Associate Chief Accountant at the US Securities and Exchange to my latest role as EY’s Global Deputy Vice Chair – Professional Practice, I’ve gained over 39 years of technical accounting, audit, risk management, sustainability, financial reporting, public policy, and regulatory expertise. My role operates at the highest level of a $50B organization, operating in 150 countries, where I am trusted to identify critical issues and enable key decision-making during periods of unprecedented global change, uncertainty, and economic volatility.
My leadership approach is rooted in authenticity, collaboration, and pragmatism. I believe we are better together, and that success is fostered through cultivating diverse, high-performance teams and mentoring the next generation of leaders. Beyond work, I am a passionate amateur chef, historian, gardener, car enthusiast and collector with a deep commitment to continuous learning and expansion of knowledge.
For industry experience he lists:
Consumer Products
Energy & Utilities
Financial Services
Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals
Industrials
Media & Entertainment
Real Estate
Retail
Technology
Telecommunications
Aerospace & Defense
“I’m pleased to come back to the SEC along with Chairman Atkins,” said Hohl in the obligatory press release quote. “This is a pivotal time for our capital markets, and I look forward to working with the dedicated public servants in the Office of the Chief Accountant to advance accounting and auditing policies that reinforce investor confidence, enhance transparency, and support innovation.”
With the chief accountant appointment sorted, Acting Chief Accountant Ryan Wolfe will go back to his role as Chief Accountant in the Division of Enforcement.
Obviously we were too busy promoting democracy and creativity to notice Deloitte getting named in Private Capital Management co-founder Bruce Sherman’s lawsuit against Bear Stearns. Continued, after the jump
WSJ:
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, alleges that [Jimmy “Don’t Call Me Cheech”] Cayne and others at Bear made material misrepresentations about the company’s financial health and its risk management, causing Sherman to hold shares of Bear stock he “would otherwise have sold months before Bear ultimately collapsed.”
“Defendants knew that the market and the financial press would view Sherman’s sale of his Bear stock as a loss of confidence in Bear by a well-known and long-standing investor,” the lawsuit said. “This, in turn, would have undermined confidence in Bear’s management at a critical time when Bear’s liquidity and Bear’s valuation of its assets were open to question following the implosion of two Bear-sponsored hedge funds in the summer of 2007.”
Cayne; Warren Spector, Bear Stearns’ former co-president and chief operating officer; Bear Stearns; and its outside auditor Deloitte & Touche are defendants in the case.
Regardless of what Deloitte ‘knew’, the firm did not jump at the chance to start a trend of Big 4 firms issuing mea culpas. Big D issued the following statement, which we plan on to memorize for future reference, per the Journal, ‘Deloitte believes the complaint to be totally without merit and we will defend against it vigorously.’ We’ll continue to update you on the vigorous defense as it progresses. PCM Co-Founder Sues Bear Stearns For Misstatements [WSJ]
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