A Conflict of Interests The PwC-Australia tax scandal was caused by a conflict of interest between PwC’s work advising the Australian government on tax laws and its work advising corporations on how to avoid those laws. This conflict of interest came to a head in 2015, when PwC leaked secret Australian Government tax plans to corporations, including Google, […]
The PwC-Australia Tax Scandal Read More »
Lack of Experience and Training is the Underlying Cause The following blog is taken from an interview soliciting my views on SPAC audit problems that was published by CFO Brew online by Courtney Vien on March 1, 2024. In case you needed more proof that the Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC) boom is over, the PCAOB just
PCAOB Fines Withum for Quality Control Violations Read More »
Accountability for Restated Financial Statements On October 26, 2022, the SEC issued a final rule aimed at ensuring that executive officers do not receive “excess compensation” if the financial results on which previous awards of compensation were based are subsequently restated because of material noncompliance with financial reporting requirements. Such restatements would include those correcting
Clawback of Executive Compensation: Ethical Issues Read More »
What is a SPAC? The new craze on Wall Street is SPACs, or a special purpose acquisition company. SPACs are shell companies formed with the sole purpose of raising funds so it can buy an existing business. There were over 100 SPAC IPOs in 2022. They are often referred to as blank check companies because
Are SPACs the Next Financial Disaster Waiting to Happen? Read More »
Missing the Red Flags I have previously blogged about the collapse of SVB and the Signature Bank. In today’s blog, I will update the information and probe more deeply the failings of regulators and KPMG to heed the warning signs that trouble lied ahead. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, reminds me of
The Collapse of SVB and Signature Bank: Where Were the Regulators and KPMG? Read More »
Where Were the Regulators? The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, and a smaller firm, Silvergate Capital Corp., reminds me of the stream of bank failures since the 1970s that have created concerns about the ability of bank officials and regulators to oversee the liquidity and risk-taking activities of banks and other
Is the Banking System Sound? The Saga of SVB Read More »
Is the SEC the Cause of the Problem? I have blogged before about the problems the Big Four accounting firms are having with respect to conflicts of interest and independence impairments. These concerns have moved the SEC to launch a probe into how firms manage conflicts of interest caused by the provision of nonaudit services
SEC Investigation of Auditors Driven by Conflicts of Interest and a Lack of Independence Read More »
Measurement of Audit Quality is the Key This blog is a continuation of one I posted earlier today and follows up on a blog posted a couple of weeks ago. The question of whether audits provide useful information and protect investors has been discussed for many years. It is an important issue because if audits
Do Auditors Adequately Assess Audit Quality Read More »
Defective Audits Are Not Being Adequately Dealt With The SEC removed William Duhnke as chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the U.S. audit watchdog, on June 4, 2021. This raises serious questions about the relevance of the PCAOB today and whether it has been operating as intended. In other words, is it
Is the PCAOB Obsolete? Read More »
Indicators of Audit QualityForty percent of the audits inspected by audit firm regulators had at least one finding indicating aserious problem, according to a new survey. A recent report from the International Forum ofIndependent Audit Regulators, a group of national audit regulators including the Public CompanyAccounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) in the U.S. and the Financial
Why Do Audit Reports Have Such a High Deficiency Rate? Read More »