Francine McKenna has long been a must-read at re:theAuditors.
Now she’s at The Huffington Post too, and a force to be reckoned with:
Governments all over the world are protecting and shielding the public accounting firms from failure under any circumstances, even in the face of repeated failure on their part. The current business model for global public accounting firms no longer promotes the safeguarding of shareholder interests in the modern publicly traded multinational. Shareholders, and other stakeholders, are being shafted. The firms and their partners may be corrupt. They are unequivocally self-interested.
When it comes to the Big 4 public accounting firms, the official word is still, “Too few to fail. Too powerful to call to account.”
Go to Francine McKenna: The Button-Down Mafia: How the Public Accounting Firms Run a Racket on Investors and Thrive While Their Clients Fail.
The SEC has declared that UK companies which agree to new proportionate liability rules for their auditors can’t use their financial statements in the U.S.
Peterson calls it a “non-surprise:”
The only surprise about the SEC’s position — which effectively slams the door on the world’s only remotely influential action affecting the large auditors’ deadly litigation exposure — is that it took so long to arrive.
Peterson has long been saying that the Big Four firms face potentially lethal liability issues. His views are especially worth listing to, considering he’s a former Big Four attorney. If he’s worried, we should all worry.
Continued here: Re:Balance — Jim Peterson.
The Obama administration is focusing some of its recovery efforts on small businesses.
“It’s about time,” says Bill Sheridan here: CPA Success: Small business takes its turn in economic recovery’s spotlight.
