Wednesday, April 26, 2006

FTI Switches from Ernst to KPMG

Heres an interesting development of how auditor independence issues can impact firm-client relationships.


FTI Consulting (NYSE: FCN), a premier provider of problem-solving consulting and  technology services to major corporations, financial institutions and law firms, recently announced that it had switched from Ernst and Young to KPMG as its public auditor for 2006....


KPMG Linked with Frank Quattrone Through Interesting Development

We hear that U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. who is overseeing the case against 18 KPMG personnel for fraudulent tax shelters is also going to be assigned to a case against Frank Quattrone, the former investment banker from the West Coast office of Credit Suisse First Boston....

Friday, April 21, 2006

Fore! Big Four Consulting Firms Go With Top Golfers

Just a few days ago, we were looking through the Wall Street Journal and found two full page advertisements by BearingPoint and Accenture in the same section of the paper. Now, it is not surprising to find big splash ads by the Big Four in the WSJ, but the interesting counterpoint here was that both ads prominently featured two leading golf stars.....

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Oxera Study Validates Big Four Concentration in the UK

Oxera Consulting recently completed a study in the UK on the structure of the Big Four service industry with findings, while not totally surprising, provide a formal validation of views held by many industry participants...........

CRA Survey: SOX Costs Falling from 2004 to 2005

CRA International (previously Charles River Associates) has just released its Spring 2006 survey results for the costs expended by public companies in complying with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley act. ......

Sunday, April 09, 2006

BearingPoint Aces the Masters - Phil Mickelson Wins!

BearingPoint (NYSE: BE) must be feeling good today.

Their man, Phil Mickelson, donning the black BearingPoint hat and logo, strode confidently to the 18th green at the 70th Masters golf tournament at Augusta, Georgia and won it by a strong margin (2 strokes). ....