KPMG LLP's Mike Rake Writes from WEF in Davos

Mike Rake, Chairman, KPMG International has penned three down-to-earth, frank and whimsical notes in his WEF Diary while attending the action packed event at Davos from January 24 to 26, 2007.

It is a mixture of personal observations, attendances at keynotes, pining for a greener world and his misgivings about the true nature of the gathering....


We've moved. Click here to go to the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Accenture to Have More Indian than US Employees

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) is planning to hire an additional 8,000 staff in India to increase its numbers from the current 27,000 to 35,000 by August 2007. This will make India the Accenture’s largest employment hub, overtaking the United States (30,000 employees).



We've moved. Click here to go to the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

PricewaterhouseCoopers Values Mr. Ban Ki-Moon's Assets

A few days ago, we blogged that PricewaterhouseCoopers would be auditing the financial assets of United Nations Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon in a history-setting move to disclose such information publicly. The results are out now...


We've moved. Click here to go to the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Sir Michael of KPMG at Davos, A Blog for the Common Reader

Sir Michael Rake, Chairman of KPMG International will be attending the World Economic Forum at Davos on January 24 to 28, where the global glitterati, movers & shakers get together to debate key global issues, make contacts and conduct business.

We've moved. Click here to go to the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Deloitte's WIN Blog Goes Public

We talked earlier about Deloitte's Womens Initiative Network blog as a candid, frank, heart-warming, cut-to-the-real-stuff writings from women at Deloitte. http://bigfouralumni.blogspot.com/2006/09/deloitte-wins-with-honest-engaging.html#links.....


We've moved. Click here to go to the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Europe Takes the Lead in Setting Auditor Liability Caps

We see from the Financial Times that the European Commission is going to publish a policy paper today which suggest that the Big Four audit firms should be provided with protection against enormous lawsuits which could result in their potential collapse. This is the first time that the EC has laid out its plans on how to shield the Big Four firms from increasing number of lawsuits from companies, shareholders and investors...


We've moved. Click here to go to the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

5th Person Pleads Guilty in KPMG Tax Case

In another twist in the KPMG tax case, we find that Michael Grandinetti, a senior executive with the United Micronesia Development Association (UMDA), pleaded guilty to making false statements. This is in the government's suit in the fraudulent tax shelters marketed by former partners of KPMG LLP. Grandinetti said that he lied to a prosecutor and an IRS agent when he told them in March 2006 that he had disclosed to the UMDA's board that he received secret side payments from a group of tax shelter promoters...


We've moved. Click here to go to the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

PricewaterhouseCoopers In Global Spotlight

How do the Big Four show up in the global spotlight? In a very interesting way, as we are seeing…

Ban Ki Moon, the new Secretary General at the United Nations has made early history in his nascent tenure. He recently announced that he will make public his financial disclosure report. And this will be audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the Big Four firms.


We've moved. Click here to go to the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Deloitte Leads Big Four in Women Partners

Here is an interesting factoid we found on the web…for the 10th consecutive year, Deloitte USA has the highest percentage of women in partners, principals and directors roles among all the Big Four firms. This statistic comes from the Public Accounting Report's 2006 Survey of Women in Public Accounting.


We've moved. Click here to go to the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Mitchell & Titus Joins Ernst & Young

In June 2006, Mitchell & Titus, LLP, the nation's largest minority-owned accounting firm, announced that it would be merging with Ernst & Young Global Limited. Recently, this seems to be official with M&T joining as a member of the global EY organization. M&T will maintain its brand name and continue to operate under its current ownership. As one of the top 100 accounting firms in the county, it has 125 staff and will continue to be a minority-owned business.


We've moved. Click here to go to the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

PCAOB Raps Ernst and Young, KPMG With Audit Issues

On January 11, 2007, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board released its reports on the audit inspections in 2004 for Ernst & Young LLP and KPMG LLP. Both firms got rapped for inconsistencies in audits in failing to fully comply with all the specifics of GAAP or not gathering enough support information to support their findings.

We've moved. Click here to go to the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Deloitte Settles Parmalat Suit for $149 Million

We hear that Deloitte will settle its suit with Parmalat SpA for $149 million to settle lawsuits where it was accused of participating in the Italian dairy company's bankruptcy in December 2003.

In a recent joint statement both parties indicated that this settlement resolves all litigation issues between them. Also covered was Dianthus SpA, which operated as Deloitte & Touche until July 2003 in Italy.



We've moved. Click here to go to the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!