The Big Four Blog

We've Moved! - The Big Four Blog Is Now At Big4.com Site

2010-12-22T21:59:00.000-05:00

Dear Readers, if you've been missing some recent events, news, happenings on the Big Four firm space....it's because we've moved to our blog spot on the Big4.com site!

Please bookmark the new site, and we'll see you there!

Here are some recent posts you'll find only there:

Cuomo Sues Pronto. Ernst & Young Fires Back. More Drama To Come

Ernst and Young Likely To Be Charged By New York AG This Week

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Stock Reaches Historic High. Market Cap Tops $30 Billion

Deloitte Think Tank Reveals The Secret To US Job Growth – Insourcing

Deloitte Shocked and Saddened As SEC Charges Ex-Partner and Wife With Insider Trading

Deloitte Reportedly Still Pursuing Roland Berger Deal

Deloitte Starts Combination Talks With Roland Berger. RB Partners Quickly Vote No

KPMG UK Welcomes The Queen Of England. A Lucky Few Get The Chance To Meet

8 CPAs In The New House of US Reps, One of 50 Is An Accountant, 2 Big Four Alumni

Deloitte Moving Into Iraq Next Year, PwC and E&Y Already There

What A Day In Big Four M&A! Deals Abound All Over The World

Ernst & Young UK Huge Draw On Campuses, 4,500 Apps For 700 Spots

Accenture Stock ACN Is Now At Historic Highs, And Likely More Upside Ahead

We are now at http://www.big4.com/blog.html. Be sure to visit us there.

Yes, There Is A (KPMG Tax) iPad App For That!

2010-10-14T16:48:00.003-04:00

by Lisa Chapman, Big4.com

So say, you are on a train somewhere or flying to a client, and have just about gone through all your iPad apps, including Angry Birds, Flipside and NBA Courtside. And you are dying for the latest in tax information and ruling.....

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

Satyam Publishes Financials, India Seeks Auditor Liability – Impacts on Big Four

2010-10-14T16:47:00.002-04:00

by Susan Black, Big4.com

We have blogged extensively about the fraud at Satyam Computers, when it was exposed by a letter from its erstwhile Chairman Ramalinga Raju on January 7, 2009, and shocked investors all over the world....

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

Dubai World Chief Restructuring Officer Aidan Birkett, ex Deloitte, To Step Down

2010-10-14T16:46:00.002-04:00

by John Fowler, Big4.com

We have blogged earlier about how Aidan Birkett, who was a key managing director in Deloitte UK’s restructuring practice went first to help Dubai World when it surprised global markets on the eve of Thanksgiving 2009....

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KPMG, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Are Global Most Attractive Employers

2010-10-01T14:53:00.004-04:00

Susan Black, Big4.com

(blog) We have blogged earlier about Universum’s World Most Attractive Employer Survey and this year Universum says it best themselves, “Big 4 challenge Google’s position as the world’s most attractive employer 2010.”...

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Accenture Q4 Beats Street on Revenue and EPS, Confident Outlook, Shares Zoom

2010-10-01T14:52:00.002-04:00

John Fowler, Big4.com

(blog) Accenture (NYSE: ACN)’s Q4-2010 and FY 2010 financial results ending August 31, 2010 blew past Wall Street expectations. To add to this, Accenture projected double digit growth in 2011 revenue and 1% higher-than-previous-guidance growth in 2011 EPS. Investors loved it, moving the stock up 3.6% after hours....

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Deloitte HQ Moves Out Of Switzerland, Follows Ernst & Young To UK

2010-09-23T17:02:00.003-04:00

Lisa Chapman, Big4.com

(blog) We saw very recently an article in The Guardian of the UK which compelled us to really look at the footnote at the end of each Deloitte formal press release. And it’s true. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, or Deloitte, has quietly moved its legally registered HQ from Switzerland to the UK, as noted astutely by the Guardian – full credit to them....

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Accenture And Deloitte Both Talk Jobs: 250,000 Each by 2015

2010-09-23T17:00:00.004-04:00

Susan Black, Big4.com

(blog) Just in the last few days, we have had two Big Four firms talk about big job numbers. Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Deloitte are both coincidentally talking about the magic number of 250,000 by 2015...

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UK Executives Feel Pinch Of Salary Freezes, Finds Deloitte

2010-09-23T16:58:00.004-04:00

Rob Starr, Big4.com

Times are tough all over for everyone. And when you read a Deloitte report that says over half the FTSE 350 companies will not increase the pay for their executives, you know that the pinch is being felt everywhere....

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London Tube To Go Down Monday, But No Worries, PwC Has Survival Advice!

2010-09-05T12:23:00.002-04:00

John Fowler, Big4.com

4 September 2010

(blog) The London Underground (affectionately, the Tube) is going down at 5 pm Monday on September 6th 2010, as The National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) goes on strike, which is likely to grind trains to a halt and affect millions of commuters....

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UK Employers Finding It Hard to Fill Key Job Vacancies Today, Says KPMG

2010-08-26T10:18:00.002-04:00

Rob Starr, Big4.com

25 August 2010

(blog) Here’s another one for the truth is stranger than fiction file. According to a new report from KPMG UK, almost half of the British employers surveyed said that they were having a hard time filling open job vacancies. In fact 45% of the 600 that were surveyed said that they were having this problem to such an extent they were looking offshore to fill the vacancies, especially for key positions where historically talent has been sourced from outside the UK as in engineering, accounting/finance and IT....

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

FASB Chairman Herz, ex-PwC, Unexpectedly Retires. Seidman, ex-E&Y, Is Acting

2010-08-26T10:15:00.004-04:00

Lisa Chapman, Big4.com

25 August 2010

(blog) We saw it yesterday buzzing around in the news, and also confirmed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) that its current chairman Robert Herz is retiring on his own accord almost two years before the end of his term, much to the surprise of the industry, the Board and the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF). Robert H. Herz was appointed FASB chairman on July 1, 2002, and was reappointed to a second term effective July 1, 2007 for a 5 year term. Previously, he was a senior partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers...

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Interest Rates To Hit Eight Percent By 2012? No Way Says Ernst And Young

2010-08-26T10:11:00.002-04:00

Rob Starr, Big4.com

25 August 2010

(blog) Fair Investment.co.uk has an interesting story about how “Andrew Lilico, chief economist at Policy Exchange claims that interest rates could have to increase to eight per cent to combat the high inflation that will couple the boom he is predicting.”...

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PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Pays $378 Million Cash for Diamond Management & Technology Consultants

2010-08-24T13:14:00.004-04:00

Susan Black, Big4.com

24 August 2010

(blog) PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) is plunking down $378 million in cold hard cash for Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, Inc. in another sign that the M&A market in the consulting business is heating up – see all our previous blogs on this, notably Booz-AT Kearney, Deloitte UK, Accenture and Capgemini being key newsmakers in recent months....

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PricewaterhouseCoopers UK Has A Term For The Housing Market: “Slowth”

2010-08-23T09:55:00.002-04:00

by John Fowler, Big4.com

August 20th, 2010

(blog) Stagnation plus inflation is “Stagflation”

Breakfast plus lunch is “Brunch”

You have very likely heard of these common blended words.

Now PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) UK introduces “Slowth” into housing lexicon, which is not what the Urban Dictionary defines as “Slowness. Generally sloth-like behavior, especially of computers or co-workers” but presumably a blended word of “Slow” plus “Growth”.

In this case, slowth has hit the UK housing market.

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

UK Government Reveals Consultant Spend, Big Four Firms Garner Millions

2010-08-23T09:53:00.004-04:00

by James Spencer, Big4.com

August 20th, 2010

(blog) The recent release of the Communities and Local Government spending data for the last year 2009 may have been meant as a political gimmick, but it’s proven very useful to see who is really up and down in the reasonably secretive world of public sector procurement.

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PricewaterhouseCoopers Tearing Their Hair Out With Fergie

2010-08-23T09:50:00.002-04:00

by Rob Starr, Big4.com

August 20th, 2010

(blog) It’s easy to imagine that the money gurus at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have done more than a few jobs in their time which might have caused them some strife. After all, dealing with some of the biggest names in the financial world and having to juggle complicate money systems from one end of the globe to the other can’t be easy.

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Westpoint Now Embroils KPMG, Deloitte And Australian Securities and Investments Commission

2010-08-19T15:23:00.002-04:00

Rob Starr, Big4.com

19 August 2010

(blog) Earlier we had blogged about how KPMG Australia was going to fight its case against Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in the Australian High Court arguing that the case against it was unconstitutional under Australian law (http://bigfouralumni.blogspot.com/2010/05/kpmg-goes-to-high-court-down-under.html)

We said in that blog post…

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KPMG Piggybacks on Dodd-Frank, Hires ex-Fed Official

2010-08-16T16:08:00.002-04:00

Chris Nelson, Big4.com

16 August 2010

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act") is expected to help lawyers, lobbyists, lawmakers….now Big Four firms.

Yes, Big Four firms are looking at streams of consulting revenue as clients try to understand and make sense of this sprawling act with many procedures which are unclear now and are left to further study .

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PCAOB Releases 2009 Inspection Report on PricewaterhouseCoopers, 9 Issuers Cited

2010-08-16T14:31:00.002-04:00

John Fowler, Big4.com

August 16, 2010

PCAOB just released its 2009 annual inspection report on PricewaterhouseCoopers using inspections from October 2008 through October 2009 at the Firm's National Office and at 34 of its approximately 61 U.S. assurance practice offices.

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Accenture Expands Even As the IT Outsourcing Market Outlook Remains Uncertain

2010-08-09T14:24:00.002-04:00

Charles Harper, Big4.com

August 9, 2010

(Blog) Even as industry leaders point to an uncertain outlook for IT Outsourcing for the rest of 2010, Accenture moved quite rapidly in July 2010 to grow its market share for the current year and beyond. Within the month of July, the company has announced the acquisition of a French business processing company, the expansion of its operations in the Philippine Islands and the securing of a major outsourcing deal in Bangalore, India.

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Deloitte Powers On In Social Media, But Australian Companies Lag

2010-08-04T23:00:00.004-04:00

Nita Teoh, Big4.com

August 5, 2010

Social media is proving to be a powerful force on the business front. And it has been used in multiple ways by innovative companies, as in building a company’s brand, increasing engagement with partners, customers and employees, as also to recruit talent and manage external public relations.

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Big Four Firms Await Developments on Australian Minerals Resource Rent Tax

2010-07-20T14:05:00.002-04:00

Nita Teoh, Big4.com

July 20, 2010

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Treasurer Wayne Swan treaded carefully to reach an amicable deal with the mining industry giants over the revised Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT).

Since the new tax was released on the 2nd July, the Opposition party has been hard at work to uncover the downsides of Labor’s new policy.

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We Talk with Grant Thornton on Accounting Talent Management

2010-07-20T14:03:00.004-04:00

July 20, 2010

Company CFOs, as guardians of corporate coffers, have been under severe pressure in this economic crisis, equally to maintain profitability and efficiently manage their own financial organization. Revenue enhancement, cost control and risk management is still job number one. But not far from that is the acquisition, nurturing and retention of those who really make it happen – the accounting staff within their organizations.

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KPMG Extends Consulting Depth, Buys Grant Thornton Supply Chain Practice

2010-07-19T11:47:00.002-04:00

John Fowler, Big4.com

July 19, 2010

We have not seen many acquisitions come through for KPMG US, but there has been growing rhetoric about the need for Big Four firms to get back into the consulting business. See this article right from KPMG’s global site, which says….”For some time, the Big 4 accountants have been keen to make the point that they're more than just auditors. Less than ten years ago though, three of them exited the market for consultancy services. Fast forward several years and they're back en masse - and seemingly more assured than before.

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Deloitte’s iPad Sales Predictions Are Right On The Money

2010-07-16T11:52:00.002-04:00

Rob Starr, Big4.com

July 16, 2010

A recent update to Deloitte’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications Predictions 2010 has some findings that would have been quite anticipated given the state of the economy, but that the demand for mobile searches was slower than expected was a little surprising.

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Ernst & Young UK Seeing A Fragile Recovery For The UK Economy

2010-07-14T12:24:00.004-04:00

Rob Starr, Big4.com
July 14, 2010

The recovery from the worst worldwide recession in the last 6o years has left the domestic side of the UK’s economy more vulnerable than first expected, according to official statisticians and Ernst & Young UK. The general consensus is that the country entered recession in Q4-2008 and was out of it in Q4-2009. But it is the growth in the quarters following the end of the recession are that much more critical.

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Capgemini And KPMG Shape The Thinking At 2010 World Congress On IT

2010-07-14T12:01:00.004-04:00

Nita Teoh, Big4.com
July 14, 2010

Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are continually faced with the increasing pressure of delivering greater value from IT services for their companies on a daily basis. Much like Moore’s law, demands on performance keeps increasing while costs continually drop.

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Ernst & Young Combines Far East and Oceania Into Asia-Pacific Region

2010-07-13T13:52:00.002-04:00

John Fowler, Big4.com

July 13, 2010

Singaporean and Asian newspapers and websites are reporting that Ernst & Young will combine its Far East and Oceania areas into an integrated Asia-Pacific region.

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KPMG’s Infrastructure 100 – Most Exciting Global Projects – A Must Read

2010-07-13T11:05:00.002-04:00

Nita Teoh, Big4.com

July 13, 2010

It’s not often that phrase “most exciting” and “accounting firms” are found together.

So, it was interesting to see a list of “the most exciting infrastructure projects from around the world, as selected by independent judging panels due to their scale, complexity, innovation and impact on society” in a recent KPMG report.

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Deloitte Realizes Synergies From BearingPoint Federal Practice. Thousands Hired

2010-07-12T13:07:00.002-04:00

Charles Harper, Big4.com

July 12, 2010

More than a year ago, on March 25, 2009, we wrote about the imminent breakup of BearingPoint with business assets being sold to various Big Four firms and to BearingPoint Europe management (http://bigfouralumni.blogspot.com/2009/03/bearingpoint-breakup-imminent-business.html).

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PricewaterhouseCoopers India Relinquishes Control of BPO Unit to PwC US

2010-07-11T20:34:00.004-04:00

John Fowler, Big4.com

July 9, 2010

Indian newspapers are just reporting that PricewaterhouseCoopers is setting up a service delivery centre in the western Indian metropolis Kolkata, a first of its kind entity for the global network and (interestingly) a joint venture between PwC in India, Australia, Canada, the U.K. and the US. The goal is to provide selected client service and financial and accounting back-office support to all global PwC network firms.

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Big Four Firms Benefit From Strong Growth Outlook In Asia Pacific

2010-07-09T10:03:00.005-04:00

Nita Teoh, Big4.com

Jul y 9, 2010

The Asia Pacific Region has been a growth hot-spot for the Big Four firms, as strong increases in the emerging economies in this region has fueled demand for financial and professional services.

As our 2009 Big Four Firms Financial Performance Analysis (available at http://www.big4.com/?page=blog_item&url=the-2009-big-four-firms-performance-analysis-450 or download the entire pdf analysis at http://pdfcast.org/pdf/the-2009-big-four-firms-performance-analysis), shows Asia Pacific has been steadily gaining revenue share over the last six years.

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PCAOB Inspection of Ernst and Young – But Which One is Lehman?!

2010-07-08T22:19:00.002-04:00

John Fowler, Big4.com

July 8, 2010

PCAOB just released its 2010 annual inspection report on Ernst & Young using inspections from October 2008 to October 2009 at 30 of its approximately 80 U.S. practice offices of 58 audits performed by the Firm.

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Big Four Firm Await New Australian Climate Change Policy

2010-07-08T12:34:00.003-04:00

Nita Teoh, Big4.com

July 8, 2010

We discussed in our earlier blog the impact of the Big Four firms on the change in the Australian Prime Minister from Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard (http://www.big4.com/?page=blog_item&url=did-the-big-four-firms-help-topple-the-australian-prime-minister-577).

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Is Social Media Creating Customer Service Anarchy? BearingPoint Thinks Yes.

2010-07-08T12:11:00.002-04:00

Rob Starr, Big4.com
July 8, 2010

While most people are lauding the new move toward utilizing all the advantages that the Internet generation affords business, at least one consulting firm is saying the abundance of customer service contact points is confusing.

In other words, is too much social media just too much for business?

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Big Four Firms Opine On UK Emergency Budget

2010-07-07T12:43:00.002-04:00

James Spencer, Big4.com
July 7, 2010

George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom had a tightrope to walk while presenting the recent UK Emergency budget. Should strict austerity measures be taken to control the burgeoning fiscal deficit or be avoided in order not to derail the nascent economic recovery?

A tough choice for the country and a rough position between a rock and a hard place.

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Will Deloitte Buy Booz or Kearney?

2010-07-06T21:26:00.002-04:00

Susan Black, Big4.com

July 6, 2010

With the recent calling off of the Booz Kearney merger, and Deloitte USA open to acquisitions, would Deloitte pursue any of these consulting firms and attempt to combine with Deloitte Consulting?

Deloitte UK has been on an acquisition tear, and we've wondered why its been so quiet Stateside.

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Booz, Kearney Deal Off. Partners Vote With Pocketbooks

2010-07-06T20:53:00.002-04:00

Booz, Kearney Deal Off. Partners Vote With Pocketbooks

Susan Black, Big4.com
July 6, 2010

In a terse statement this evening from Booz & Company, the firm is calling off any merger possibilities with A.T. Kearney, saying, "Booz & Company and A.T. Kearney confirm that they have ended discussions about a possible merger of their two partnerships. While the two firms greatly respect each other’s legacy and capabilities, they have determined that their future aspirations will be best realized as separate partnerships."

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PricewaterhouseCoopers Finds Advertising Returns to Growth For Next 5 Years

2010-07-06T15:30:00.004-04:00

Rob Starr, Big4.com

July 6, 2010

One of the benchmarks that should tell us that business is slowly shaking off the recession is that eternal barometer of corporate health – advertising

And the news is not that bad, according to the recently released PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) 2010-2014 Global Entertainment and Media Outlook, which says no one should be expecting a full and robust recovery anytime soon – but only a slow uptrend.

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Ernst and Young Is First Big Four Firm To Globally Implement UK Governance Code

2010-07-05T16:33:00.002-04:00

David Nelson, Big4.com

July 5, 2010

Ernst & Young just made an important announcement to totally strengthen its internal governance processes, becoming the first Big Four firm to formally do so. And it goes one step beyond what is required by Code. Recall that the firm was indicted quite hard in the recent Valukas report which examined E&Y’s role in the Lehman bankruptcy.

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KPMG India Decides Reliance Merger Swap Ratio, But Some Questions Linger

2010-07-05T11:13:00.001-04:00

John Fowler, Big4.com
July 5, 2010

KPMG India was the independent third party valuation firm which has set an exchange ratio in the proposed merger $11 billion of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Reliance ADAG)’ s group company Reliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL) with another group company Reliance Power Limited (Reliance Power) in an all-stock deal.

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Deloitte: CFOs Optimistic on Revenue and Earnings, But Not On Job Growth

2010-07-03T17:35:00.002-04:00

Lisa Chapman, Big4.com

July 3, 2010

Chief Financial Officers of large US companies are some of the smartest, strategic and pragmatic of senior executives.

With their deep knowledge of purse strings over billions of dollars, they know quite well how their companies are doing and their plans for the future.

Indeed a good bunch to listen to for an insightful idea of the future. Deloitte reached out to hundreds in May 2010 to get inputs on a whole host of questions. And the results show good optimism on the financials but dismal projections for job growth.

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Ernst and Young Paints Bright Future for Electric Cars. Can Tesla Benefit??

2010-07-02T14:41:00.004-04:00

John Fowler, Big4.com

July 2, 2010

Ernst & Young’s Global Automotive Center finds that over 25% of 1,000 drivers surveyed across US, Europe, China and Japan would likely consider purchasing plug-in hybrid (PHEVs) or electric vehicle (EVs) as soon as they become available on the market, according to research by. Nearly 7% of respondents globally indicated they would definitely consider buying a PHEV or EV.

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Where There is Tax, There Will Be Tax Havens. Big Four Firms Hope So Too

2010-07-01T14:35:00.002-04:00

James Spencer, Big4.com

July 1, 2010

As the old saying goes, there’s nothing certain in the world except death and taxes.

Taxes can be avoided (to some degree) by going to tax havens, jurisdictions that shelter corporate and individual profits from onerous taxation.

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Looking Out For Number One – Accenture Indicates A Paradigm Shift

2010-07-01T12:53:00.002-04:00

Susan Black, Big4.com

July 1, 2010

A new book, Workforce of One: Revolutionizing Talent Management through Customization (Harvard Business Press, 2010) by two Accenture authors - David Smith, MD of the Accenture Talent & Organization Performance service line, and Susan M. Cantrell, fellow at the Accenture Institute for High Performance shows that employees are actively demanding “an individualized experience at work based on their own encounters with customization as consumers”

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Capgemini Finds Asia's New Rich Now Surpass European Wealthy

2010-06-30T09:29:00.003-04:00

Rob Starr, Big4.com

June 30, 2010

For the first time, the wealthy in Asia can say they are better off than their European contemporaries.

The 14th annual World Wealth Report by Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Capgemini shows a dramatic shift in the money landscape between these two continents. Two major factors contributing to this change: a big rebound in Asian stock markets and relentless increase in property prices coming back from the last recession.

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Wind Hot? Perhaps Not, Says KPMG. Investors Like Biomass

2010-06-29T16:17:00.002-04:00

Rob Starr, Big4.com

June 29, 2010

So you thought wind was hot. Look at all the hoopla that wind power is getting all over the world, and all the windmills which are popping up all over the world.

But it looks like wind’s time may be coming to an end soon.

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Sarbanes Oxley Unscathed by Supreme Court Decision, Big Four Also Win

2010-06-29T14:22:00.002-04:00

David Nelson, Big4.com

June 29, 2010

We blogged yesterday about the impact of the Supreme Court decision on the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which was mainly procedural rather than operational. Apart from requiring that PCAOB members could be removed by the Securities and Exchange Commission “at will” rather than “for cause”, the Court did not require any significant changes in the operation of the PCAOB.

All is well also on the flip side.

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PCAOB Can Operate As Usual, Despite Supreme Court Decision

2010-06-28T22:08:00.002-04:00

David Nelson, Big4.com

June 28, 2010

A deeper reading of today’s Supreme Court judgment reveals two critical points:

One

PCAOB Board members are removable by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) only for good cause. However, the Court had an issue with how the Board members could not be removed by the President of the United States, even for good cause. Since PCAOB was considered part of Government, it had to function in sync with the President’s agenda, and thus he should have full power over appointing anyone and removing anyone he chose from the PCAOB hypothetically for any reason. The Congress of the United States through the Sarbanes Oxley Act, in effect prevented the President from removing PCAOB members and thus fully managing the Executive Branch. This was against the Constitution’s fundamental separation of powers, thus unconstitutional.

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US Supreme Court Rules PCAOB Law Is Unconstitutional

2010-06-28T12:01:00.004-04:00

David Nelson, Big4.com

June 28, 2010

“We are asked, however, to consider a new situation not yet encountered by the Court.”

This sentence in the opinion of the the Supreme Court of The United States (SCOTUS) says it all – they and we are dealing with new material and new situations hitherto not encountered.

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Deloitte UK HR Head Steps Up In Age Of Social Media

2010-06-27T16:15:00.004-04:00

Rob Starr, Big4.com
June 27, 2010

Times are changing on the business landscape and that necessarily includes the HR field. The list of attributes the successful HR executive needs has increased and the drive and ambition that was once a cornerstone for the successful HR head like Stevan Rolls (the head of Deloitte UK Human Resources), now also includes an awareness and ability to utilize social media to advantage.

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PricewaterhouseCoopers Tapped By Afghans, $3 Trillion At Stake

2010-06-27T11:32:00.002-04:00

John Fowler, Big4.com

June 27, 2010

Just 10 days ago on June 17th, Afghanistan's mining minister Waheedullah Shahrani shocked the world by indicating that mineral deposits in the country could be worth up to three trillion dollars. Yes, $3 T, with a Big T.

This was three times a US estimate just released, which said Afghanistan had huge reserves of lithium, iron, copper, gold, niobium, mercury, cobalt and other minerals worth nearly one trillion dollars.

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Did The Big Four Firms Help Topple The Australian Prime Minister?

2010-06-26T10:33:00.002-04:00

Susan Black, Big4.com

June 26, 2010

Just recently, Australia's Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was deposed by his own Labor Party today, shocking the nation as his popularity plunged over recent months due mainly to the controversial pushing of a 40% resource super profits tax (RSPT) on mining companies, which turned out to be highly unpopular both with industry, shareholders and the general public.

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Accenture Goes Deep Into Cyberspace To Recruit 50,000

2010-06-26T09:17:00.002-04:00

Rob Starr, Big4.com
June 26, 2010

Big Four firms have become recently very savvy in noticing marketplace trends and then taking full advantage of them. Note that Accenture, Capgemini, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers have all strong and growing presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Xing, which has almost become the de-facto standard today for recruiting talent.

All the more with technology and how quickly it is changing.

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Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Shares Zoom 8% on Q3-2010 Beat

2010-06-25T18:39:00.003-04:00

Lisa Chapman, Big4.com
June 25, 2010

Yesterday, we blogged about Accenture simply marching past expectations, much to everyone’s positive surprise. There was muted rise after hours.

But today the stock opened up about 8% and stayed right there for the whole day, ending at $40.50, a $3 jump from the pre-earnings closing price of $37.50.

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Yes! The Accenture (ACN) Machine Rolls On - Q3-2010 Beats Wall Street

2010-06-24T20:41:00.002-04:00

Lisa Chapman, Big4.com
June 24, 2010

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) just released Q3-2010 results for quarter ended May 31, 2010, with net revenues of $5.57 billion and EPS of 73 cents. Both were ahead of expectations of $5.48 billion revenue and EPS of 69 cents,

We had said in our earlier blog post (http://www.big4.com/?page=blog_item&url=accenture-q3-2010-tomorrow-an-earnings-round-up-571), “We would be surprised by a beat, though given Accenture’s global breadth and scale, that would not be completely out of the question.”

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McGladrey Reorganizes, Celebrates New Logo With Monster Cake

2010-06-24T11:17:00.002-04:00

Susan Black, Big4.com

June 24, 2010

RSM McGladrey (tax and consulting) and partner firm McGladrey & Pullen (assurance) recently decided to go to market under the "McGladrey" brand. Combined, the firms are fifth-largest U.S. firm with revenues of $1.5 billion, 7,000 professionals in nearly 90 offices. Also, the firms recently realigned to focus on national lines of business and industry. Both firms are members of RSM International, the sixth largest global network in the world, and operate as separate legal entities in an alternative practice structure.

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Uber Rich Get….Well, Richer in 2010. Capgemini’s World Wealth Report Reveals All

2010-06-23T21:01:00.002-04:00

John Fowler, Big4.com

June 23, 2010

Consider these amazing facts:

10 million rich folks in the world have a combined wealth of US$39 Trillion, yes that’s a trillion with a T!, and that was up $6 Trillion from 2008, or a solid 18%

Asia Pacific had more rich folks than Europe in 2009 at 3.0 million, with a combined wealth of $9.7 trillion, up 31% from 2009

The US, Japan and Germany account for 54% of all the richest individuals in the world

The combined wealth of most-wealthy individuals increased 22% in 2009, soaring to about $14 Trillion, and that’s only about 93,100 people

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Accenture Q3-2010 Tomorrow, An Earnings Round Up

2010-06-23T09:45:00.002-04:00

Lisa Chapman, Big4.com

June 23, 2010

Accenture reports its third quarter 2010 earnings tomorrow, Thursday, June 24, 2010 just after market close. Wall Street analysts are expecting $5.48 billion in revenue and 69 cents a share EPS.

There have been a number of developments prior to this release. Recently, Citi maintained its Buy rating on the stock with a target price of $50.

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You Can Shortly Own A Piece of Booz Allen Hamilton

2010-06-22T13:06:00.003-04:00

David Nelson, Big4.com
June 22, 2010

Just a few weeks ago, we blogged about Booz & Company, the management consulting firm exploring a merger with another leading management consulting firm, A.T. Kearney. (http://www.big4.com/?page=blog_item&url=at-kearney-boozes-big-four-firm-stay-sober-538)

Now, the other Booz is in the news.

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FSA Breaks Up, But What Does That Mean For The Big Four?

2010-06-22T09:42:00.002-04:00

James Spencer, Big4.com

June 22, 2010

George Osborne, the current Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom seems to have finally got his wish and managing to get the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) wound up. The Conservative’s "White Paper" on City regulation will call for the erstwhile financial regulatory structure to be dismantled owing to its less than desired response to the financial crisis. Under the new proposal, the FSA's powers will be transferred back to the Bank of England, and it will cease to exist. Its three key responsibilities:

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KPMG Sells Another $600 MM of Lehman Asia Assets, But Long Road Ahead

2010-06-21T15:05:00.002-04:00

Lisa Chapman, Big4.com
June 21, 2010

We have blogged extensively about PricewaterhouseCoopers’ role as the administrators or Lehman Brothers Europe, including their $24,000 per hour price tag to the bankrupt holding entity (http://www.big4.com/?page=blog_item&url=pwc-administration-of-lehman-translates-to-24000-per-hour-491).

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Phil Mickelson, Sponsored by KPMG, Places Fourth in 2010 US Open

2010-06-20T22:24:00.002-04:00

John Fowler

June 20, 2010

Phil Mickelson, who is sponsored by KPMG, and can be constantly seen wearing his sponsors hat, placed fourth today in the US Open at Pebble Beach, sharing that spot with Tiger Woods.

Mickelson had +2 today and had 75, 66, 73, 73 on four days (par 71) having a spectacular showing on Friday June 18, 2010. Mickelson was only three shots behind Graeme McDowell who won the tournament with an even score.

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Citigroup (NYSE: C) Reiterates "Buy" on Accenture Ltd (NYSE: ACN)

2010-06-19T17:11:00.002-04:00

June 19, 2010

Susan Black, Big4.com

Citibank is maintaining its "Buy" rating on Accenture stock and their price target of $50.00.

Accenture has 21 Wall Street analysts following with a mean target price of $47 with a low of $37 and high of $55. So Citi is slightly higher than the average analyst in the crowd, but well below the most optimistic. The stock has an average rating of 2.1 with 1.0 being a strong buy and 5.0 being a sell, so 2.1 is about a Buy. Citi is toeing the line on the rating.

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New IASC Chaimanr: If you cross a typhoon, the manual doesn’t help

2010-06-19T14:16:00.003-04:00

New IASC Chair: If you cross a typhoon, the manual doesn’t help

June 19, 2010

John Fowler, Big4.com

That's what Mr. Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, 69 said about the recent Euro crisis, which spurred an unprecedented response from the ECB recently.

But that's not why he's making news today.

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What Will Audit Firms Do On Their PCAOB Annual Reports?

2010-06-18T14:12:00.004-04:00

June 18, 2010

David Nelson, Big4.com

June 30, 2010 is rapidly approaching, and it is a key deadline for US audit firms.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) requires all its registered firms (over 2,200 of them) to file an annual report with the Board, with the first annual reports due June 30, 2010. The report (in Form 2) covers the 12-month period ending March 31, 2010; and contains general information on the firm plus some very interesting numbers which may be available to the public for the first time (we believe) in a consolidated summarized format in one place.

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Accenture Installs Cloud Computing Applications in Just 25 Minutes

2010-06-18T10:42:00.002-04:00

June 18, 2010

Nita Teoh, Big4.com

Internet-based business computing (also known as cloud computing) is all the rage as more and more businesses are turning to the Web to source their IT services.

According to Accenture, “Cloud computing is promising to become the most important technology development since the internet. ..In fact, Accenture expects half of its applications will be running in the cloud by 2012.”

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Big Four Tax Services May Need To Adapt To European Uncertainty

2010-06-17T13:41:00.002-04:00

June 17, 2010

James Spencer, Big4.com

At one time it used to be so simple, at least in Europe. The national governments taxed, the European Commission wanted to tax and the local authorities had no real powers to speak of. Of course they had some tax on land ownership and in some cases there would be some limited income tax abilities – but that was it, really. In KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young or PricewaterhouseCoopers you did not really hear many questions about Scottish income tax or Bavarian taxation of corporate entities.

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Capgemini Buys Strategic Systems Solutions (Beatlemania?)

2010-06-17T10:00:00.002-04:00

June 17, 2010

Lisa Chapman, Big4.com

Capgemini is making deeper forays into Business Process Outsourcing. And what's interesting at this stage that its betting on a revival in the beleagured Finacial Services industry.

Capgemini is buying 51% of Strategic Systems Solutions (SSS), a global IT services and business process outsourcing firm (BPO), headquartered in Liverpool, UK, focused on the financial services industry, that it doesn't already own. By doing so, Capgemini is moving from the minority investor stage to the owner-operator stage. Interestingly, from Capgemini's 2009 annual report, we see that Strategic Systems Solutions was a 49% ownership investment of Capgemini USA, and not of the European companies.

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Looking For A Job Online? - Ernst & Young, Accenture Are Tops

2010-06-16T15:03:00.002-04:00

A recent interesting survey of top employer websites by Potentialpark Communications (of Stockholm, Sweden) shows that Ernst & Young and Accenture are keeping the best of company.

(We recently saw this ranking in the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704764404575287254249588026.html?KEYWORDS=potentialpark) and reached out to Potentialpark to get more background and how the other Big Four firms fared in their analysis.)...

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Capital Retreat – 300 KPMG Folks To Leave DC for Virginia

2010-06-16T12:36:00.002-04:00

June 16, 2010

Susan Black, Big4.com

Washington DC and Virginia papers are reporting today that KPMG is moving more than 300 employees from its downtown Washington DC offices (2001 M Street NW) to Tysons Corner, Virginia (1660 International Drive Mc Lean, VA). After this, KPMG will have 800 employees at its new Virginia offices and 650 at the D.C. offices.

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Optimistic Australian Budget Shores Up Future Growth For Big Four Firms

2010-06-15T13:27:00.004-04:00

June 15, 2010
Nita Teoh, Big4.com

The release of the Federal Budget in May 2010 paints a bright future for the Australian economy. The budget predicts a return to surplus in 2012-13, as this commodity-rich country sells its wares to hungry Asian economies. The Government has forecast real GDP growth of 3.25 % in 2010-11, with a further increase to 4% in 2011-12. These are far better numbers than most other developed economies, and the robustness is evidenced by the recent hike in interest rates.

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Promises, Promises: Deloitte and Ernst & Young Ante Up to Reduce Gases

2010-06-14T22:18:00.003-04:00

We always thought that only large manufacturers and chemical companies signed up to reduce environmental pollution and greenhouse gases.

Wait! accountants, tax professionals and consultants can pitch in too for cleaner air (and water).

So, we were a little surprised to see Deloitte and E&Y sign up to reduce their GHGs by 20% over a ten year period from today in the greater Waterloo, Ontario Canada region.

And how're they going to do it? a little creativity perhaps:

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KPMG and Deloitte Now Want More Time to Restate Satyam Financials

2010-06-14T16:08:00.005-04:00

June 14, 2010

David Nelson

We have blogged extensively earlier about the huge Satyam scam (January 2009), PricewaterhouseCoopers India’s involvement and subsequent hiring of KPMG and Deloitte to restate the company’s financials (from 2002 to 2009) and come out with the truth about the exact financial position, the nature of true accounting and set to rest speculation on how this travesty was perpetrated.

The restatement would clear up the real situation about the financials, and clarify whether Mr Raju had fudged the accounts or diverted the funds from the IT company to finance his real estate companies.

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New Zealand Tax Budgets and PAYE Gets Deloitte and KPMG Support

2010-06-14T13:00:00.002-04:00

June 14, 2010
By Pratish Prabhakan, Big4.com

The New Zealand government is seeking feedback from the public on the proposed changes in its tax system. The proposed changes are an attempt to simplify the existing tax system and make it easier for tax payers to manage their tax affairs. The proposals include simplifying the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system. The government has released a discussion document “Making Tax Easier” and started an online forum. The proposed changes reduce the number of interactions taxpayers must have with the Inland Revenue. PAYE would be treated as the final tax for some people.

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Accenture Rides The Upswing In IT Spending, Wins Big Deals

2010-06-13T12:08:00.003-04:00

June 13, 2010
By Pratish Prabhakaran, Big4.com

According to Gartner, the IT sector is expected to witness a revival across the world, as pent-up demand from companies gets loosened due to better business optimism. Gartner expects to see strong IT spending in 2010, with spending on technology products likely to touch $3.4 trillion this year – a healthy growth rate of 5.3% from 2009 levels.

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Accenture, Deloitte Jumping In On Digital Marketing Consulting

2010-06-12T11:28:00.003-04:00

Nita Teoh, Big4.com

June 12, 2010

The digital age is coming at us real fast!

All types of companies are starting to invest in digital marketing over traditional advertising, as trends indicate that consumer highly prefer online news and entertainment through digital mediums.

Digital marketing encompasses the use of any digital mediums to promote a company’s brand. It includes the Internet, television, radio, and mobile for advertising to consumers.

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Deloitte Ride Across Britain – North to South Non Stop for Nine Days

2010-06-11T21:16:00.002-04:00

We’ve never come across this before, and for good reason.

The inaugural Deloitte Ride Across Britain event is being offered for the first time this year. And it starts tomorrow, June 12, 2010, a full 9 day ride to bike from the northern most point of the British Isles - John O’Groats to its southernmost point - Lands End...

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KPMG: Miners Dug In From Australia’s Resource Super Profits Tax

2010-06-11T12:44:00.002-04:00

Nita Teoh, Big4.com
June 11, 2010

The debate continues over the merits and downside of the Resource Super Profits Tax (RSPT) in Australia. This issue and other indicators have led to a fall in Australian consumer confidence in the month of June 2010.

This is a big deal in a country which relies a lot on commodity production and exports; and the big moneys involved.

The government now want to partake in the bounty.

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Big Four Tax Services May Thrive on European Government Loopholes

2010-06-10T22:15:00.002-04:00

By James Spencer, Big4.com

June 10, 2010

It sounds too good to be true. The deficits that are looming over Europe could actually be cut by not only raising taxes, but actually lowering them. That’s exactly the situation that the governments of Europe find themselves today. But the chances are that they will not cut those taxes directly.

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KPMG Finds UK Jobs Increase in May 2010, But Rate Slows

2010-06-09T16:44:00.002-04:00

KPMG and The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) have both good news and not-so-good news on UK jobs.

The good news is that UK labor market conditions continued to improve in May 2010, showing a rise in permanent staff placements for the tenth consecutive month. Also, permanent staff salaries increased for the seventh month running in May. The pace of expansion was high (despite falling from March's twelve-year peak). Temporary staff billings also increased at a strong rate. Higher staff appointments were helped by further improvement in demand for staff in May. Growth of vacancies was strong, although marginally slower than in April.

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Does Ernst & Young’s US Oil E&P Report Partly Explain The Gulf Gusher?

2010-06-09T16:09:00.004-04:00

June 9, 2010

Ernst & Young’s US E&P benchmark study of 50 exploration and production (E&P) companies’ US operations, just released yesterday, finds that the oil and gas industry realized a 7% increase in combined oil and gas production, but revenues were down 36% and after-tax profit was down a whopping 97%. However, as a positive offset, costs also decreased. These 50 companies account for approximately 85% of total US oil reserves and approximately 64% of gas reserves

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Is PricewaterhouseCoopers UK Afraid of Being Cable Towed?

2010-06-08T16:17:00.002-04:00

June 8, 2010

By James Spencer, Big4.com

Ian Powell, the head of PricewaterhouseCoopers UK does not appear to be the sort of man who is easily worried. So it’s interesting when he’s telling the Financial Times (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ae1dda50-71b1-11df-8eec-00144feabdc0.html) that he wants to see some “ground rules” on any changes to competition rules affecting the Big Four accounting firms in the UK.

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PCAOB Finds 5 Deficiencies in 12 Ernst and Young Canada Audits

2010-06-08T16:10:00.002-04:00

June 8, 2010

A recent inspection report by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) on May 27, 2010 is the second of its released reports this year on the Big Four firms, following the report on Deloitte USA on May 4, 2010.

Keeping up its precedence set in the Deloitte report, the PCAOB released additional statistics, not typically seen earlier.

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Michael Andrew Reappointed Chairman at KPMG Australia

2010-06-07T16:06:00.002-04:00

We see from KPMG Australia website as also a news report making the Australian Press (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/city-beat/andrew-reappointed-kpmg-chairman/story-fn4xq4zx-1225876401739) that Michael Andrew was unanimously reappointed National Chairman of KPMG for a further 3 years by the firm's Australian partners. He first became Australian Chairman of KPMG in 2007, after having chaired the Victorian practice for 5 years; and is part of the KPMG's International and Asia Pacific boards, and a member of KPMG's Global Executive team. At the end of that 3 years, he would have served a good six years as Chairman, a less than usual occurrence at a time when most Managing Partners or Chairman prefer to or have to serve a single term.

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PricewaterhouseCoopers UK May Face Probe for Seven Year Miss

2010-06-07T10:35:00.002-04:00

07 June 2010

Just a few days ago, The Financial Services Authority (FSA) of the United Kingdom fined J P Morgan Securities Ltd (JPMSL) a whopping £33.32 million for failing to protect client money by segregating it appropriately.

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ICAP’s Michael Spencer is New Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010

2010-06-06T18:14:00.002-04:00

Ernst & Young just announced the winner of its prestigious World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010 award.

And the winner is…..

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It's Cool - Deloitte World Cup Fantasy League

2010-06-05T16:59:00.002-04:00

With the Soccer World Cup in South Africa starting in a just few days (June 11 to July 11) from now, we took a spin through all the Big Four firm South African sites, and found that Deloitte has a really cool game - World Cup Fantasy League, here:

Deloitte Fantasy League

Its really easy to play, and its free for all to join....

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AT Kearney Booz(es). Big Four Firm Stay Sober

2010-06-05T14:44:00.001-04:00

Both Financial Times and Wall Street Journal are reporting that AT Kearney and Booz & Co. are considering a merger to bulk up and get into seventh place globally behind McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group...

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Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year Winner Revealed Tomorrow

2010-06-04T11:47:00.001-04:00

Yes, we are just hours away from the winner of the 2010 award, to be announced late evening in Monte Carlo, Europe on Saturday June 5, 2010.

We expect a press release from E&Y shortly after, and check out our blog post on the winner...

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Serge Kampf And Paul Hermelin Re-Elected to Capgemini Board

2010-06-04T11:10:00.001-04:00

May 27th, 2010

Last week, the , the Board of Directors of Capgemini convening under the chairmanship of its dean, Mr. Michel Jalabert, and decided to re-elect Mr. Serge Kampf as Chairman, and to elect Mr. Paul Hermelin as Vice-Chairman; and confirm the latter in his Chief Executive Officer role...

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Accenture Digitizes Barbara Walters

2010-06-03T14:48:00.001-04:00

If you’ve seen any TV at all over the years, Barbara Walters has been a familiar and ubiquitous presence on NBC and ABC for a very long time (starting with NBC in 1961). What with hosting 20/20, NBC’s Today show, co-anchoring the ABC Evening News, being a correspondent on ABC World News, and more recently showing up in the mornings on that delightfully controversial and irreverent program – The View. Barbara Walters has also received tons of nominations and awards for her work, notably her interviews with the top personalities in the world...

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Is Europe Attractive? Not Quite, Ernst and Young Finds

2010-06-03T11:02:00.001-04:00

In a recent extensive study (44 pages) of how attractive Europe is to foreign direct investment (FDI), Ernst & Young reveals that the UK and the Continent, while still key players, are slowly losing their attractiveness to China, India and Eastern Europe. Slow expected economic growth in the region and the recent crisis in Greece, Spain, Italy, Iceland and Portugal are only worsening the influx of capital. One mitigating recent factor is the dramatic fall in the value of the Euro, which could actually work in Europe’s favor, as inwards investments can now buy more local stuff with less foreign currency...

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Deloitte UK on Acquisition Spree: Now Buying IM Global

2010-06-02T17:05:00.002-04:00

Deloitte UK has been on an aggressive acquisition prowl in 2010, with a string of large and small acquisitions, from Drivers Jonas to Exsigno....

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US MBAs Favor Deloitte Hugely Over Other Big Four Firms

2010-06-02T11:50:00.001-04:00

The recent Universum American MBA Survey shows that MBA students perceive Deloitte much higher up in the scale as an attractive US employer as compared to other Big Four firms and generally other top employers...

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Only 12 Days to E&Y Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010

2010-05-25T14:53:00.001-04:00

Each year Ernst and Young selects a global visionary leader to be its Global Entrepreneur Of The Year. Last year, Cao Dewang, Chairman of China's Fuyao Glass Industry Group, won the prestigious Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2009 award in Monte Carlo, selected from 43 entrepreneurs, each of whom had already been named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year in their home countries. This year EOY is celebrating its 23rd anniversary, with awards presented annually to over 900 of the world’s most successful and innovative entrepreneurs in 135 cities in 50 countries....

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PricewaterhouseCoopers UK HQ To Run on Cooking Oil!

2010-05-24T16:16:00.001-04:00

We’ve heard of accounting firms running on the blood, sweat and tears of their thousands of employees.

We’ve also heard of Big Four firm professionals burning the midnight oil to get their client reports done to deadlines.

Now from London, we see that PricewaterhouseCoopers wants to power its South Bank, London headquarters – directly with cooking oil....

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Yes, There’s A (Deloitte) Game for That!

2010-05-24T12:32:00.001-04:00

If you’ve been hearing the buzz on Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, and are truly unaware of what this is all about, there’s now a fun way to learn all about it by just playing....

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Deloitte’s Birkett Helps Dubai World Reach Agreement

2010-05-21T15:07:00.002-04:00

We have blogged extensively about Dubai World, whose debt default announcement shocked world markets in Thanksgiving 2009. And that Deloitte UK’s Aidan Birkett was first representing the debtor and then finally joined Dubai World as its Chief Restructuring Officer in November 2009....

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