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!

PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hot Russian Tea

Following the two billion dollar suit from Fannie Mae against KPMG, we now hear that the Russian tax authorities are filing a suit against the local PricewaterhouseCoopers firm. The accusation: creating a "false audit" for Russian oil giant Yukos.

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

Fannie Mae Sues KPMG for $2 Billion! Alleges Abysmal Auditing

Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) is suing KMPG LLP for $2 billion today, indicating that it was negligent in playing its role as an independent “watchdog” and preventing billions of dollars of accounting errors. The firm is being sued for 17 counts of negligence and breach of contract in a suit filed in DC, Fannie apparently had $2 billion in damages and $1 billion in costs to restate earnings. Fannie had fired KPMG in December 2004.


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

Deloitte Pays $210 million to Settle Adelphia Case: 45% of Total Sum

Deloitte & Touche LLP will end up ponying up $210 million as part of a larger $455 million amount along with a number of banks, including Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wachovia and 35 others, which have agreed to pay to settle an investor lawsuit in the Rigas family-run bankrupt cable company, Adelphia Communications Corporation...

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

Big Four Results: - Huge Size and Interesting Surprises

All the Big Four firms (Deloitte and Touche LLP, Ernst and Young LLP, KPMG LLP and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP) recently reported their 2006 financial results, which we have compiled for a very interesting analysis.


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

PCAOB 2006 Report on Deloitte - Issues and Disagreements Too

PCAOB recently released its 2006 report on Deloitte and Touche LLP based on its inspection in 2005 and complying with Sarbox Act. The Board identified 17 unnamed public companies (Issuer A to Issuer Q) where it identified a variety of audit deficiencies, ranging from revenue recognition, inventory control, debt covenants, cash flow statement preparation, allowance for loan losses etc...

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

KPMG Revenue Up 10%, BRIC on Fire!

KPMG LLP just reported its 2006 strong annual results in line with other Big Four firms. 2006 revenues of US$16.9 billion grew 7.6% from US$15.7 billion in 2005 (KPMG LLP's fiscal year ends in September 30, 2006). In local currency terms, revenue growth was 9.6%, indicating that the falling dollar reduced revenue growth by 2%...


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

BearingPoint Does File 10-K, Huge Losses in 2005, but 2006 Looking Up

It looks like BearingPoint, Inc. (NYSE: BE) did file its 2005 Form 10-K at 5:42 pm on Wednesday, November 22nd, one day before Thanksgiving and upholding its promised deadline. Here are some highlights...


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

Deloitte Gets A Reprieve in Parmalat Case

And in another ruling by Judge Kaplan…he has adjourned a damages case filed by Italian dairy firm Parmalat against its former bankers and auditors to December 31, 2006 to see if the parties can work out a settlement. This trial was set for middle of 2007, but if all parties could workout something, then the trial itself could be avoided....

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