China Aims for Big Ten in Ten Years

We hear that the Chinese finance ministry wants to develop at least 10 full-fledged accountancy firms in the next ten years. The policy: “bigger, stronger, self-reliant”. The goal: be capable of providing comprehensive audit services of world standards in order to reduce reliance on foreign firms, especially the Big 4. These 10 firms would be able to operate internationally and support local Chinese companies which plan to internationalize. Further, 100 medium-size firms would concentrate on the domestic market…..current firms are actively encouraged to merge to create economies of scale...

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Cap Gemini S A Now Has to Deliver for Stock Performance

Cap Gemini's stock moved up strongly from Euro 30 per share in November 2005 to the 45 in mid-2006 but then has been stuck in neutral mode. What gives?...

Business is good, according to the company and the general feeling among equity analysts. IT spending remains high for the most part. Cap Gemini SA's senior management painted a good upbeat picture in their recent US roadshow. The biggest issue is the margin as percentage of sales, which they are aggressively pitching, though this does seem realizable, given their increasing use of offshore resources, higher consulting rates all across the board, and better management of cost and personnel...

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Accenture (NYSE:ACN)'s Health Improves as it Drops NHS Contract

Today’s news….Accenture (NYSE: ACN) walks away from its problem-plagued National Health Service Contract in the UK which it had secured in 2003. And it falls upon Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC) to carry the ball for nine years. The agreement is worth close to $3.73 billion (GBP 1.97 billion). The work is to build a patient record IT system in the northeast and east of England, and is running behind schedule...

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KPMG Judge Wants to Know Who Leaked....

Judge Lewis Kaplan….tough and sometimes unpredictable….now demands to know who leaked an internal IRS email to the press. He is going deep, requiring affidavits from everyone involved in the case

Whodunit? Prosecution or Defense? And to what purpose. The document was apparently read over the phone to the New York Times who printed the story. The judge thinks this violates a protective order he issued in the case. The email is about tax shelters that KPMG promoted to wealthy clients...

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BearingPoint Delays 10-K, BE Shares Bearing Down

BearingPoint (NYSE: BE) reported last night that it will now delay filing its 2005 10-K after the State Supreme Court for New York County found that BE is in default on its 2.75% series B convertible subordinated debentures due 2024...

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Peekaboo Regulators Creep Over The Pond

We hear that The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB or Peekaboo) has started to visit US-headquartered audit firms in London, UK, specifically BDO and Ernst and Young LLP to carry out inspections under Sarbanes-Oxley. Sarbox specifies that US regulators have to report every year on foreign audit firms which have more than 100 clients with U.S. listings. Further a report every three years is needed for those with less than 100 U.S.-listed clients...

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BearingPoint, Nothing Official, IT Expert from Down Under Blogs On

Some months ago, we looked at who is blogging from inside at the Big Four firms. Our survey indicated blogs at Accenture (NYSE: ACN), Cap Gemini SA, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Deloitte & Touche LLP, and one by KPMG LLP's Chairman. At that time, we noticed the lack of publicly-oriented blogs at BearingPoint (NYSE: BE), Ernst & Young LLP . We checked again on the same topic for any changes in status, and here is what we found. Status Quo for the most part. Some blogs have definitely added more content and authors, and the Deloitte LLP and CapGemini SA in particular have regular postings from committed bloggers...

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Deloitte WINs with Honest, Engaging Blogs

Some months ago, we looked at who is blogging from inside at the Big Four firms. Our survey indicated blogs at Accenture (NYSE: ACN), Cap Gemini SA, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Deloitte & Touche LLP, and one by KPMG LLP's Chairman. At that time, we noticed the lack of publicly-oriented blogs at BearingPoint (NYSE: BE), Ernst & Young LLP . We checked again on the same topic for any changes in status, and here is what we found. Status Quo for the most part. Some blogs have definitely added more content and authors, and the Deloitte LLP and CapGemini SA in particular have regular postings from committed bloggers. Recently, it has been brought to our attention that there is a BearingPoint blog in Australia, which we shall check out....

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CapGemini Key CTOs Blog on Technology / People Intersections

Some months ago, we looked at who is blogging from inside at the Big Four firms. Our survey indicated blogs at Accenture (NYSE: ACN), Cap Gemini SA, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Deloitte & Touche LLP, and one by KPMG LLP's Chairman. At that time, we noticed the lack of publicly-oriented blogs at BearingPoint (NYSE: BE), Ernst & Young LLP . We checked again on the same topic for any changes in status, and here is what we found. Status Quo for the most part. Some blogs have definitely added more content and authors, and the Deloitte and CapGemini in particular have regular postings from committed bloggers...

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Accenture Blogs are Most Diverse, Development Program Blog Worth Reading

Some months ago, we looked at who is blogging from inside at the Big Four firms. Our survey indicated blogs at Accenture (NYSE: ACN), Capgemini, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Deloitte & Touche LLP, and one by KPMG LLP's Chairman. At that time, we noticed the lack of publicly-oriented blogs at BearingPoint (NYSE: BE), Ernst & Young LLP . We checked again on the same topic for any changes in status, and here is what we found. Status Quo for the most part. Some blogs have definitely added more content and authors, and the Deloitte and CapGemini in particular have regular postings from committed bloggers.Today we look at Accenture, with others to follow....   

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PwC People Blog On, Humanizing the Organization

Some months ago, we looked at who is blogging from inside at the Big Four firms. Our survey indicated blogs at Accenture (NYSE: ACN), Capgemini, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Deloitte & Touche LLP, and one by KPMG LLP's Chairman. At that time, we noticed the lack of publicly-oriented blogs at BearingPoint (NYSE: BE), Ernst & Young LLP . We checked again on the same topic for any changes in status, and here is what we found. Status Quo for the most part. Some blogs have definitely added more content and authors, and the Deloitte and CapGemini in particular have regular postings from committed bloggers...

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BearingPoint: 10K Had Better Come Shortly!

So when is BearingPoint, Inc.'s (NYSE: BE) 2005 10K coming?

There is talk that this will now be coming in the next two weeks, provided of course, that BearingPoint, Inc. does not get to postponing it yet again. BearingPoint, Inc. has scheduled an investors' meeting on December 11th, 2006, so the 10K needs to come out soon, to give people enough time to get ready. The company came out in April 2006 with Q1-2006 results, and then...radio silence, as it skipped the business outlook presentation of July 2006. 10Q results for 2005 should come out in October 2006. When the 10 K comes out, BE (NYSE: BE) is expected to provide outlook on the business and financial results?...

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Accenture Goes Dutch: Will Former Partners Bite?

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) recently announced it will be conducting a Dutch tender auction for $650 million with an option to cover for any over subscription of $773 million. This translates to 26.3 million shares or 30.9 million with includes over-subscription...

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KPMG May to Have Foot Legal Bills for Ex Employees

In the ongoing saga of the government' s case against ex KPMG employees on improper tax shelters, a new twist emerged yesterday with Judge Kaplan refusing to dismiss a lawsuit that the firm pay for legal charges for 16 former employees...

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Big4 Great Places to Launch Careers

Business Week magazine just came out with their inaugural list of "Best Places to Launch a Career", and it validates something that all Big Four alumni know - starting at the right place makes all the difference. Big Four firms take 4 of the top 20 spots and 5 of the top 50 spots...

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KPMG Wins Key Valuation of Airbus Stake

It appears that KPMG has won a surprise high profile valuation engagement for valuing BAE System's 20% stake in Airbus. BAE will be exercising its put option to sell its share to the 80% holder EADS, which would make EADS the sole shareowner of Airbus...

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CapGemini Tells You More About the Uber-Rich

CapGemini and Merrill Lynch recently released their 10th annual World Wealth report with some astounding numbers. In 2005, there were 8.7 million high net worth individuals (HNWIs: people with net financial assets of at least US$1 million, excluding primary residence and consumables), who had US$33 trillion of assets, averaging to $3.8 million per...

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Tracy Wood, Ernst's Youngest Partner Named Top Businesswoman

Tracy Wood became the youngest partner ever in Ernst & Young's history in exactly a year ago in July 2005, at the age of 28 and just four years after she joined the firm's Manchester office. Recently and well-deservedly, she was named as one of UK's top 35 businesswomen under 35 by the magazine Management Today. Congratulations to Tracy for this accomplishment... 

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BearingPoint Stock Upgraded, But Long Way To Go Yet

BearingPoint (NYSE: BE) was recently upgraded by Standard and Poors from 2 stars (sell) to 3 stars (hold), the analyst cited that price declines had led to the stock below $8, and the valuation was compelling. The analyst thinks that the company will earn an EPS of 40 cents due to recent successes in securing contracts. The year-out price target is $8.50 for a P/E of 21...

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KPMG Tax Case: See-Sawing

KPMG defendants, 16 partners accused of creating illegal tax shelters for wealthy clients got a break from Judge Kaplan when he ruled that prosecutors had unconstitutionally pressured KPMG to withhold paying their legal fees. Apparently, government prosecutors had gently leaned upon KPMG to stop paying huge legal bills in defence of their ex-partners, so that the firm could potentially avoid being criminally indicted...

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Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Beats Street, Cheery Forecast Propels Stock

Just a few days ago, Accenture (NYSE: ACN) reported its third quarter (ending May 31,2006) results, beating Wall Street expectations and providing a cheery outlook for the year. There was no bad news this quarter as opposed to the previous quarter where Accenture (NYSE: ACN) had to go on the defensive to explain large charges relating to the National Health Services contract in the UK...

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Deloitte & Touche Acquires BDO to Bulk Up in Australia

We hear that the rumored acquision of BDO by Deloitte has just been completed. Deloitte lags behind the leader PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young / KPMG in number of employees in Australia. Deloitte Growth Solutions purchases only the Melbourne office of BDO for an undisclosed sum, the other Australian offices of BDO are unaffected. This bolsters Deloitte's top line and number of employees enabling it to compete in an increasingly competitive marketplace where bench strength is a critical factor to secure client engagements...

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PricewaterhouseCoopers in LatAm Hot Salsa

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP appears to be getting into a little bit of Latin American hot sauce, following their Japanese misadventures which landed them into miso soup

Carrefour SA, the French retailer is suing PwC and Argentine Exxel Group for purported fraud when it bought Supermercados Norte SA from Exxel in April 2001. Carrefour says it overpaid

Exxel by nearly $120 million when it bought the 49% of Norte that it did not own earlier for $252 million....indicating the price paid should have been $132 million...

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Ex Ernst & Young LLP Partner Heads PCAOB

A Big Four Alumni has made it Big.

Mark W. Olson was recently appointed head of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board by Chris Cox, SEC Commissioner. This ends months of uncertainty about leadership at the PCAOB or Peekabo as it is popularly known. Mr. Olson was a governer at the Federal Reserve Board....

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New Fresh Start for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Japan

We told you a few weeks ago that the Japanese Financial Authority came down strong and hard upon the PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP affiliate in Japan for condoning some not so clean auditing practices.

There was a rumor that PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP) would be opening its own subsidiary in Japan...

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Accenture (Champion) Beats BearingPoint (Champion) in Nail Biting Finish

The just concluded US Open ended with its fair share of thrills and upsets.

Phil Mickelson (the BearingPoint guy) (NYSE: BE) was the clear favorite and in top form running at plus 3 going into the 17th hole on the last round. He slipped by a bogey on the 17th to be plus 4 going into the 18th. A par on the 18th would have secured him victory and a place in the golf history books. But such is the fickle game of golf that Phil went twice past the hole and ended with a double bogey and a total score at plus 6...

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BearingPoint Versus Accenture at Winged Foot

The US Open is on, with the last round being played out today, the final 18 holes to decide the 2006 Champion.

Phil Mickelson strongly surged into a share of the first position with solid play of 69 in the third round and 70-73 in the first two rounds. With a total of 212 he is square with Kenneth Ferrie for number 1 and plus 2 over par for the first three rounds.

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Diebold Insources Outsourcing, Leaving Deloitte & Touche At Sea

Can't count your chickens before they hatch. In this case, can't even count'em even while hatching.

In an unusual turn of recent events, Diebold, Inc., a $2.6 billion manufacturer of ATM machines, security systems and services and 14,000 employees, pulled out of a 7 year outsourcing contract with DC Outsourcing ITO L.P., an affiliate of Deloitte Consulting LLP, a part of Deloitte & Touche...

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Mitchell & Titus Joins Ernst & Young: Diversity is Good Business

Mitchell & Titus, the largest minority-owned accounting firm in the US will join Ernst & Young Global as a member firm. M & T was formed in 1974 and has 125 employees. Exact revenue was not disclosed, but an an average of say $200,000 per employee, this is a $25 million dollar firm...

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Big Four Alumni Go Places! Focus on Ernst & Young Alumni

We have recently started compiling key movements on Big Four alumni, here is a sample of Ernst & Young alumni.

Even from this small sample, we can see that Big4 alumni:

Take on senior positions in a variety of industries
Represent multiple roles and backgrounds
Go beyond traditional accounting and financial roles
Represent their Big Four background with pride

Great going! For other alumni news, check out www.Big4.com.

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Accenture is Unilever's HR Department: Well, Almost!

Human Resources Outsourcing (HRO) scales new heights!

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) is now going to provide full HR services to Unilever. First the numbers: services to nearly 200,000 employees in more than 20 languages in 100 countries, affecting 3,300 HR professionals over 7 years. Exact deal numbers were not disclosed but estimates exceed $1 billion!!...

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China Inc. Takes on Big Four Audit Firms

It appears that China, Inc. the growing economic juggernaut is turning its focus on the Big Four Accounting firms. The Big Four - Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers have each around 4,500 staff and looking to add an additional 20% ....

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South African Lynch Turns Hard Work into Imperial Riches

Ernst & Young just announced their 2006 World Entreprenuer of the Year as Bill Lynch, CEO of Imperial Holdings of South Africa. Imperial is a logistics and car dealership company with annual sales of 42 million Rand, and uninterrupted growth for 18 years since inception. Market capitalization is US$3.7 billion....


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Who's Blogging at the Big Four? Let's Connect!

We set out to see who is blogging at the Big Four....simply by typing in the word blog in the search at each site. And this is what we found:

At Accenture (NYSE:ACN), it looks like two technologists are blogging with Accenture's blessing. The Accenture blog focuses on emerging technologies and how technology innovation is likely to impact business in the future. Ed Gottsman (BlogGottsman), from Accenture (NYSE:ACN)Technology Labs, tends to focus on unanticipated (and sometimes alarming) uses and applications of new technologies...

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Ernst & Young Books a Hotel Room and Ends up on Wrong Floor

Bad room, poor service, noisy elevator, rubber chicken…and now identity theft…all in the game when you book a hotel room on line. And how does this connect with the Big Four? It appears that about a quarter-million Hotels.com customers’ names and credit card numbers were lost when a laptop from an Ernst & Young employee was stolen from his car.....

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Accenture BPO in Emerging Markets: Boom Time

Within just a few days, Accenture announces two new BPO centers in developing countries, aimed at increasing headcount, enhancing capabilities and reducing service delivery costs. The new center in Pune, India is the fifth one in India’s major cities and will focus on SAP and Siebel; Net-centric technologies like Java and Microsoft; business intelligence and testing....


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PwC in a bit of Miso Soup in Japan

PricewaterhouseCoopers had landed in a bit of miso soup in Japan, as authorities there begin to keep a closer watch on auditor independence. Japan's Financial Services Authority took a historic step in suspending a local audit firm associated with PwC for 2 months....


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Deloitte & Touche LLP Gets Pulled into Stock Option Accounting Mess

There is a raging scandal going on in how companies have issued options to senior executives. Apparently several companies have manipulated the date of granting options to a day when the stock price was the lowest for a certain period. So when the stock even goes up modestly from this level, the options become "in the money" and have a good chance of staying in the money due to their artificially low exercise price....


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PCAOB Can Pull Audit Firms Out Of Potentially Sticky Spots

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is proposing rules,which in a roundabout way, help the Big Four audit firms handle some potentially sticky situations. Under the Section 102(d) of 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a registered public accounting firm may be required to report more frequently on company events to the Board.....

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Smashed China for Ernst & Young: Banking on Imperfect Information

What’s hard to estimate, fraught with risk and banks on imperfect information?

Figuring out the amount of bad loans in the Chinese banking system

Ernst and Young took a valiant shot with a report in May 2006 that pegged this number at US$911 billion for China’s entire banking system and US$358 billion for the top four banks....


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BearingPoint Turnover Huge: Finding Experienced Candidates is Critical

BearingPoint (NYSE: BE) recently provided their 2006 Q1 results and 2006 full year outlook (please keep in mind that the 2005 10-K is only due out July 31, 2006). Q1 results of increase in 15% in booking year upon year were driven mainly by strong performance in public services (no updates on other segments)....


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The Enron Saga: Andersen Indicted, Then Acquitted....But Too Late

The Enron saga spans 20 years with Lay becoming Chairman in 1986 and being convicted in 2006. Along the way it became the most-admired and most-debased company in the country. Its bankruptcy shattered the company, destroyed Andersen, bled Wall Street banks, fattened attorneys, brought fame and shame to the DoJ, rewrote security laws and impacted thousands of innocent individuals, their lives and careers....


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Lay and Skilling Indicted

Messers Lay and Skilling were found guilty today by a jury in Houston on several counts of security fraud, misrepresentation to auditors. This is as it should be. It is hard to believe that these executives were unaware of the manipulations within Enron, the machinations with special purpose entities, the spurious deals with banks and financial institutions in order to make the earnings numbers that they themselves were conveying in a sense to Wall Street....

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Capgemini On a Bull Run!

We were recently checking Capgemini share performance, and were quite surprised. Shares are up 80% in one year and trading at 52-week highs. Compared to this terrific upswing, Accenture's (NYSE: ACN) stock is up about 30+% and BearinPoint is up about 50%.....

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FTI Switches from Ernst to KPMG

Here’s 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....

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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....

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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.....

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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...........

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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. ......

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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). ....

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