KPMG Europe Expands into Netherlands

KPMG sent shockwaves through the accounting industry when they merged the UK and German practices some months ago to create the largest accounting firm in the continent. Even at that time they made it clear that they would be interested in expanding their reach to include other KPMG European firms...

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Is Sarbox Hurting American Competitiveness?

This was the key topic in front of a star-studded panel called by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson in Washington DC today. Invitees included Warren Buffet, Jeff Immelt, Alan Greenspan and others. The event was covered in great detail by CNBC business television...

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Accenture (NYSE: ACN): $1.5 Billion Back to Shareholders

Accenture continues to suffer from an embarrassment of riches!

The ACN Board of Directors today approved a $1.5 Billion share repurchase.

Shares of Accenture rose 62 cents to close at $35.74 on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Deloitte and Touche LLP Shuffles Top Ranks

Big top executive changes at Deloitte

Barry Salzberg becomes the new chief executive of Deloitte and Touche USA, replacing James Quigley

James Quigley moves on to become global CEO of parent firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, replacing William Parrett...

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Stocks Routed: ACN, BE, CAP.PA Slide Down Big

Stocks got whacked globally today, from a 9% drop in China to a 414 drop in the Dow Industrials. There was just a sea of red with really no place to hide, except in cash or shorts...

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PricewaterhouseCoopers Delivers the News:Less Welcome Than Usual

The PricewaterhouseCoopers auditors (green-shades, according to popular press) did show up at the Oscars yesterday with their sealed envelopes and armed guards following 70 years of tradition in sending, receiving, counting, auditing and determining the winners...

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Accenture (NYSE: ACN) Match Play - Stenson Wins Today

Henrik Stenson today beat Geoff Ogilvy the reigning champion to capture the World Golf Championships-Accenture (NYSE: ACN) Match Play Championship.

Along the way Stenson defeated Zach Johnson, K.J. Choi, Aaron Baddeley, Nick OHern, Trevor Immelman, and finally Geoff Ogilvy

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Deloitte to Pay $130 Million to Parmalat Shortly

We earlier blogged that Deloitte had settled with Parmalat to pay US $149 million for its role in the bankruptcy of the Italian dairy company.

Now we understand it is time to pay....Parmalat SpA says that Deloitte have a few days to come up with the money, and apparently Deloitte will pay $130 million as a first installment...

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KPMG Criminal Indictment Dismissal Remains

Another bit of news on KPMG

KPMG's escape as a firm from ciminal indictment remains as U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska dismissed objections of ex partners who have been charged criminally with promoting illegal tax shelters...

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Michael Rake, KPMG Chairman Switches to BT

Sir Michael Rake, KPMG International's current chairman will be succeeding Sir Christopher Bland as British Telecom chairman in September 2007. Sir Michael is 59 years old and been with KPMG for 33 years.

Now, the interesting part of this transition is that Sir Michael will take a huge pay cut from £3.6 million in 2006 down to Sir Christopher's basic salary of £500,000 plus pension contribution of £32,000. That's almost a 75% decrease...

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PwC Auditors Defend Oscar Secrets - James Bond Style

Variety.com, the Hollywood magazine and website has a very interesting article on PricewaterhouseCoopers' role in all the secrecy and glitz surrounding the Oscar Awards. Here is a summary with our twist, the original article from Andrew Barker is an excellent read at ...   

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Deloitte Head to Become Governer of Hungary Central Bank

A Deloitte Partner makes headlines in Hungary.

We hear that Andras Simor, country head of Deloitte and Touche LLP since 2002 will be appointed as the next governor of Hungary's central bank. He will take the job in March 2007 when Zsigmond Jarai, the current governor's term expires. Mr. Simor is a non-political appointee, thus somewhat immune from partisan plays plaguing Hungary.

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KPMG on WSJ's Front Page: Continued Fascination with the Big Four

David Reilly has a fascinating article on KPMG LLP which featured yesterday on the home page of the Wall Street Journal. It is heartening to see Big Four firms getting top coverage (some good and some bad) on the nation's most widely read business newspaper...

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CapGemini on Buying Spree

CapGemini is on an acquisition rampage, especially in the US

After acquiring Kanbay for 1.25 billion, it recently announced the acquisition of Chicago-based Software Architects which has sales of 68 million...

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Accenture Match-Play Golf Next Week, Kicks off Golf Season

The Accenture Match Play Championship starts next week in Tuscon AZ, the first time it is going to be played in the state after the decision to move the championships last year from Carlsbad, CA. 64 of the world’s top golfers, from 18 countries and 6 six continents will tee off at the South Course at The Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Marana, Ariz.

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BearingPoint Gets New COO, Ed Harbach

We notice that BearingPoint (NYSE: BE) has recently appointed a new President and COO, Ed Harbach, reporting to Harry You, CEO. Interestingly Ed Harbach also comes from Accenture, we believe where Harry You also spent some time as CFO. He is being awarded around 900,000 restricted stock units to vest over four years. BE stock has been flat recently, so if things turn around, there can be good upside for Mr. Harbach...



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Pricewaterhouse LLP Behind Oscar Award Glamour

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently sent out Oscar Award nomination ballots to more than 5,000 of its members (precisely 5,380) for the upcoming 79th Academy Awards. Nominations are due back in on February 20th. The event is on February 25th at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Tell-it-like-it-is comedian Ellen DeGeneres will be the host.


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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....


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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).



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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...


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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.

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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.....


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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...


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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...


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.

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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.



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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.

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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.


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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...

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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.


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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...

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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%...


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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...


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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....

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Where is BearingPoint’s (NYSE: BE) 10K?

Just a few week ago BearingPoint, Inc. (NYSE:BE)’s CEO, Mr. Harry You, had set a date by which the fully-vetted 2005 10-K would be released: Thanksgiving November 2006. On November 3, 2006, Harry You, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, said "We appreciate the continuing support of our shareholders, banks, surety providers, clients and employees in standing by us as we worked through this process....


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KPMG Tax Case: Another Twist

The KPMG tax trial has had its share of twists and turns, and here is one more:

With trial originally set for January 2007, we now hear that Judge Kaplan has indefinitely postponed the criminal tax fraud trial. As we have said, 16 former KPMG partners are setting off against KPMG, and now the dispute has turned to who would bear their (assumedly large) legal costs. The Judge wants the fee matter settled before trial, the legal bills could be quite enormous and individuals may be unable to pay without KPMG’s assistance....


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Deloitte and Touche, Ernst and Young Alumni Make Career Splashes

Big4 alumni go places after they leave any of the big four firms.

Here is a quick sampling of recently reported alumni career tracks for Deloitte and Touche LLP and Ernst and Young LLP which we have collected from a number of public sources...


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CapGemini First Half 2006 Results: Strong Performance, Confident Outlook

Capgemini Group recently reported detailed results for the first half year 2006. Revenues for the first half 2006 increased to EUR 3, 784 million, up 9.0% from EUR 3,472 in the first half of 2005.....


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KPMG LLP's Private Equity Group - Serving A Huge Market

KPMG LLP will be forming a U.S. Private Equity Group as a dedicated practice to pull together all their top partners to assist the larger Private Equity funds with Donald C. Spitzer as national managing partner -- private equity.

"Formation of the U.S. Private Equity Group brings together KPMG's most experienced private-equity partners and our superior processes into a single, integrated unit," said Spitzer, noting that every member of the Group already provides customized services to the world's largest funds. He added that private-equity funds grew from more than $20 billion in 1996 to more than $200 billion in 2006.

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SEC and PCAOB meet on Sarbox: The Plot Thickens

The Washington Post is reporting that SEC Chairman Christopher Cox and Mark W. Olson, chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, met today to discuss their ideas on Sarbanes-Oxley in preparation for the PCAOB public hearings set for December 13th, 2006...


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PCAOB Behind the Curve on Big Four Audits

Big Four News on Wall Street Journal Front Page

Today’s WSJ carries two substantive articles on Sarbanes Oxley and PCAOB / Big Four Firms. It is the very first item on the What’s News front page column, indicating the extraordinary importance of these topics to investors and the business community at large. We are pleased to see that the issues we write about in our blog are critical, timely and central to business and capital markets...

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What We Blog About - Now on Wall Street Journal First Page

Today's WSJ carries two substantive articles on Sarbanes Oxley and PCAOB / Big Four Firms. It is the very first item on the What's News front page column, indicating the extraordinary importance of these topics to investors and the business community at large. We are pleased to see that the issues we write about in our blog are critical, timely and central to business and capital markets...

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Auditors' Tax Advice Shelf Life Extended 6 Months

Peekaboo is giving a sop to accounting firms it appears!

Rule 3523 or "Tax Services for Persons in Financial Reporting Oversight Roles" was adopted on July 26, 2005 and approved by the SEC on April 19, 2006. This rule prohibits auditors from providing any tax services to persons in a financial reporting oversight role at an audit client during the "audit and professional engagement period". As it is likely that the audit firm was providing tax services before it became an auditor, the PCAOB wants to revisit the language vis a vis to only the "audit period". While it thinks through this change, the rule 3523's application has been now delayed to April 30, 2007 from October 30, 2006, thus giving audit firms an additional six months to comply with the rule

A Brave New World: Banish the Static, Welcome the Dynamic

A Brave New World!

That’s what the Big Four Accounting Firms want now! PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, BDO Seidman and Grant Thornton have recently released a joint report.

Together, they are now calling for a complete overhaul and rethink of the way companies are reporting their financial performance to investors...

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PricewaterhouseCoopers Goes for Growth in China

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s Chief Executive Samuel DiPiazza, Jr. has big plans in China, which he believes could become PwC’s second most important market after the US in the next 10 to 15 years. PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP) plans to invest between US$50 to US$100 million in China in the near future to maintain its lead and grow along with the booming economy, which is over and above the US$200 million invested in the past...

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Giving Thanks: BearingPoint Reaches Agreement with Bondholders

BearingPoint, Inc. (NYSE: BE) reached agreement with its bondholders to provide higher interest rates in exchange for change in terms and the chance to resolve potential default. We reported earlier that a New York state court has found BE (NYSE: BE) in bond default since it had failed to file its 2005 10-K. In this agreement, bond holders waive the filing requirement but get higher bond interest rates, drop their lawsuit and relax their covenants. BearingPoint also got some timing waivers on filing its 10K and 10Q documents...

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Auditors Want Blanket Protection: A Tall Order in Current Circumstances

What is the flip side of terrific growth at the Big Four firms? Risk management!

We understand that Big Four firms want to keep the gravy train rolling by avoiding a disaster that hit Andersen a few years ago and led to its dramatic collapse. The method: seek legislation or other guarantees to protect from financially disastrous consequences of an investor or company law suit...

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PwC Reports 9% Growth in Line with Other Big4...Good Times for All

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP just announced that its global revenues rose 9% in fiscal 2006 from $20 billion to $22 billion, and 11% in US dollar terms. Advisory and tax businesses, grew at 18% and 11% in US$, while Assurance grew 6%. Sarbanes-Oxley implementation and adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards were flat...

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Now, a Graduate Program to Launch Careers into the Big Four

Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management in Nashville, TN will soon be offering a Master’s degree in accountancy to train graduates and help them specifically enter the Big Four. This appears to be the first program of its kind aimed at careers in the top five global accounting firms – Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, Grant Thornton, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers...

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