Audit Partners are Doing Favors That We Need to Know About

Despite a near overall financial apocalypse, audit fees went UP in 2008, according to a survey done by Financial Executives Research Foundation.

Oh, and public companies still like KPwaterhouseDeloitteYoungMG to do their audits and then they don't like to switch. 86% of those polled use one of the Big 4 and have been with the same firm on average for 15.9 years.

Which begs the question: what kind of favors are these firms doing in order to keep these clients for so long and when the whole economy implodes, still have the audacity to ask for more money? Is it common knowledge among the mega-huge, everyone is too big fail (except Lehman) corporate community that the Big 4 have low moral character and will pretty much do anything to keep clients?

If so, where are the pictures? And, I mean the good ones. I want New Jersey hookers, corporate executive socks hiked up pictures. You know the type.

Despite downturn, audit fees rose in 2008 - survey [Reuters]

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In this Corner...BDO Seidman

It's more like a welterweight match but anyhoo...Opening statements were scheduled to be given in Banco Espirito v. BDO International in Miami today.

For those needing a refresher, BDO has been ordered to pay $521M to Banco Espirito after the Portuguese bank got duped out of $170M by the factoring (sketchy loans) company E.S. Bankest. New York Times coverage here and re: The Auditors here.

A jury found BDO guilty of negligence, and the firm was ordered to pay compensatory damages of $170M and $351M in punitive. The awards could potentially put BDO out on its ass.

The issue in this case is to decide if the "local" firm was acting as an agent of the international firm. If so found, the entire international network of BDO firms may be found liable for the judgment found against BDO.

Ouch.

This has big implications for all international firms, most currently for PwC who might find itself in a similar sitch with Satyam

Stay tuned.

Fla. jury to decide if BDO International liable [WEAR ABC 3] Sphere: Related Content

Good News For Cubicle Manufacturers

Hope everyone likes working.

Feeling Good? Read This [Floyd Norris/NYT] Sphere: Related Content

...And Hurricane Season Just Started Yesterday

Robert Half took time away from burning up the phones to report on the jobs outlook for the 3rd quarter and it can summed up very simply by....Meh.

The report states that the greatest optimism comes in two ares of the country: The "East South Central" (consists of AL, KY, TN, & MS) and the "West South Central" (AR, LA, OK, & TX) are the regions with can-do attitude. A whopping 2% of CFO's in these two regions plan on adding full time staff in Q3.

Again, Meh.

CFOs REPORT ON THIRD-QUARTER HIRING INTENTIONS [Robert Half via the Denver Business Journal] Sphere: Related Content

I Likes Me Some Financial Regulatory Oversight

Get ready my friends, change is coming!

The Obama Administration is getting closer to rolling out some changes for the regulatory community and if you like bureaucratic, mind numbing regulation now, just wait until Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and yes, even you, Maxine Waters, get their way.

Some of the usual suspects might not survive this thing, namely the Office of Thrift Supervision. This group of overachievers was responsible for completely ignoring overseeing AIG.

Chuck Schumer: "The Office of Thrift Supervision has very little political support given its track record".

So, unless that's politician code for, "These guys do a tremendous job of producing red tape. They're not going anywhere", it's good night nurse.

Then there's the small matter of the perverts over at the SEC and the wonks at the CFTC. Again, the general consensus is that these two were asleep at the wheel. Some want to see a merger between the two but lobbyists are saying no dice. Guess who wins that one?

Apparently the back room deal as it stands right now is that the SEC would register all hedge funds and oversee derivatives that relate to public companies while the CFTC would get commodity based derivatives. The Times claims that "many hedge funds already [are registered]" but The Gray Lady doesn't define "many". Some might say...few are registered.

So what does all this mean? It seems that the hedge funds are going to take the brunt of this, after years of worrying about the SEC putting the gun to their heads, looks like it's finally happening. If this means 10-K, 10-Q's, etc. for hedge funds, audit partners are going to par-tay.

Administration Is Near Finance Overhaul Plan [New York Times] Sphere: Related Content

Let's Talk About a Serious Topic...

...porn on work computers.

The SEC Inspector General just put out its Semiannual Report to Congress that includes the progress of the investigation into how, in God's holy name, the SEC managed to screw the pooch on this whole ponz thing with our favorite rub n' tug jailbird.

In a completely awesome coincidence, it also includes details of a senior staffer trying to access porn sites on his SEC computer:

The investigation revealed that while using his SEC computer during 17 working days, the employee received approximately 1,880 access denials for Internet websites classified by the SEC’s Internet filter as pornography.

So, at what point does a person just give up on trying to look up porn on a work computer? I mean, nearly 1,900 times? Go buy a magazine at the gas station pal.

S.E.C. Inspector Cites Progress in Madoff Inquiry [DealBook] Sphere: Related Content

See? Your Mother was Right. A Potty Mouth Will Get You Nowhere

You think cursing at measly wannabe chefs and walking around local health department disasters is tough? Maybe not so much, but being a super rich celebrity chef may lend itself to an inflated ego, which may in turn, cause you to over-expand your face-feeding empire, which may in turn, cause you to breach some lending agreements.

"'It was the worst b******ing ever,’ said Ramsay. ‘They [KPMG] told me I was *****d'"

Ramsay reportedly owed 7.2 million pounds in taxes at one point. He and his overly generous father in-law put in 5 million pounds of their own money to call off the dogs.

Live and learn!

KPMG ‘told me I was ****ed’ admits chef Ramsay [AccountancyAge] Sphere: Related Content