EU May Force Big Four to Split Operations
Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG and Ernst and Young, collectively known as the Big Four firms, may be forced by the European Union to break up into smaller companies, leaving them vulnerable to...
View ArticleBig Four to Face Monopoly Investigation
Saying that the current market for large company audits lacks sufficient competition, Britain's Office of Fair Trading has launched an investigation of the Big Four audit companies, which last year...
View ArticleOlympus' Auditor Switch Raises Questions
Japanese Camera and medical equipment firm Olympus could face disciplinary action from the Tokyo stock exchange, according to Reuters.read more
View ArticlePricewaterhouseCoopers Subpoenaed for MF Global Audit; Corzine Resigns
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has subpoenaed PricewaterhouseCoopers, the auditors for troubled financial firm MF Global, for information on the segregation of clients' assets from the...
View ArticleOlympus Prez: 'We have conducted extremely improper accounting'
Top officials of Japanese corporation Olympus, which makes cameras and medical supplies, admitted that the company had been using acquisitions to hide decades of losses that date back to the 1990s,...
View ArticleErnst & Young Hit With Record Penalty
The PCAOB has imposed a $2 million civil money penalty against Ernst & Young and sanctioned four of its current and former partners for violating board rules and standards, according to a Feb. 8...
View ArticleKPMG Wins on Privity in N.J. Audit
In a case with wide implications for the accounting profession, the N.J. Supreme Court has set limits on auditor lawsuits and explored the nature of privity.read more
View ArticleU.S.-Affiliated Chinese Firms Charged
In a Dec. 3 release, the SEC began administrative proceedings against the China affiliates of each of the "Big Four" accounting firms and another large U.S. accounting firm. The SEC alleges these firms...
View ArticleNo Overtime Pay for Audit Pros
On Nov. 30, 2012, Judge Colleen McMahon of the U.S. Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York held in Pippins v. KPMG that the accounting firm's audit associates were exempt as...
View ArticleUK Regulator Slams Big 4
The Competition Commission, a UK regulator, has issued a report today that said the Big Four firms, which do accounting and auditing services for 90 percent of blue chip companies in the UK, lacked...
View ArticlePCAOB Reports on PwC, KPMG
At the end of August, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board issued inspection reports on PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG. As noted on the PCAOB site, the board inspects firms that issue audit...
View ArticleSome Firms Ramp Up on RE Pros
Many CPA firms have been increasing the number of professionals specializing in real estate over the past year, sometimes by significant amounts, according to recent figures from the Commercial...
View ArticleBig 4 China Affiliates Barred from Audits
A Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) administrative law judge has barred the Big Four's China units from auditing U.S. public companies for the next six months due to refusing to turn over the...
View ArticleKPMG Pays $8.2M Over SEC Charge
Big Four AccountingFirm KPMG has agreed to pay $8.2 million in order to settle charges from the SEC that it violated auditor independence rules, according to the SEC. The SEC said that KPMG had...
View ArticleDeloitte Now Biggest of Big 4
The Big Four accounting firms--Deloitte, PwC, KPMG and E&Y--dominate the industry, representing over two-thirds of the entire market. While all are giant firms with international reach, for many...
View ArticleBig 4 to File China Appeal
The Chinese affiliates of the Big Four accounting firms are planning to appeal the recent administrative ruling that barred them from conducting audits of U.S. public companies due to their refusal to...
View ArticlePCAOB Wants Big 4 Fin. Statements
Steven Harris, a member of the Public Accounting Oversight Board, said that the Big Four CPA firms should, in addition to the other information they already send, give the PCAOB their audited financial...
View ArticleCaterpillar to Face Senate on Taxes
Heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar will go before the U.S. Senate today over its tax avoidance strategies that have allowed it to save $2.4 billion in taxes by moving sales profits from...
View ArticleSEC to Hear Big 4 China Appeal
The Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed to hear an appeal from the Big Four accounting firms of its January decision to bar their Chinese affiliates from conducting audits of U.S. public...
View ArticleSmaller Auditors Gaining Ground
Non-Big Four auditing firms are gaining market share against their massive competitors as more companies turn to smaller auditors for their needs, according to the Wall Street Journal. While the Big...
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