Francine McKenna

Banks, GE, GM: fail, fail, fail

March 6, 2009 General

There is no premium on stupidity and greed. Both are universal human traits we see the world over. Often in combination, they lie at the root of failure. Earlier today I read a McKinsey ‘conversation starter’ which proposed a way for the frozen banking system to thaw and start lending again. The piece was novel [...]

Read the full article →

PwC to fail?

February 18, 2009 Featured

I have a bet on with Francine McKenna that PwC will be the first of the big firms to fail. While this may seem like idle and irreverent sport to many, it is a serious issue. Quinn Forensics, a specialist firm of forensic accountant poses the question: Is PwC be about to be barred from [...]

Read the full article →

I'm stunned

February 3, 2009 General

Concurring Opinions asserts that the storm brewing over Deloitte following Judge Kaplan’s decision in the Parmalat case could have dire consequences for the audit profession: Given existing turmoil in capital markets and plans to reform our system of corporate finance, these developments could not come at a worse time. I have a friendly bet with [...]

Read the full article →

Pricewaterhouse finally acts on Satyam

January 27, 2009 Featured

CXO Today is reporting that Pricewaterhouse India has finally acted on the errant partners from its Hyderabad office: Former Satyam auditors – PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) have said that S. Gopalkrishnan and Srinivas Talluri have been suspended of all their duties and functions as PWC partners till the investigation into the Satyam scam is completed. I’m surprised [...]

Read the full article →

PwC took bribes?

January 26, 2009 Featured

Reports coming out of India suggest that at least two PwC partners took bribes as part of the Satyam fiasco: According to Crime Investigation Department (CID) sources, Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju and former chief financial officer (CFO) Vadlamani Srinivas confessed that the auditors of PwC were aware of the fraud and very much involved [...]

Read the full article →

N-SCAT and GAGAS

January 19, 2009 General

Francine McKenna’s post proposing an alternative system of audit for the US mirrors much of what Prem Sikka has being saying the last few years. Given the parlous state of the global banking system, it seems current thinking is moving another step in the direction of what is usually associated with socialism on both sides [...]

Read the full article →

If all else fails…

January 7, 2009 General

…throw your toys out the pram. That certainly seems to be the MO of Tim Worstall and his mob of goons. For those that don’t know, Tim Worstall is a self styled pundit and apologist for the so-called ‘free market.’ There is nothing wrong with that as there should always be room for contrarian views. [...]

Read the full article →

Who knows, who cares?

December 31, 2008 General

As I’m getting ready to close out this annis horribilis I read this beautfiully crafted piece from Alan Rusbridger, editor in chief of The Guardian. It candidly chronicles the issues surrounding its botched reporting of Tesco’s tax avoidance schemes in the middle of 2008 and the difficulties the paper had in unraveling the story. While [...]

Read the full article →

The politics of accounting and bank failure

December 29, 2008 General

Over the holiday period, the Washington Post put out a piece entitled: Accounting Standards Wilt Under Pressure. The nub of the piece is that political finagling put US banks in a bind on the ‘mark to market’ issue such that the SEC felt compelled to cave into the banks demands that they operate internal methods [...]

Read the full article →

2008: glad that one's (nearly) done

December 28, 2008 General

Ten days without a post. That’s the longest I’ve taken time out in the three plus years this blog’s been going. It’s given me time to reflect on 2008, the best and yet worst of years for many  people I know. Looking back, I found my 2008 wishlist, almost none of which came true though [...]

Read the full article →

Next Entries →