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Big 5 Auditor's lament Control 19 y
Huh, how do the Big 5 (who do not exist in the Big 5 form anymore)have control on the information presented during an audit? These audits figures are used to make annual reports that the public uses to make investment decisions, and influence the current stockholders decisions;buy/sell/or hold..Also the IRS uses to determines many thing from this report! Although no mention is made of selling prouct like the 401k accel to their customers, perhaps CPA's/audit firms shouldn't be selling product to their customers?
The Auditor-Investor ’’Expectation Gap’’
Investors seem to expect that an audit is an assurance of a company’s financial health, laments Deloitte’s CEO, who maintains that there’s only so much an audit firm can do.
Stephen Taub, CFO.com
October 18, 2005
Investors may have unrealistically high expectations from auditors, said William Parrett, chief executive officer of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, in an interview with the Toronto Globe and Mail.
Parrett acknowledged that his industry must do a better job of performing audits and avoiding potential conflicts of interest between aud ... read more KPMG & abusive 401kAccel 19 y
Oh dear, yes, things get complicated when you sell yourself tax shelters that the IRS considers abusive...yes...Ah, reminds of the old limited Partnerships days! Erisa part 2!
KPMG Found Using a Tax Shelter It Sold
The Big Four accounting firm reportedly employed the strategy — which the IRS later found to be abusive — to book a $34 million deduction on its 2001 tax return.
Stephen Taub, CFO.com
October 17, 2005
KPMG itself used a tax shelter it pedaled to corporations and that the IRS later found to be an abusive tax-avoidance transaction, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper reported that the Big Four accounting firm used the shelter — dubbed the 401(k) Deduction Acceleration Strategy, or ”401kAccel” — to book a $34 million deductio ... read more US Plan to Open China Markets 19 y
Just a thought but wasn't this what Nixon tried to do back in the 70"s...Persistance is sometimes fruitful..But in this case unless the Chinese see a huge unfair advantage in the partnership- Well,..then resistance is futile~ And let us not forget China owns more US treasury debt than Japan!
I think Chinese language studies may be in order...Language du jour!
U.S. Offers Plan for Open Markets in China
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: October 16, 2005
XIANGHE, China, Oct. 15 - The Bush administration is expected to present China’s political leaders on Sunday with a sweeping plan to overhaul China’s financial markets and open the country to foreign banks, investment firms and insurance companies.
Administration officials say the plan is part of an effort to put the yuan into a broader debate over China’s lopsided reliance on exports as the main source of economic growth.
The plan, to be discussed in two days of talks here and in Bei ... read more US Plan to Open China Markets 19 y
Just a thought but wasn't this what Nixon tried to do back in the 70"s...Persistance is sometimes fruitful..But in this case unless the Chinese see a huge unfair advantage in the partnership- Well,..then resistance is futile~ And let us not forget China owns more US treasury debt than Japan!
I think Chinese language studies may be in order...Language du jour!
U.S. Offers Plan for Open Markets in China
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: October 16, 2005
XIANGHE, China, Oct. 15 - The Bush administration is expected to present China’s political leaders on Sunday with a sweeping plan to overhaul China’s financial markets and open the country to foreign banks, investment firms and insurance companies.
Administration officials say the plan is part of an effort to put the yuan into a broader debate over China’s lopsided reliance on exports as the main source of economic growth.
The plan, to be discussed in two days of talks here and in Bei ... read more China Monetary Policy-Yuan 19 y
This will be the Country and the factors that will ultimately influence the world and the USA monetary policy.
What to Do About China and the Yuan
By LOUIS UCHITELLE
Published: October 12, 2005
Richard T. Wilkey, who runs a small Wisconsin company that makes cutting blades for lawn mowers and harvesting equipment, worries that he will soon be vulnerable to competition from China. But he is afraid that by the time he gets help from Washington, it may be too late.
Andy Manis for The New York Times
Richard T. Wilkey, owner of Fisher-Barton.
Andy Manis for The New York Times
One of Mr. Wilkey’s parts plants, in Sun Prairie, Wis.
As a result, Mr. Wilkey, a longtime member of the National A ... read more NASD fines National Planning Corp 19 y
I used to like National Planning orp...they had a cool planning access..and a nice set-up. Apparently they've had some "issues" in Santa Monica
NASD Fines Life Company Units
BY MATT BRADY
Washington Bureau -- NU Online News Service, Oct. 11, 2005, 4:59 p.m. EDT
The National Association of Securities Dealers has levied more than $7.75 million in fines against 8 broker-dealers.
The NASD, Washington, says the companies fined directed customers to certain funds in exchange for extra commissions.
The NASD says all of the cases involve apparent violations of its Anti-Reciprocal Rule, which bars brokers from favoring the sales of a mutual fund on the basis of commissions paid by the firm and prohibits a firm from recommending ... read more Another Microsft Antitrust 19 y
Gee, don't they know Billy can afford the best lawyers that exist and that he holds a strong position on antitrust-yeah, they do!
Latest Microsoft Antitrust Deal: $761M
Even so, a European Commission spokesman calls the settlement ”completely irrelevant” to the commission’s continuing antitrust case.
Craig Schneider, CFO.com
October 12, 2005
Microsoft Inc. announced that it will pay RealNetworks Inc. $761 million to settle its last major antitrust case and to build an alliance for digital media and games.
A first payment of $460 million in cash will resolve all RealNetworks claims and enable the company — until now a fierce critic of Microsoft — to obtain long-term access to the Windows Media technology ... read more World Bank; China/Enron 19 y
38 Billion? The World Bank is at it again...Boy, they are probably the One World Government that we hear so much about...If one took a look at the board members of this bank...One might see "whose who" in international dominance and ownership...I think I'll try it!
FINANCE
China as Enron
That title’s definitely a stretch, but I’ll go with it anyway. Because I just got back from a press briefing on M&A in China, where Ko-Yung Tung, a senior counselor of the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, made a startling statement in his introductory remarks. (At least it was startling to me.)
Tung mentioned that when he was a vice president and general counsel of the World Bank a few years ago and China came knocking on its door, the bank soon deemed it necessary to find a way around its absolute dollar limit of $13.5 billion in total lending to any individual ... read more Congressional Pay Poll 19 y
I think I have heard higher numbers than these- but these are high enough!
Salaries and Benefits of U.S. Congress Members
Rank & File Senators and Representatives make $158,100 a year Related Resources
Current Results
Congress: Rank-and-File Members’ Salary
The current salary for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $158,100 per year.
• Members are free to turn down pay increase and some choose to do so.
• In a complex system of calculations, administered by the Office of Personnel Management, congressional pay rates also affect the salaries for federal judges and other senior government officials.
• During the Constitutional ... read more Happiness 19 y
Are American's Happy?
Net National Happiness
Published: October 6, 2005
Does the United States strike you as a happy country? July 1776, when Thomas Jefferson claimed the pursuit of happiness as a basic human right, might have been the last time that happiness was officially proposed as a national objective. But in Bhutan - as reported in the Science Times on Tuesday - the question of national happiness is still up for discussion, thanks to a monarch who insisted, nearly a generation ago, that gross national happiness is more important than gross national product.
An economic cynic may argue that a count ... read more Greenspan's Replacement 19 y
Mr Bush will be appointing a crony...They are the only one's that know the job "by doing"...and this is one of THE puzzle piece's (besides the Supreme Court Justices) that will determine the outcome of our next 10 years.
The Next Alan Greenspan
Published: October 6, 2005
The job of chairman of the Federal Reserve Board is one of the biggest and most important in Washington, and given President Bush’s record of appointing his pals to fill every position from Supreme Court justice to director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, it’s small wonder there is a lot of fretting about who will be tapped to succeed Alan Greenspan.
During his news conference on Tuesday, Mr. Bush made reassuring noises aimed at global markets. ”It’s important that whomever I pick is viewed as an independent person from ... read more BCCI- Still and Again 19 y
No deal, no settlement, and no negotiations..interesting
’’Battle of BCCI’’: A Fine Madness
A lawsuit brought by the liquidator for the infamous bank has already set a British record for the longest opening argument in an English court — twice.
Dave Cook, CFO.com
October 05, 2005
The Bank of England announced that it has rejected a settlement offer by the liquidator for the Bank of Credit and Commerce International that would end a long-running $1.5 billion lawsuit — the first in the Bank of England’s history.
BCCI, which collapsed in 1991 under a debt load of some $1.6 billion, was incorporated in Luxembourg but run in London ... read more John's Opinion 19 y
I have been on John's list for some years now, he has it down on the power players in San Diego...he was instrumental (or his orgainizing and his writings) in getting San Diego watched by the International Justice yada lolo- I've forgotten the name ---but their mandate is to watch corruption. Yes, San Diego is now internationally renown for corruption in City/County Government!
By JOHN McNAB
Voice Guest Columnist
Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005
The Children of California shall be our children.”
Or so is written that Leland Stanford said at the death of his only son,
Leland Stanford Junior.
From that moment, one of the great robber barons of his time took up the
mission of helping people. Foremost was his establishment of Leland
Stanford Junior University on farmland he owned in Palo Alto.
In San Diego, we have our own ruthless capitalists. None stood out more
than Corky McMillin. Starting with nothing, McMillin created an empire to
respect. The com ... read more How to lose it ALL 19 y
Motley Fools are not so motley or foolish as they were 20 years ago, but I love the headwear! I give my favorite people the fool's headdress-because I love them, foolishly!
How to Lose It All
By Tim Beyers
We’ve all made investing mistakes. And we’ll make more. Either we’ll overestimate growth, or we’ll underestimate cash flows, or we’ll fail to recognize poor management when we see it. None of these flubs can ever be completely averted. To err is indeed human.
The wrong mistakes
But there is a difference between mistakes based on a sound intellectual framework and those based on a wing and a prayer. During the bubble, too many of us did the latter and lost. A lot.
We had the wrong approach. And in ”we,” I’m including yours truly, as well as the he ... read more NonQual deferred Comp under the Gun 19 y
This is a legal way to put extra cash/commissions that will presumably be used after retirment in a plan that will "even out" taxable income in highly compensated years...Or will it?
Feds Propose Regs For Nonqualified Deferred Comp Plans
BY ALLISON BELL
NU Online News Service, Sept. 29, 2005, 8:35 p.m. EDT
The Internal Revenue Service is asking for public comments about treatment of older split-dollar life insurance arrangements in a draft of new rules for nonqualified deferred compensation plans.
The IRS is developing the rules because the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 created a new section of the Internal Revenue Code, Section 409A, that spells out when employees, independent contractors and other affected “service providers” can postpone paying taxes on ... read more Civil War Balance Sheet? 19 y
I've seen this style used, and it works well...But I never dreamed that the strategy was created in the Cilvil War!
Trade-credit Insurance: Balm for Bankers
Spurred in part by globalization, a seldom-used Civil War-era financing tool may finally go mainstream.
Marie Leone, CFO.com
September 29, 2005
In September 2002, Skyworks Solutions Inc. was in a quandary. Sales of its semiconductors were soaring, and the company was eager to boost capacity as well as research and development. But the chipmaker’s balance sheet was weak and debt-laden after a recent merger. That meant that traditional borrowing based on cash flow was costly, and in some cases unavailable, according to vice president of fina ... read more Dubai- New Hong Kong? 19 y
Dubai is putting in its financial center to function much as Hong Kong DID (What ever did haoppen to the Heng Saing? spelling?)China's Iron Fist squlched that little diamond...Dubai is something to watch..there is more here than meets the eye.
Dubai Launches International Stock Exchange
Source: InstitutionalInvestor.com
In an effort to eventually attain status in the Arab world similar to that of Hong Kong, Dubai has launched the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) as part of the Dubai International Financial Centre. That centre, an offshore zone run by the UAE government, has attracted about 12 international banks so far, though the new exchange has not yet announced a listing date for any major firm. Still, observers are optimistic that the Gulf region’s explosive growth will fuel interest in the DIFX, as Du ... read more |