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☆ Global regulators propose tougher scrutiny of voluntary carbon markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - A global securities watchdog proposed 21 safety measures on Sunday to improve integrity, transparency and enforcement in voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) in a sector of growing importance to efforts to combat climate change. VCMs cover pollution-reducing projects, such as reforestation, renewable energy, biogas and solar power, that generate carbon credits companies buy to offset their emissions and meet net-zero targets. National regulators could require companies to disclose their use of carbon credits, and platforms that trade credits to have better anti-fraud and market manipulation safeguards, IOSCO said. VCMs are separate from government-regulated carbon markets, such as the emissions trading scheme in the European Union, the world's largest. Good practice could include "comprehensive disclosures on the project development process, verification and auditing methodologies, and the entities responsible for measurement, reporting, and verification," IOSCO said.

Persons: Rodrigo Buenaventura, IOSCO, Morgan Stanley, Huw Jones, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Sunday, European Union, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Asia, Europe, Latin America, United States, Dubai

☆ PwC’s China and Hong Kong Units Fined in Training Exam Cheating Probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

More than 1,000 workers at PwC China and PwC Hong Kong engaged in training-exam misconduct from 2018 to 2020, according to the PCAOB. Photo: Alyssa Schukar for The Wall Street JournalThe Public Company Accounting Oversight Board fined PricewaterhouseCoopers’s China and Hong Kong units over training exam misconduct from hundreds of employees as part of its first set of enforcement settlements with audit firms in the region since it gained full access to inspect them late last year. PwC Hong Kong and PwC China agreed to pay a combined $7 million to settle claims that they failed to detect or prevent extensive and improper answer sharing on tests for mandatory internal training courses, the U.S. auditing watchdog said Thursday.

Persons: Alyssa Schukar Organizations: Wall Street, Company Locations: China, Hong Kong, PwC Hong Kong, U.S

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia coalition that helps support a network of anti-abortion pregnancy centers in the state is receiving $1 million in taxpayer dollars to distribute to organizations committed to encouraging people not to end their pregnancies. The West Virginia Pregnancy Center Coalition has been selected to manage the new West Virginia Mothers and Babies Support Program, the state department of health and human resources announced this week. Jim Justice earlier this year, officials said the program is intended to help support pregnant women and families following the passage of the state's near-total abortion ban in September 2022. As the West Virginia program's management agency, the West Virginia Pregnancy Center Coalition will be required by law to establish qualification requirements for organizations to receive funding, advertise the program and contract with organizations for services. The West Virginia Pregnancy Center Coalition will need to establish reporting requirements and an auditing procedure.

Persons: Jim Justice, Jenny Entsminger, ”, Matthew Christiansen Organizations: West Virginia, Virginia Pregnancy Center Coalition, GOP, Republican Gov, Pregnancy Center Coalition, Democratic, West Locations: CHARLESTON, W.Va, Virginia, West Virginia

☆ US PCAOB fines PwC in China for allowing cheating on audit exams
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —A US regulator has hit the China arm of prestigious “Big Four” firm PwC with a $7 million fine. In its announcement, the PCAOB said the practice was widespread, involving more than 1,000 employees from PwC Hong Kong, and hundreds more from PwC China. It fined PwC $7 million in total, with its entities in Hong Kong and mainland China ordered to pay $4 million and $3 million, respectively. The mainland Chinese arm works in collaboration with its Hong Kong and Macao offices, collectively boasting a headcount of more than 20,000. On Thursday, the US regulator also penalized a mainland Chinese accounting firm for violations, including issuing a false audit report.

Persons: “, Erica Y, Williams, ” PwC, ”, Shandong Haoxin Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, US Public Company, PwC, US, Shandong Haoxin Locations: Hong Kong, China, Macao, Shandong Haoxin, Shandong

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's company no longer prepares the sweeping financial statements that New York state contends were full of deceptive numbers for years, an executive testified Monday at the former president's civil fraud trial. Trump's 2014 to 2021 “statements of financial condition” are at the heart of state Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit against him, his company and some of its key figures. The defendants deny wrongdoing, but James says they misled lenders and insurers by giving them financial statements that greatly inflated Trump's asset values and overall net worth. Trump asserts that his wealth was understated, not overblown, on his financial statements. During cross-examination, Hawthorn acknowledged that Trump's financial statements could have been audited by the company, rather than just compiled, though he noted that auditing wasn't required.

Persons: — Donald Trump's, Letitia James, James, Mark Hawthorn, wasn't, ”, Clifford Robert, Andrew Amer, Trump, Arthur Engoron, Michael R Organizations: Trump Organization, Trump, Hawthorn, Republican, Democrat, ___ Associated Press Locations: York, spokespeople, New York, ___, Sisak

Cara LombardoCara Lombardo is a senior reporter for The Wall Street Journal in New York. She and her colleagues regularly break market-moving news on the biggest and most interesting deals and activist fights. In 2021, she was part of a team that won a Gerald Loeb Award for the paper’s coverage of Amazon’s business practices. She joined the Journal in 2017 and previously covered breaking news and the beverage industry. She has undergraduate and master’s degrees in accounting and a master’s degree in journalism, all from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Persons: Cara Lombardo Cara Lombardo, Gerald Loeb Organizations: Wall Street, University of Wisconsin - Madison, LinkedIn Locations: New York

☆ EY and PwC Diverge in Choice of Global Head
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Two of the world’s largest accounting firms, Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers, picked global chairs with starkly different backgrounds but tailored to the specific problems they are facing, from governance issues to slowing revenue growth. EY picked Janet Truncale, 53, head of its Americas financial-services business as its new global chair and chief executive last week. Truncale, who rose from being an EY intern to her appointment as the first woman to run a Big Four firm, is a certified public accountant by training with core skills in auditing, accounting and consulting, which will be key to moving the firm beyond the abandoned split of its advisory and audit arms into separate businesses.

Persons: Ernst &, EY, Janet Truncale, Truncale Organizations: Ernst, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers

☆ Germany's budget committee pauses 2024 budget deliberations -panel members
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Maria Martinez | Thomson Reuters | Maria Martinez Is A Reuters Correspondent In Berlin Covering German Economics | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBERLIN, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Germany's budget committee paused final deliberations on the 2024 draft budget early on Friday morning, according to the chief budget officers of the coalition government, after a constitutional court ruling threw negotiations into disarray. The contents of the ministries' budgets were finalised during the committee meeting, the budget officers said. On Wednesday, the constitutional court decision prompted the government to postpone the formal vote of the budget committee until next Thursday. Despite the court ruling, the 2024 budget is expected to be passed as planned at the end of the Bundestag's budget week on Dec. 1, according to members of the budget committee. The chief budget officers of the coalition government accused the opposition of refusing to cooperate in budget deliberations.

Persons: Liesa, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's, Joerg Kraemer, Friedrich Merz, Commerzbank's Kraemer, Maria Martinez, Holger Hansen, Clarence Fernandez, Gerry Doyle Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Greens, Free Democrats, European Commission, dpa, Bundestag's Energy, CDU, CSU, Christian Democratic Union, ESF, Economic, Stabilization, Thomson Locations: Berlin, Germany, Ukraine

The city skyline is reflected in a puddle at sunrise following rainy weather in Sydney, Australia, August 28, 2022. REUTERS/Loren Elliott Acquire Licensing RightsSYDNEY, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Australia will on Thursday introduce two previously announced tax bills that will raise petroleum tax revenue and legislate the government's response to a national scandal over confidential tax plans leaked by a PwC Australia partner. The change is one of 11 recommendations from a Treasury review, eight of which the government adopted in August. The centre-left Labor government will also on Thursday introduce legislation prepared in response to revelations a former PwC Australia partner leaked confidential government tax plans then used it to drum up work with multinational companies. Chalmers in August announced a two-year Treasury review into the rules governing large consulting and auditing firms.

Persons: Loren Elliott, Jim Chalmers, Chalmers, Lewis Jackson, Miral Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Petroleum, Rent, Labor, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia

☆ Byju's co-founder on the Indian tech startup's turnaround plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailByju's co-founder on the Indian tech startup's turnaround planDivya Gokulnath, co-founder of Indian education technology startup Byju's, talks about the company's turnaround plans after it has faced a number of issues including auditing troubles and debt repayments.

Persons: Gokulnath

It said it would tender for a new external auditor as part of "best practice for audit firm rotation". PwC has audited Westpac since 2002, before which PwC partners and their ancestor firms had audited the bank since 1968. However, PwC's lead Westpac audit partner assumed the role less than two years ago, in December 2021, according to a Westpac governance statement this month. A PwC Australia spokesperson said the firm understood the board's decision and was proud of its time as Westpac's auditor. Renamed Scyne Advisory, roughly 1,400 of PwC Australia's more than 9,000 staff moved over to the new firm.

Persons: Loren Elliott, PwC, Lewis Jackson, Christopher Cushing, Robert Birsel Organizations: Westpac, Central Business District of, REUTERS, Rights, Westpac Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC's, Google, Uber Technologies, Facebook, Meta, PwC, Scyne Advisory, Scyne, Thomson Locations: Central Business District of Sydney, Australia, PwC Australia

Renamed Scyne Advisory, roughly 1,400 of PwC Australia's more than 9,000 staff have moved over to the new advisory firm. It said it would tender for a new external auditor as part of "best practice for audit firm rotation". PwC has audited Westpac since 2002, before which PwC partners and their ancestor firms had audited the bank since 1968. However, PwC's lead Westpac audit partner assumed the role less than two years ago, in December 2021, according to a Westpac governance statement this month. A PwC Australia spokesperson said the firm understood the board's decision and was proud of its time as Westpac's auditor.

Persons: Lewis Jackson, PwC, Robert Birsel, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Wednesday, Scyne Advisory, Scyne, Google, Uber Technologies, Facebook, Meta, WESTPAC, Westpac Group, Westpac, PwC's, Thomson Locations: Barangaroo, Australia

☆ French prosecutors investigating Sanofi over possible market manipulation
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A logo on the Sanofi exhibition space at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France June 15, 2022. French prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation into multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi over possible market manipulation. "Sanofi is not aware of any preliminary investigation on its 2017 accounts or other matter by the Parquet National Financier. We stand by the accuracy of our accounts," Sanofi said in an emailed statement. "As a listed company, the financial information published by Sanofi is accurate, precise and sincere, and is duly audited by two auditing firms.

Persons: Sanofi, — CNBC's Charlotte Reed Organizations: Sanofi, Viva Technology, Porte de, CNBC, National Locations: Porte, Paris, France, National

☆ EY Lays Out U.S. Governance Overhauls After Failed Split
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Mark Maurer | Alexander Saeedy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ernst & Young’s global executive board is preparing to vote on a successor to Carmine Di Sibio, the global chairman and chief executive, in coming weeks. Photo: tolga akmen/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesErnst & Young is stepping up its U.S. governance overhaul efforts, a bid to give partners there a greater voice in firm strategy, following the failed separation of its audit and advisory businesses earlier this year. The proposal comes as the Big Four accounting firm continues to work to untangle the mess left by its decision in April to scrap plans to split auditing and consulting into two different firms. EY spent $600 million and more than a year working on the split.

Persons: Ernst, Carmine Di Sibio, tolga, Young, EY Organizations: Agence France, Getty, Ernst, Big

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans went after the IRS — long a GOP whipping child — when they decided that emergency aid for Israel should be coupled with cuts elsewhere in the budget. The aid bill that passed the House on Thursday — unlikely to be approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate — would cut $14 billion from the nation's tax collector in exchange for providing assistance to Israel. President Joe Biden has said he would veto the bill if it reaches his desk. The IRS cutback would cost taxpayers billions of dollars, not save money, according to independent budget analysts. In June, legislation to raise the statutory debt limit also rescinded $1.4 billion given to the federal tax collector through the IRA.

Persons: —, Joe Biden, ”, Danny Werfel, Werfel, MacGuineas Organizations: WASHINGTON, —, Republicans, IRS, Democratic, Congressional, Treasury, Federal Budget Locations: Israel

☆ House Speaker Mike Johnson Is Not a Serious Person - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( David Firestone | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

But then he imposed a condition on the Israel money: Mr. Biden must agree to cut the same amount out of the money the Internal Revenue Service uses to chase down high-income tax cheats. Earlier this year, Republicans forced Mr. Biden to cut $20 billion from the I.R.S. cut isn’t really going to happen, as House Republicans know, because Mr. Johnson’s bill will die in the Senate, where many leading Republicans already oppose it. cut, he gets to show the same extremists who deposed his predecessor that he can play rough with the White House. If Mr. Johnson has substantive objections to helping Ukraine and Israel that justify the legislative impediments he is constructing, he should state what they are.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Johnson’s, he’s, Biden, Mr, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham of, ” Mr, Graham, “, Mitt Romney, Joe Wilson of, He’s, Ritchie Torres, Axios, Johnson, Thomas Friedman Organizations: Republican House, Internal Revenue Service, Israel, Republican, Republicans, Treasury, Congressional Budget, National Bureau of Economic Research, Senate, Ukraine, Hamas, White, Democrats, Democrat, West Bank, Palestinian Authority Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, U.S, Nottingham, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Moscow, Utah, Joe Wilson of South Carolina, New York, Gaza, West

A financial planner told me I need to understand how my retirement account is invested. I don't feel like I have the knowledge or time to be able to manage my retirement accounts on my own. However, Kovar said it's still important to keep a pulse on what's happening inside of those retirement accounts. Kovar recommended that people look at their retirement accounts every 6-12 months to determine how much risk they want to take on. Kovar recommended those with a 401(k) consider having a second retirement fund as well, so their investment options aren't limited.

Persons: —, it's, Taylor Kovar, Kovar Organizations: Service

☆ Former Inspectors of Public-Company Audits Say Process Needs Retooling
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is in the middle of a transformation under Chair Erica Williams, who took the helm in January 2022. Photo: Ting Shen for The Wall Street JournalThe process to inspect the audits of U.S. public companies needs an upgrade, according to some of the people who should know best—former inspectors who did the work over the last two decades. Former inspectors of the U.S. auditing watchdog say inspections are a useful tool for detecting potential deficiencies in audits of public companies, but that public reports on the process are limited in scope, lack details and not released in a timely fashion.

Persons: Erica Williams, Ting Shen Organizations: Public Company, Wall Street

PwC sign is seen in the lobby of their offices in Barangaroo, Australia June 22, 2023. REUTERS/Lewis Jackson Acquire Licensing RightsSYDNEY, Oct 26 (Reuters) - PwC Australia said on Thursday that dozens of staff who had been set to move across to spin-off consultancy Scyne Advisory will no longer have roles at the new firm and have been told to look for jobs internally. Over 1,500 people out of PwC Australia's more than 9,000 staff were expected to move to the new firm, PwC said in September. A Scyne Advisory spokesperson said a delay in closing the deal, originally planned for September, changes to its "partner mix" and the need to establish Scyne as a "sustainable business" were factors in the decision. The move comes as Scyne Advisory gears up to reclaim advisory work that netted PwC Australia A$680 million ($427 million) last financial year.

Persons: Lewis Jackson, PwC, Kevin Burrowes, Lincoln, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Scyne, PwC, PwC Australia, of Finance, Thomson Locations: Barangaroo, Australia, PwC Australia, PwC

☆ Tether CEO says stablecoin issuer audit process is continuing
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTether CEO says stablecoin issuer audit process is continuingPaolo Ardoino, the new CEO of Tether, says he supports a full audit of the stablecoin, but "fear" from big firms to take a risk on auditing a stablecoin, is stopping it from happening.

Persons: Paolo Ardoino

☆ Tech was supposed to take everyone's job. We're still working. What happened?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Matt Turner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The ATM was supposed to wipe out bank tellers. And yet, here we are in 2023, with unemployment in the US at 3.8%, and an estimated 9.6 million jobs available. Tech typically creates more jobs overallSimply put, technology creates more jobs than it takes away. For example, there were fears that the advent of ATMs would put bank tellers out of work. And sure enough, a few years after the adoption of the ATM, there were fewer bank tellers per branch.

Persons: —, Morgan Stanley, David Autor, who's, Banks, James Bessen, Here's Morgan Stanley, Uber, Carl Benedikt Frey, Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson Organizations: Service, Tech, Microsoft, Microsoft Excel, National Association of Economic Research, London, Oxford Martin School Locations: London, Hollywood

(AP) — Arkansas lawmakers on Thursday voted to audit the purchase of a $19,000 lectern for Gov. The Republican Party of Arkansas reimbursed the state for the purchase on Sept. 14, and Sanders’ office has called the use of a state credit card for the lectern an accounting error. Sanders’ office said it received the lectern in August. Sanders’ office has not said what features contributed to the lectern’s seemingly high cost. The lectern's purchase was uncovered by Matthew Campbell, a blogger and attorney who has sued Arkansas State Police and claimed the agency withheld documents about Sanders' security and travel.

Persons: Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Sanders, Sanders ’, ” Hickey, Donald Trump, Alexa Henning, ” Henning, Tom Mars, Hickey, Matthew Campbell, Campbell, Roger Norman, Jimmy Gazaway, “, ” Norman, Grant Hodges, Republican Sen, John Payton Organizations: —, Republican, Republican Party of Arkansas, GOP, Beckett, Arkansas State Police, Legislative Audit, ” Republican Locations: — Arkansas, Virginia

☆ Tesla whistleblowers filed a complaint to the SEC in 2021, but the agency never interviewed them. Here's what the complaint said
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +22 min

With a "goodwill" repair, Tesla essentially foots the bill for labor, parts or accessories given to keep a customer happy. "Were Tesla to accurately categorize its 'goodwill' repairs as warranty repairs, it would likely need to restate earnings for every quarter since at least 2017," the tipsters wrote in their submission. In one example, the tipsters said screenshots showed other Tesla employees changed the status of material used in manufacturing from "scrap" to "work in progress." In another example, the complaint said screenshots showed Tesla employees had manually changed the status of "used" cars to "new" in a program that tracked vehicle deliveries data. In correspondence to the agency expanding on their complaint, the whistleblowers alleged this raises questions about the firm's independence and objectivity in judging Tesla's financials.

Persons: Brandon Bell, Elon, Tesla's, Tesla, Musk, Ann Lipton, Lipton, Karen Nelson, Nelson, Nicholas Parks, it's, Oxley, restate financials Organizations: Getty, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, PricewaterhouseCoopers, CNBC . Agency staff, CNBC, Twitter, Tulane Law School, University of Chicago Law School, Securities, Sarbanes, Oxley, Texas Christian University, Public Company, Tesla, Parks, Nelson, Business, Exchange, Board, SpaceX, The Boring, California Alternative Energy, Transportation Financing Authority Locations: Austin , Texas, Tesla, California, U.S, Delaware

☆ KPMG hit with record fine for 'textbook failure' in Carillion audits
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said the number, range, and seriousness of the deficiencies in the audits of Carillion were exceptional, resulting in the watchdog's highest ever fine. On occasions, KPMG audit partner Peter Meehan told his team to record his review of working papers without having done a review, the FRC said. Meehan, no longer with KPMG, was fined 350,000 pounds after a discount to reflect his cooperation and admission of failures. It would have been 30 million pounds, but was discounted due to admissions and co-operation by the auditor. KPMG was fined 14.4 million pounds last year after providing false and misleading information to the FRC during spot checks on audits of Carillion and outsourcing firm Regenersis.

Persons: Reinhard Krause, Carillion, Richard Moriarty, Moriarty, Peter Meehan, Meehan, Jon Holt, Holt, Huw Jones, Sharon Singleton, Mark Potter Organizations: KPMG, Canary, REUTERS, BHS, Council, FRC, PwC, Deloitte, EY, Thomson Locations: London, Britain

☆ Worried AI will take your job? The history of Microsoft Excel should give you hope
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Matt Turner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Lots of people are worried AI is going to take a bunch of jobs. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs predicted AI would impact 300 million jobs worldwide, triggering "significant disruption" in the labor market. In a big research report published recently, Morgan Stanley compared the rise of AI with past periods of technological innovation. AdvertisementAdvertisementThat makes is absolutely key to help those who do face disruption develop new skills, something Morgan Stanley notes:

Persons: —, Goldman Sachs, Daron Acemoglu, they're, Morgan Stanley, Here's Morgan Stanley, It's Organizations: Service, IBM, Microsoft Excel

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