Tammy Whitehouse

The month of May came and went without the Securities and Exchange Commission’s issuance of its long-anticipated study on off-balance sheet accounting. The newest projection for its release is June, according to a speech given by SEC Chief Accountant Donald Nicolaisen at the SEC Financial Reporting Institute Conference in Pasadena, Calif., last week. Nicolaisen The […]

A recent analysis of control deficiencies disclosed in 2004—predating disclosures mandated by Sarbanes-Oxley—indicates companies probably are understating deficiencies in audit committee effectiveness and information technology controls. The study reviewed and analyzed control deficiency disclosures by a sample of 329 companies in their filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission over a 12-month period. It found […]

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board delivered its first enforcement blow to a small New York firm that apparently violated auditor independence rules, then tried to conceal the fact from Board inspectors. The Board deregistered Goldstein and Morris CPAs and barred managing partner Edward Morris from associating with a PCAOB-registered firm. The Board also censured […]

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is working to develop a new audit standard that would focus exclusively on how auditors can communicate with their clients. That’s according to PCAOB Chairman William McDonough, who provided some details in a speech last week in Atlanta. McDonough According to McDonough, the staff of the PCAOB “is evaluating […]

Unusual increases in hourly rates for audit services contributed at least in part to increased audit costs that public companies experienced in their first year of compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley internal controls reporting. Quigley That’s according to James Quigley, CEO of Deloitte & Touche USA, who said in an exclusive interview with Compliance Week that audit […]

In the modern Sarbanes-Oxley environment, smaller companies that can’t stomach the onslaught of accounting and securities requirements should abandon their listings and turn to surging private equity sources, says James Quigley, CEO of Deloitte & Touche USA. “There’s a lot of concern for smaller public companies, but doing business in the capital markets is a […]

Experts differ on whether Cisco Systems is on the right track with its recent trial balloon at the Securities and Exchange Commission—another new method of valuing stock options that is intended to create an otherwise elusive market value. Cisco reportedly is meeting with SEC officials to determine whether it can offer a new type of […]

Chief executive officers will be required to certify corporate tax returns if a highway bill containing the certification provision as a rider survives the legislative process. The Senate Finance Committee has approved a highway funding bill that contains a rider requiring CEOs to certify under penalty of perjury that they have policies and procedures in […]

In the next three weeks, the Securities and Exchange Commission will release its long-anticipated study on off-balance-sheet accounting, and may in the next week issue promised guidance on internal control reporting, according to separate remarks by top SEC officials. Nicolaisen Speaking at a recent meeting of the American Academy of Actuaries, SEC Chief Accountant Donald […]