Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson agreed to pay nearly $207 million following two breaches of its 2019 deferred prosecution agreement with U.S. authorities.
Accounting & Auditing
Greenbrier Companies fined by SEC over CEO perk disclosures
Greenbrier Companies and its former chief executive officer will pay a total of $1.1 million to settle charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission the firm failed to disclose perks related to the use of a private jet owned by the CEO.
Marcum partner accused of PCAOB standard violations at FTE Networks
Marcum partner Alan Markowitz was accused of violating standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board when he took a client’s false representations at face value during an audit without seeking more information.
Qualtrics discloses ICFR weakness in IT controls
Software company Qualtrics disclosed the discovery of a material weakness in its internal control over financial reporting for the 2022 fiscal year.
SEC fines SPAC $104K for control failures that enabled CFO embezzlement
African Gold Acquisition Corp. will pay a $103,591 fine for allegedly having flawed internal controls, reporting, and recordkeeping procedures that allowed its former chief financial officer to drain approximately $1.2 million from its bank account.
FRC probing PwC audits at collapsed property group Intu
The U.K. Financial Reporting Council launched an investigation into Big Four firm PwC’s audit work at collapsed real estate investment trust Intu Properties.
Roadrunner avoids $9.6M in penalties in SEC accounting fraud case
Roadrunner Transportation Systems avoided further penalties regarding allegations of accounting fraud after the Securities and Exchange Commission deemed a $20 million class-action settlement agreed to in 2019 returned any ill-gotten gains.
Gentex fined $4M for bonus compensation accounting lapses
Gentex Corp. agreed to pay $4 million as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding alleged failures in its internal accounting controls that affected executive and employee bonus compensation programs over several years.
Lee Enterprises flags ICFR weaknesses following internal review
Lee Enterprises, the media company that owns the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and 76 other newspapers nationwide, concluded its internal controls over financial reporting were not effective for the fiscal year ended Sept. 25, 2022.
Cybersecurity challenges: Defense and disclosure
Experts share perspectives regarding the criticality of cybersecurity risks, what the response of management and boards should be, and how proposed disclosure requirements need to be incorporated into cyber-related responsibilities.
