In this week’s “Nailed It or Failed It?”, we reflect on the most troubling aspect of Wednesday’s giant Twitter hack while giving Wells Fargo a rare kudos for being good corporate citizens.
Europe
FRC closes accounting investigation into Mitie Group
The U.K. Financial Reporting Council announced the closure of its nearly three-year-long investigation into the financial statements of facility management firm Mitie Group for the year ended March 31, 2016.
Italian telecom fined $18.6M for violating GDPR data collection rules
Italian telecommunications operator Wind Tre S.p.A has been fined approximately €16.7 million (U.S. $18.6 million) for violating data collection provisions of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
Google fined $670K for violating GDPR’s ‘right to be forgotten’
Belgium’s Data Protection Authority fined Google Belgium €600,000 (U.S. $670,000) for refusing to delete search results linked to a Belgian public official, a provision of the GDPR know as the “right to be forgotten.”
SFO secures two Unaoil convictions, but judge critical of director
Following a four-year investigation, the U.K. Serious Fraud Office has secured convictions against two former Unaoil executives for bribes made to win oil services contracts in Iraq, although the presiding judge ordered a review into how SFO Director Lisa Osofsky led the case.
FRC audit inspections: Deloitte leads way as quality declines as a whole
The Financial Reporting Council published the results of its latest round of audit inspections, concluding one-third of the reviewed audits conducted by the seven largest U.K. firms required a notable level of improvement.
G4S reaches proposed deferred prosecution agreement with SFO
A U.K. subsidiary of G4S has reached a proposed deferred prosecution agreement with the Serious Fraud Office to resolve an investigation into fraudulent contract activity with the U.K. Ministry of Justice.
Grant Thornton UK fined $2.4M for ethical, independence failures
The U.K. Financial Reporting Council fined Grant Thornton £1.95 million (U.S. $2.4 million) for firmwide ethical and independence failures concerning an audit of alcohol retailer Conviviality Retail.
Will U.K. mandate that Big Four separate audit units make a difference?
The FRC hopes its demand that the Big Four isolate their audit units from their other businesses by 2024 will improve their ethical behavior … but some are skeptical.
Wirecard scandal will have cascading impact on Germany’s audit, regulatory landscape
Wirecard already is shaping up to be to Germany what Enron was to the United States: An accounting oversight failure so epic in its scope and scale that its aftermath is likely to forever alter the country’s auditing and accounting profession as it exists today.


