Audit & Accounting

The Securities and Exchange Commission's Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies has announced plans for a two-day meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 24 and 25.

The government added 10 defendants to its indictment in the KPMG LLP tax shelter investigation, including the Big Four accounting firm's former chief financial officer, bringing the number of people charged in the case to 19.

The Social Security Administration recently announced the highest cost-of-living increase since 1991, setting the adjustment at 4.1 percent for more than 52 million retired and disabled recipients.

PricewaterhouseCoopers announced that Samuel A. DiPiazza, Jr. has been reappointed to a second four-year term as chief executive of PricewaterhouseCoopers' global organization. His new term will begin Jan. 1.

After trade groups went public with auditor guidance outlined by the American Institute of CPAs in a draft white paper, a number of groups on Wall Street have turned to the federal government with their own concerns.

The Japanese Institute of CPAs said that the nearly 400 accountants belonging to Japan's four largest auditing firms have worked with the same clients for more than seven years.

The Internal Revenue Service could revoke the tax-exempt status of about 20 credit-counseling firms, just as the country's new bankruptcy laws are set to go into effect on Oct. 17.

The independence of auditors was the focus of an international forum hosted by the Ethics Committee of the International Federation of Accountants in Brussels on Oct. 11

The Supreme Court voted to let stand a ruling against two former executives of Gemstar-TV Guide International, supporting the ability of the Securities and Exchange Commission to freeze payments to executives under federal accounting fraud law.

Refco Inc., the futures broker that removed chairman and chief executive Phillip R. Bennett this week after discovering that a company he controlled owed Refco $430 million, is the target of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, according to published reports.