Audit & Accounting

Two former top Kmart executives face Securities and Exchange Commission charges for misleading investors about Kmart's financial condition in the months preceding the retailer claiming bankruptcy in January 2002.

British consulting group Lane Clark & Peacock said that the pension deficits for Britain's top 100 companies by market value totaled more than $66 billion as of July, and could affect the way businesses using the new International Financial Reporting Standards are run.

Grant Thornton LLP said that a Chicago judge has recommended that a case brought against the law firm regarding its bank auditing work be dismissed.

Although other states have reportedly considered the strategy, Mississippi is expected to be the first to file criminal charges against Big Four firm KPMG, in connection with benefit tax work the company performed for WorldCom.

The Canadian Public Accountability Board released a second report on its inspections of accounting firms, finding that accounting firms need to enhance existing auditing practices.

Reinsurer MBIA Inc. recently said that it had received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission that it may face civil charges over past reinsurance transactions.

KPMG's 404 Institute, an open forum for accounting professionals, has a two-part Webcast series in their archives for registered users on SOX compliance technology.

The IRS hasn't focused on S corporation audits in 21 years, and needs to update its data so that it can tweak its audit machinery to select audits more effectively. Therefore, they plan to select 5,000 S corporations for random audits under the National Research Program.

Advisors who are planning for the rest of 2005 face changes that could derail even the best-made investor plans. Calm waters in both equity and fixed-income markets could face hurricane gales in the face of terrorist attacks, a continued low-return environment and implosions in overvalued sectors. As future projections call for more of the same, advisors stay wary.

Back in the 1960s, Arlo Guthrie arrived on the scene with a song that lasted about 40 minutes if every part was performed. The enduring refrain is, "You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant."