Audit & Accounting

As of this writing, bankruptcy reform legislation had passed the Senate and was expected to move quickly through the House and be signed by President Bush. The Bankruptcy Abuse and Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 may already be law as you read this column.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was supposed to help investors, not sink companies.

Washington - The Securities and Exchange Commission in early April named agency veteran Meyer Eisenberg to the post of acting director of the commission's Division of Investment Management.

Noting that the impact of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on companies, auditors and investors has been huge, one Big Four chief executive says that the changes "all are positive."

A committee established by the Securities and Exchange Commission to evaluate how the securities regulatory system affects smaller public companies is soliciting public comment on its proposed agenda.

The Financial Planning Association filed a petition in a District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals challenging a Securities and Exchange Commission rule exempting certain broker/dealers from the requirements of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

The Securities and Exchange Commission strongly objected to a statement by Big Four firm Deloitte & Touche regarding settlements the audit firm entered into with the commission to resolve charges related to two of Deloitte's former audit clients.

In an attempt to clear its ruined name, Arthur Andersen LLP made its plea to the Supreme Court Wednesday for a reversal of the firm's 2002 conviction for obstruction of justice in the Enron Corp. case.

KPMG's U.S. business has offered to publish annual accounts if lawmakers provide auditors with protection against potentially catastrophic negligence claims, according to a published report.

A district court judge here gave the okay to a settlement in which Arthur Andersen agreed to pay $65 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit brought by WorldCom investors who alleged that the audit firm failed to protect them by not uncovering the $11 billion fraud at the telecommunications company.