Audit & Accounting

New York-based public relations firm Burson-Marsteller released its 2005 reputation survey of, and found Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect, to be the world's most admired business leader.

On the heels of the $11.2 million audit scandal at the Roslyn, N.Y., school district that resulted in the convictions of the superintendent and several associates, New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi has singled out a number of school districts in Westchester and Rockland Counties for audits.

The Governmental Accounting Standard Board has published a Guide to Implementation of GASB Statement 44 on the Statistical Section.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have issued final regulations regarding Sections 401(k) and 401(m) related to designated Roth IRA contributions.

Larry E. Bergmann, senior associate director in the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Market Regulation, will retire from the regulator in January to join the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

In a report, Australia's auditor-general has criticized poor accounting methods in the country's Defense Department for making it impossible to vouch for more than $4 billion in financial statements.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has told a federal judge the Justice Department was too lenient in striking a plea deal with the former chief executive of Gemstar-TV Guide International.

NASD, the regulator for the brokerage industry, said that fines as a result of disciplinary actions it meted out have risen 21 percent, to $125.4 million versus the prior year.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed more than a dozen current and former Delphi executives to testify about improper accounting at the bankrupt auto supplier, according to published reports.

Boom may be too strong an adjective, if only because the continuing good fortune for the Big Four has been so steady in recent year-end results.