Audit & Accounting

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.

Media titan Barry Diller said lawmakers should revisit Sarbanes-Oxley, citing that the high cost of compliance is negatively impacting American businesses.

A bill creating a new regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and setting capital levels for the two home mortgage giants could be ready for a House vote by the end of the month.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board had a harsh critique for several Deloitte & Touche audits performed by the firm last year. The PCAOB's report echoed many of concerns the regulators expressed last week about audits performed during the same period by KPMG.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said the former KPMG accountant who oversaw audits of Xerox Corp. will pay a $100,000 fine to settle charges that he failed to disclose accounting violations that came to his attention.