Audit & Accounting

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged two accountants in connection with auditing the financial statements of bankrupt cable company Adelphia Communications Corp.

After agreeing to pay some $195 million in a settlement to roughly 280 investors in its tax shelters, Big Four firm KPMG is under fire again, this time from a critical inspection report from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which identified a number of deficiencies in some 18 of 76 audits that it examined.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board said that it would assemble an investor task force -- a group comprised of top-level asset managers who will help advise the standard-setter on accounting issues relevant to Wall Street.

Sparked by double-digit growth in every one of its geographic regions, as well as higher results from its assurance and advisory services practice, Big Four firm Ernst & Young posted a 16 percent rise in fiscal 2005 revenues, to $16.9 billion versus the year-ago figure.

William McDonough, chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, cautioned auditors not to expect lawmakers to cap liability claims until they have won back public confidence.

KPMG International has appointed company veteran Mike Wareing as global chief executive officer, effective Oct. 1.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, a unit of the International Federation of Accountants, has approved a revised standard that the governing body says will enhance audit quality via stricter requirements for documentation.

The European Parliament approved the controversial Eighth Directive, a sweeping reform measure that mandates new oversight rules for auditors.

In a ruling that may affect the future of state job creation strategies across the nation, the Supreme Court will rule on how states can use tax incentives to entice large concerns such as car companies to make capital investments.

Wolters Kluwer Corporate & Financial Services will provide the Internal Revenue Service with online access to capital gain and loss information on publicly traded securities.