Audit

The U.K. Financial Reporting Council is investigating former employees of RSA Insurance Group Plc’s Irish unit regarding accounting irregularities in 2012.

Noble Group Ltd. appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP to review how it values some of its assets after criticism of the Asian trading company’s accounting practices.

The Trustees of the IFRS Foundation, the oversight body of the International Accounting Standards Board, are reassessing its structure and effectiveness.

New research indicates that many investors tend to overlook the vague misgivings that auditors might express in letters included with their audit reports, even though those warnings often turn out to be a predictor of future trouble with a company’s financial statements.

Accountants are getting ready to implement the new revenue recognition standard, even though a one-year delay on the date it takes effect seems all but certain.

The Institute of Internal Auditors has enhanced its International Professional Practices Framework, which has provided internal auditors worldwide professional guidance in various forms since 1947, in response to more recent risks, while also releasing a report on the current pulse of the internal audit profession.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has reappointed Public Company Accounting Oversight Board member Lewis H. Ferguson to a second term on the board.

Singer-songwriter Robyn Rihanna Fenty may be sending a chilling message to her former accountant in her new music video B*tch Better Have My Money. Rih-Rih kidnaped, tortured, and had a marijuana love fest with a high net-worth woman, who turns out to be the wife of Rihanna’s former accountant, aka “The B*tch.” …

The American Accounting Association has retracted 25 articles written or co-authored by a former accounting professor who was forced to resign after his university uncovered a “pattern of misconduct.”

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board has issued provisional standards for seven industries in the consumption area, including agricultural products; meat, poultry and dairy; processed foods; non-alcoholic beverages; alcoholic beverages; tobacco; and household and personal products.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted Wednesday to publish a concept release asking for public comments about the current audit committee disclosure requirements, focusing particularly on toughening the committee’s oversight of independent auditors.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has issued two exposure drafts for state and local governments proposing accounting and financial reporting guidance related to external investment pools and how certain component units should be presented in a governmental reporting entity’s financial statements.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Deloitte & Touche LLP with violating auditor independence rules when its consulting affiliate maintained a business relationship with a trustee serving on the boards and audit committees of three funds it audited.

Check out the digital edition of the July 2015 issue of Accounting Today.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board proposed Tuesday to require firms to file a new PCAOB form to make public the name of the audit engagement partner and information about certain other participants in the audit, and also issued a concept release on audit quality indicators.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has finalized a new standard that aims to simplify the structure of the hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for state and local governments.

Moving past simplification to ‘qualitification’

Preparing for the new revenue recognition standards

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has published two new standards aimed at improving the accounting and financial reporting by state and local governments for post-employment benefits other than pensions, primarily retiree health insurance.

XBRL US has joined up with five companies to improve the quality of financial filings in Extensible Business Reporting Language with the Securities and Exchange Commission.