Audit

Fifteen of the largest banks in the U.S. have written a letter to the chairmen of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board encouraging them to resolve their differences over the standards for credit losses in their financial instruments convergence project.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission issued its updated Internal Control–Integrated Framework (Framework) and related illustrative documents on Tuesday.

Compliance costs for Sarbanes-Oxley and external audit fees both increased last year, according to a new survey, but for most organizations the cost of SOX compliance remains at a manageable level.

The Center for Audit Quality has written to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to offer its perspectives on audit quality indicators in preparation for a meeting later this week of the PCAOB’s Standing Advisory Group.

The American Institute of CPAs has a number of high-profile items on the agenda for its Spring Meeting of Council next week, including re-evaluating its recognition of the International Accounting Standards Board as a standard-setter, changing the definition of attest services and globalizing more of its credentials.

The Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council, which advises the Financial Accounting Standards Board on its priorities and agenda, is asking for suggestions on what FASB’s future agenda should be.

Representatives of the International Accounting Standards Board and the Accounting Standards Board of Japan met Thursday and Friday in Tokyo to discuss their new relationship through the recently established Accounting Standards Advisory Forum as their one-to-one meetings come to an end.

Surveys, sponsorships and more…

The United Kingdom’s Financial Reporting Council said Thursday that it has open an investigation into whether KPMG’s audit firm in the U.K. was independent when it conducted audits of automobile dealer Pendragon PLC.

A new academic study funded by the Center for Audit Quality scrutinizes the role of the external auditor in fraudulent financial reporting and found that the top areas cited by the Securities and Exchange Commission were failure to gather sufficient competent audit evidence, failure to exercise due professional care, and insufficient level of professional skepticism.

The Private Company Council voted Tuesday to move forward with proposed alternatives within U.S. GAAP to improve financial reporting for private companies.

The U.S.-based Center for Audit Quality has teamed up with two organizations in Europe and Australia on a new report that highlights the similar issues facing audit committees around the world.

The City of Harrisburg, Pa., has settled securities fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the first-ever case in which the SEC has charged a municipality for misleading statements made outside of its securities disclosure documents.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has reproposed for public comment its related-parties auditing standard along with related amendments to other standards to address areas that have been contributing factors in financial reporting frauds.

The owner of a jewelry store who received confidential information from a former KPMG partner about audit clients has pleaded guilty to insider trading charges.

CFOs who are hiring accounting and finance staff are looking beyond accounting skills, according to a new survey.

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board member Jay Hanson spoke about some of the challenges faced by auditors and how the PCAOB is trying to address them.

Accounting conference season, charities and more…

The Securities and Exchange Commission is encouraging the Financial Accounting Standards Board to give accountants a long transition period to adjust to the upcoming revenue recognition standards.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has granted 45 more days to comment on the Nasdaq proposed internal audit function rule.