Audit

An appeals court has overturned a $521.7 million jury verdict against BDO Seidman in a case brought by Portugal’s Banco Espirito Santo International.

Accounting Today has finalized the agenda for its upcoming Growth & Profitability Summit.

IMGCAP(1)]Currently, about 32 million Americans do not have health insurance.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, have introduced legislation to lower taxes for small and large businesses by allowing them to write off more of the cost of purchases, such as equipment and machinery, more quickly than they would otherwise be able to under current law.

The accounting industry ranks No. 1 in terms of net profit margin in a list of private industries compiled by Sageworks, a company that provides financial analysis tools and information for privately held companies.

The longer a company has been in compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, the higher the percentage of executives who say the benefits outweigh the costs, according to a new study released by global risk ad internal audit consulting firm Protiviti.

PUBLIC SECTOR STANDARDS BOARD PUBLISHES HANDBOOK

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The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has published new guidance about the recent requirement for accounting firms to file annual reports about their audit clients, fees, staff disciplinary histories and other information.

The U.K.’s Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board has begun an investigation into the conduct of Ernst & Young LLP as auditors to Lehman Brothers International Europe, including Lehman’s use of repurchase agreements.

McGladrey & Pullen mourned the death of retired partner Ray Krause, who spent about four decades with the firm.

.A new set of standards will allow accountants to explain exactly why their independence may have been impaired when performing compilation services for clients.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has surveyed a group of investors and analysts to gauge their attitudes toward the different approaches taken by the accounting standards boards to account for financial instruments, including loans.

Fitch Ratings has issued a report on the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s recently unveiled proposal requiring most financial instruments, including loans, to be measured on the balance sheet at fair value.

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With myriad issues ranging from green accounting,differential standards, technology advancements tax preparer registration, IFRSadoption and regulatory reform, the role of the CPA will be even more criticalgoing forward, according to American Institute of CPAs chairman Robert Harris.

CPA2Biz, the marketing arm of the American Institute ofCPAs, has added Web-based audit confirmation services provider CapitalConfirmation Inc. to its growing list of Trusted Business Advisor Solutions,which also includes Bill.com, Copanion, Intacct, Paychex, and XCM Solutions.