Audit

Grant Thornton’s national managing partner of professional standards, John Archambault, has been appointed to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s Standing Advisory Group.

IMGCAP(1)]Opaque financial instruments that banks and insurance companies have created and misrepresented, and that were blamed for the current recession, seem to call for greater transparency. But what exactly is transparency? How is it done? Does it work?

A measure approved last week by the House Financial Services Committee to change Sarbanes-Oxley audit rules would lead to a higher incidence of fraud and an increase in the amount of fraud losses, said the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

A new audit practice alert from the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board aims to help auditors plan more effective use of external confirmations.

The American Institute of CPAs and Financial Executives International have written to Congress to express their objections to proposed legislation that would displace the SEC from its role of overseeing the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

The International Accounting Standards Board has proposed new standards for measuring the impairment of financial instruments and assets using amortized cost, taking a different tack than the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board.

A malpractice lawsuit against Deloitte that was filed by Holtsville, N.Y.-based Symbol Technologies can proceed, an appeals court in New York has ruled.

The House Financial Services Committee voted to exempt small and midsized public companies from Sarbanes-Oxley audit requirements.

The Center for Audit Quality and other influential organizations are asking leaders of the House Financial Services Committee to safeguard the role of the SEC in overseeing the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

The International Accounting Standards Board has issued a revised version of its standard for related-party transactions, simplifying the disclosure requirements and clarifying the definition of a related party.

Financial planning trade groups have written a letter to congressional leaders protesting an amendment that would extend the regulatory authority of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to cover investment advisers who are associated with broker-dealers under FINRA authority.

The International Federation of Accountants has released a new online chart showing the growing adoption of International Standards on Auditing.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has received mostly negative comments on a recent proposal to require engagement partners with final responsibility for an audit to sign the audit report, and it may end up abandoning the idea.

The Federal Trade Commission has once again extended the deadline for enforcing the so-called “Red Flags Rule” that requires financial institutions and creditors to develop identity theft prevention programs.

On Jan. 22, 1996, Accounting Today published the first version of The Spirit of Accounting, titled "Self-regulation: Oxymoronic or just plain moronic?"

With over $3 trillion in cash values, life insurance ranks second only to the mutual fund industry in magnitude. And though its use has expanded dramatically, particularly in sophisticated planning scenarios, it is rarely evaluated once put into place. Most people consider it a "static asset" that requires little maintenance. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Washington, D.C.-The Pentagon's Defense Contract Audit Agency - the federal watchdog responsible for providing critical accounting and auditing oversight of military contractors - is riddled with audit quality problems that include serious breaches of auditor independence, congressional investigators charged.

PCAOB SEES ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT IN AS5 AUDITS

Along with preventive elements such as codes of conduct, hotlines, and whistleblower mechanisms, continuous auditing and continuous monitoring can be a key component of an effective fraud risk management process. In addition, CA/CM shifts management's and internal audit's focus and review from a traditional retrospective/detective approach to a proactive/preventive stance.