Audit

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced a four-point plan to improve auditors' implementation of the internal control reporting provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Thomas J. Linsmeier, the chairman of the accounting department at Michigan State University, was named a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board this week.

I have dealt with many tax acts in the 30-plus years that I have been in professional publishing. When I worked at a tax publisher, I know tax legislation meant an awful lot of work. In one way or another, I would be involved in assembling the Code-as-amended, analyzing the effective dates, excerpting legislative committee reports, and writing or reviewing analyses. Besides the work, the legislation would almost always seemed to come down at a bad time, usually at the end of the year as Congress was about to adjourn. It was a real pain.

The American Cancer Society has awarded KPMG LLP with the inaugural Eugene D. O'Kelly Award, named after the firm's former chairman who passed away in September 2005, only months after being diagnosed with brain cancer.

Ernst & Young Global has withdrawn a report it issued in early May, saying that its dollar estimate of the bad loans held by China's major state-sponsored banks was "factually erroneous."

Securities and Exchange commissioner Cynthia Glassman announced that she will not seek reappointment to the five-member panel when her term expires this summer.

CAL-BAY DISMISSES ARGY & CO.: Tustin, Calif.-based Cal-Bay International Inc. said that it dismissed its auditor, Argy & Co., and has named Lawrence Scharfman & Co. as its new independent accountant.The operator of environmental service units that sell and distribute environment and process control products in California, Nevada and Hawaii said that Argy & Co. had expressed doubts about the company's ability to continue as a going concern in its reports for the years ended Dec. 31, 2003, and Dec. 31, 2004.

The Institute of Internal Auditors has formally recommended that the requirement for an external auditor to attest to a company's internal controls be removed under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

A growing number of Americans recognize that they're not saving as much as they should for retirement, a shift in attitudes that experts hope will lead to improved saving practices in the future.

An independent report, backed by data from Big Four clients, shows that corporate auditing costs for Sarbanes-Oxley 404 compliance dropped significantly in 2005.

As of late December, the Public Company Accoun- ting Oversight Board had published on its Web site the results of some 173 inspections of audit firms.The purpose of this article is to attempt to identify the more prevalent audit performance deficiencies cited in the inspection reports.

PricewaterhouseCoopers announced that it will create a new audit firm in Japan after an alliance with a partner was ordered to halt auditing services for two months.

Raymond James Financial Inc. announced an initiative that would require the restructuring of variable annuities offered through financial advisors at the firm's broker/dealer subsidiaries, Raymond James Financial Services and Raymond James & Associates.

Excess inventory retailer Overstock.com Inc. announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission has issued the company a subpoena requesting information on accounting policies, targets and projections.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued an updated and expanded revision of a revenue procedure governing its popular voluntary correction program for employee retirement plans -- the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System.

Responding to continuing complaints from corporate America about the excessive cost of complying with Sarbanes-Oxley Act internal control audit reporting requirements, top officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board told accountants and private sector financial execs that relief is on the way.

Morgan Stanley & Co. will pay $15 million to settle a civil lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC said that the company failed to produce tens of thousands of e-mails it requested as part of a probe.

Citing the disproportionate costs of Sarbanes-Oxley on small filers, GOP Senators Olympia Snowe of Maine and Mike Enzi of Wyoming are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt "clear and practical" rules for small businesses with regards to SOX compliance.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is soliciting nominations for members of its Standing Advisory Group.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced that its next round of inspections would focus on the costs of internal control audits mandated under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.