Audit

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is soliciting nominations and re-nominations to fill 14 slots on its Standing Advisory Group.

In response to the Financial Accounting Standards Board's recent proposal on the Hierarchy of GAAP, the American Institute of CPAs has issued an exposure draft introducing a proposed Statement on Auditing Standards that would apply only to nongovernmental entities.

In spite of President Bush's recent efforts to push his plan to overhaul Social Security, a majority of Americans surveyed disapprove of Bush's handling of the issue, according to a recent poll.

The Financial Planning Association, Moss Adams LLP and SEI Advisor Network are seeking financial planners to participate in their biennial compensation and staffing benchmark study.

TIAA-CREF's handling of an auditor independence issue that led to the resignations of two company trustees last December was "ultimately successful, although there were substantial missteps" along the way, according to a report released Thursday.

Reporting standards -- despite their complexity -- should be an exercise in honest communication, not merely an exercise in compliance, regulators and standard-setters told attendees at a financial reporting conference here.

Super-regional firm Plante & Moran has expanded its services and presence in the Chicagoland area with the addition of Wetmore & Associates, a boutique firm specializing in benefit plan audits.

The Securities and Exchange Commission this week filed fraud charges against Richmond, Va.-based paperboard and plastic packaging supplier Chesapeake Corp. and four of its former executives in connection with the company's 2000 restatements.

The Global Center for Leadership & Business Ethics has named two business executives and a scientist as the 2005 inaugural winners of its Laureate Award & Medal Series for their achievements in leadership, corporate governance and social responsibility.

The chief executives of the nation's fastest growing private companies have raised their sights for both revenue growth and new hiring over the next 12 months, but fewer are planning major new investments of capital, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has published an exposure draft to rank generally accepted accounting principles.

Driven in part by costs associated with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, Fortune 1000 firms have paid more than $3.6 billion for their 2004 audits, up from $2.2 billion in 2003, according to a report by accounting professors at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Shifts by the Internal Revenue Service from a focus on taxpayer service to enforcement, and of the management of the Business Systems Modernization program from contractors to staff entail risks, according to the Government Accountability Office.

As founding partner of Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP, Melvyn I. Weiss is generally considered one of the country's premier class-action litigators, particularly in the areas of accounting and securities fraud.

Washington - The cost of compliance with Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley should drop significantly for some companies, according to a report commissioned by the Big Four firms.

New York - Private securities class-action lawsuits spiked 16 percent from 2003 to 2004, with aggregate settlements topping $5 billion - the largest amount on record, according to a securities litigation study by Big Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

A majority of Californians believe that they can do a better job of investing a portion of their Social Security payments than the government can -- even though 80 percent admit that they have little or no investing experience, according to a recent poll.

Noting that the impact of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on companies, auditors and investors has been huge, one Big Four chief executive says that the changes "all are positive."

A committee established by the Securities and Exchange Commission to evaluate how the securities regulatory system affects smaller public companies is soliciting public comment on its proposed agenda.

The Financial Planning Association filed a petition in a District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals challenging a Securities and Exchange Commission rule exempting certain broker/dealers from the requirements of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.