Regulatory actions and programs

The Financial Accounting Standards Board said Thursday the the 2015 GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy is now available, although it is pending final acceptance by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has announced a settled disciplinary order against a partner of Grant Thornton Taiyo ASG LLC, Grant Thornton’s member firm in Japan, for his failure to properly address numerous risks of material misstatement of which he was aware in a 2010 audit of Baldwin-Japan Limited.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has imposed sanctions against Baker Tilly Hong Kong Limited and two of its accountants for failing to properly audit year-end financial statements of a company that the SEC has charged with fraud.

U.S. regulators and Chinese affiliates of the four largest accounting firms said they can probably reach an agreement within a few months to end a standoff over access to audit documents belonging to the firms’ clients.

After years of heralding China as one of its best markets, Wal-Mart in August said its performance there was among the worst in its major countries. A management shake-up and job cuts have followed.

The Securities and Exchange Commission sanctioned eight audit firms for violating auditor independence rules and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced settled disciplinary orders Monday against seven other audit firms for violating independence rules in audits of broker-dealers.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is finding that the push toward mandatory audit firm retendering and rotation is leading to lower audit fees in Europe, sparking audit quality concerns.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a Virginia Beach-based bank holding company and its former chief financial officer with violating the federal securities laws by improperly accounting for a deferred tax asset that was not fully realizable due to the company’s deteriorating loan portfolio and financial condition.

The Information Systems Audit and Control Association has released the third edition of its IT Control Objectives for Sarbanes-Oxley to help information technology professionals focus on performing an IT assessment for financial reporting controls in line with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

The Center for Audit Quality has published a member alert to help auditing firms address risks on audits on upcoming audits, highlighting some that officials with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board also pointed to during a conference Thursday.

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has launched a continuing education program as part of the state’s efforts to regulate tax preparers.

Accountants who have union clients sometimes receive nervous phone calls from their presidents about a letter they received from the U.S. Department of Labor.

The Center for Audit Quality and the American Institute of CPAs have jointly issued a new member alert reminding audit firms of the independence rules required by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is taking a fresh look at the question of allowing U.S. public companies to use International Financial Reporting Standards.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission have issued new guidance on so-called “pushdown accounting,” which occurs when an acquired organization uses the acquirer’s basis of accounting to prepare its financial statements.

Two top officials with the International Accounting Standards Board and its parent organization, the IFRS Foundation, gave speeches this week in which they expressed the hope that the Securities and Exchange Commission will ultimately sanction the use of International Financial Reporting Standards by U.S. companies.

Despite Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, audit committee influence over hiring the outside auditor and setting the audit fees remains more of a hope than a reality, according to a new study.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s new standard on auditing related party transactions and significant unusual transactions.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has sanctioned a Florida-based auditor for violating federal laws and regulations that require lead audit partners to periodically rotate off their audit engagements with a publicly traded company in order to preserve the integrity of the financial reporting process.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has released expanded versions of two of its inspections reports of KPMG LLP after the firm failed to address quality control issues to the board’s satisfaction.