haha, you mean sort of like not having all the power concentrated between just 4 big banks?
AUD - 81, BEC - 74, 80, FAR - 82, REG - 81
Done!
Done!
CPA Exam Review Forum » General CPA Exam Forum » Ethics Exam, CPA Certificates, Work Experience & Licensure
-
NY GT girl
offlineMemberWell there is a HUGE difference between only having four big banks since the others don't have enough assets and are insolvent and losing an accounting firm over problems every firm has experienced. KPMG wouldn't be around if the SEC and other regulatory bodies weren't concerned with the concentration of power between just 3 big accounting firms. They have been in between a rock and a hard place more than once over the past few years.
NY Candidate using Becker: FAR (2/20) - 81, AUD (4/3) - 92, REG (5/3) - 95, BEC (5/29) - 89 DONE!!!Posted 2 years ago # -
financeguy
offlineMemberYou might want to do a bit of research on the banks. There are thousands of smaller banks in this country that are much more capitalized than C, BAC, WFC, and JPM. If FASB had not changed the mark to market rules last summer, these 4 banks would most likely be insolvent.
My point is, the SEC is not the grand daddy watchdog that you think it is. Lehman going down is so much bigger than Enron. There are going to be so many lawsuits. Someone is going to have to take the fault. The big bankers run this country...E&Y will go down before any big bankers do. Besides, Geithner was involved w/ the whole Lehman fiasco...he won't let his banking buddies get taken down.
KMPG surely has committed its faults, but has not been involved in anything on this scale.
AUD - 81, BEC - 74, 80, FAR - 82, REG - 81
Done!Posted 2 years ago # -
NY GT girl
offlineMemberI do think EY will end up being the one taking the blame and being sued thanks to everything with Lehman, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will go under. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
NY Candidate using Becker: FAR (2/20) - 81, AUD (4/3) - 92, REG (5/3) - 95, BEC (5/29) - 89 DONE!!!Posted 2 years ago # -
financeguy
offlineMemberWell, that depends where you go for your news. The mainstream media is controlled. GE owns CNBC, Dow Jones owns Fox, etc. The media only wants to paint a picture of things are doing good. They want people to spend money.
If you read financial blogs, here are a few really good ones:
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/
http://www.zerohedge.com/
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/They update daily. You will get a ton of info and facts that you will never hear in the MSM anymore. They will be all over anything and everything that comes out of this whole scandal.
AUD - 81, BEC - 74, 80, FAR - 82, REG - 81
Done!Posted 2 years ago # -
Having lived through the KPMG settlement with the DOJ and the aftermath, I really feel for anyone currently employed with E&Y. Also both of the KPMG offices that I worked in had many of the leftover AA people from the Enron fiasco. There is nothing fun about what the E&Y folks are going through right now. I mean really what did the tax staff at AA in Boise, or Salt Lake City, or Denver, or Seattle have to do with the Enron Audit???? But they still had to deal with potential job loss and office takeover, I know some who lost their jobs in the office takeovers. This is a terrible situation for many, many people who had absolutely nothing to do with the E&Y audit of Lehman Bros.
Most recent scores
BEC-80, FAR-79
REG-73 - 2/19/2011
AUD-74 - April 2011Posted 2 years ago # -
Trouble
offlineMemberFor those who posted wondering why it has been in the news so much lately (rather then when Lehman collapsed over a year ago) is because only recently has the court appointment attorney for Lehman released his 2,200 page detail of why Lehman collapsed and he points fingers at E&Y.
Posted 2 years ago # -
financeguy
offlineMemberhttp://www.zerohedge.com/article/its-ey-fires-back-says-it-was-all-lehman-managements-fault
here is an update for those interested.
AUD - 81, BEC - 74, 80, FAR - 82, REG - 81
Done!Posted 2 years ago # -
NY GT girl
offlineMemberI am a grad student at the University of Texas at Austin and the CEO of EY, Jim Turley, gave a talk at UT on Monday. He specifically addressed Lehman. I thought I would share a bit of what he said.
He stated that much of what has been in the media over the last few weeks has been inaccurate. He said that the whistleblower letter did not address the Repo 105 transaction and that EY did investigate the letter. He also explained that Lehman appropriately accounted for the Repo 105 transactions, which are very common in banking. Turley also mentioned that the Lehman investigator questioned the nature of Repo 105 accounting, not Lehman's application of it.
I felt confident that he was being honest with us. I have no reason to believe that he wouldn't be. I am going to work for EY and was really concerned about the implications of Lehman on my career and even having a job come the fall. After hearing Turley speak, I feel very confident in EY and I am very excited to go work for them.
That is just my two cents, but I thought yall might be interested.
NY Candidate using Becker: FAR (2/20) - 81, AUD (4/3) - 92, REG (5/3) - 95, BEC (5/29) - 89 DONE!!!Posted 2 years ago # -
Atrus
offlineMemberI love how "unbiased" that blog is yet in the first article, the investigator's opinion is gospel, but EY's rebuttal it's "fluff".
The investigator is basically functioning as an attorney - he's going to name anyone and everyone who had any view of the things going on. It doesn't mean that any one of the named parties is guilty - it means that it's up to the system to figure that out.
I urge everyone to read the facts and not just the blogger's skewed opinion. Hey, maybe EY was totally at fault and will be found guilty and I'll be unemployed. It'd be a sad day, and it may happen. On the flip side, EY may be able to show everything that was done was completed with integrity, within the bounds of the law and US GAAP.
Innocent until proven guilty, right? I don't think the blogger is really the one to make the call.
FAR - 75 (8/24/09), REG - 76 (11/16/09), AUD - 78 (1/11/2010), BEC - 76 (2/22/2010)
I'm D O N E!!!!Posted 2 years ago # -
financeguy
offlineMemberWell, here are my thoughts:
Why did nobody even know what a Repo 105 was until just a couple of weeks ago when the bankruptcy examination report came out? If there is nothing wrong w/ that accounting practice, then why isn't it more widely used, and why doesn't everyone know about it?
Arguably the biggest financial collapse in the history of the world was caused in part by Repo 105. The same collapse that "could lead to tanks in the street and total chaos" had a financial bailout not come through. Nothing wrong w/ Repo 105 though huh?
Please understand how self interest and emotions cloud rationality and logic.
On another note - Even if E&Y really did nothing wrong, don't you understand in the whole grand scheme of this thing, that doesn't matter? E&Y will still be the fall guy before any powerful financial elite. The fox gaurds the henhouse in this country.
Also, could you provide a link to just the facts? That blog posts as much as the facts as you can get as they are straight out of the examination report and actual statements made by people involved. If you can find something more factual than this, I would be very interested in reading it.
AUD - 81, BEC - 74, 80, FAR - 82, REG - 81
Done!Posted 2 years ago # -
Atrus
offlineMemberMy point is there are facts quoted, however, the examiner's statements are fully supported as "the truth" and any fact mentioned by EY is "fluff".
As I mentioned, REPO 105, from what I have read, is a joke. Regardless, it's an acceptable GAAP practice. Let's make a comparison - 70mph on certain stretches of freeway may be completely reckless to some. If you are doing 70mph (regardless of whether you think it's reckless or not), should you be penalized for it? I think the answer is no. You're within the guidelines of what the powers that be deemed "appropriate".
I realize that EY will most likely be harmed with this whether they (we) were at fault or not. That's the real world. I guess I am just a little optimistic that actual accountants who should be able to read between the lines are coming up with their own conclusions rather than paying attention to a blogger's opinion(s).
Read the facts and statements, and if you still feel that EY was in the wrong, and enough to be punished for it, then declare it on the streets for all I care - you're an informed person with an actual valid viewpoint. I just think "Oh, it's like Enron" comments are completely ludacris as it's really nothing like Enron. I am sure there are things, in retrospect, that could have been handled better by EY.
I'm also not forming an opinion and saying that EY was without a doubt free from error in this. I'd like them to be, but realize it's probably a grey area. I'm just not liking how people assume it's all said and done, EY is guilty, and it'll be the big 3 firm soon enough.
And, for the record financeguy - Seems you have been reading and are informed. I'm not trying to imply that you aren't. Truthfully you've probably read more on it than I have. If your stance is that EY was at fault, more power to you, I am sure you can argue why you feel this way. Some of the other comments here, and that I have read and heard elsewhere, hold no water in my eyes.
FAR - 75 (8/24/09), REG - 76 (11/16/09), AUD - 78 (1/11/2010), BEC - 76 (2/22/2010)
I'm D O N E!!!!Posted 2 years ago # -
financeguy
offlineMemberI say people at E&Y are at fault, as are people at Lehman, as is Timothy Geithner, as is Ben Bernanke, etc. There is plenty of fault here. Too be honest, E&Y is probably least at fault, but the reality is that doesn't matter - they will take the biggest fault because they hold the least power. I do believe some people at E&Y need to be punished, along w/ many other people. 99% of E&Y employees had absolutely nothing to do w/ this, and most of them are probably good people.
My purpose of creating this topic and giving the links to the blog is to open up people's eyes to the corruption in this country, especially the financial system and the government. Questioning the blog is great. I wish more people would question things rather than just take what is spoon fed to them. This situation very much concerns all of us cpa's and soon to be cpa's, along with every citizen of this country. I just think it is sad how the masses of this society are walking zombies that don't seem to care about anything other than American Idol, xbox, mcdonalds, and what Kim Kardashian is doing.
I have gone to meetings full of cpa's and try to talk to them about current events going on and so many of them just have no clue. The people of this country need to wake up.
AUD - 81, BEC - 74, 80, FAR - 82, REG - 81
Done!Posted 2 years ago #
Reply »
You must log in to post.