Former KPMG audit chief receives prison sentence for 'steal-the-exam' role

A former 30-year KPMG executive was found guilty earlier this year of trying to give auditors a head's-up on which audits were to be reviewed by a federal regulator. 

By Robert Freedman • Sept. 12, 2019

Auditors' ears are always listening, consultant says

Risk management encompasses all aspects of an operation, from the tone coming out of the C-suite to what finance staff say to auditors at dinner.

By Robert Freedman • Sept. 11, 2019

SEC charges former CEO, CFO with fraudulent bond scheme

Executives inflated the value of bonds their lenders used to collateralize loans to the company. 

By Robert Freedman • Sept. 2, 2019

RSM US fined $950K for auditor independence violations

Affiliates of the accounting firm provided services to affiliates of companies it was auditing, the SEC said.

By Robert Freedman • Aug. 27, 2019

SAExploration names interim CFO amid SEC probe, restatement of financials

Restating past earnings, along with being costly to a company's bottom line, erodes customer loyalty, and an executive board's new leadership must show substantial, good-faith efforts to restore the trading public's trust.

By Jane Thier • Aug. 22, 2019

Kraft Heinz blasts commissioners' comments after $16M settlement

The CFTC alleged the company manipulated the wheat futures market, but the company filed a complaint after individual commissioners spoke about the case.

By Robert Freedman • Aug. 19, 2019

SEC charges former CFO of cash advance company with fraud

Alan Heide allegedly signed investors' monthly account statements despite knowing they overstated the company's value and falsely represented the financials. 

By Robert Freedman • Aug. 16, 2019

SEC easing public companies' business disclosures

Public companies have more flexibility in describing their business and the risks they face in proposed changes to SEC rules.

By Robert Freedman • Aug. 13, 2019

IRS aims to curb ID theft with truncated Social Security numbers on W-2s

Starting with returns filed after Dec. 31, 2020, executives can replace the first five digits of employees' Social Security numbers with Xs or asterisks.

By Robert Freedman • Aug. 7, 2019

$650 million Equifax settlement a wake-up call for CFOs, security expert says

CFOs are advised to devote the resources to put verification systems in place to avoid the kind of consumer data breach that hit Equifax.

By Jane Thier • Aug. 2, 2019

As simple as it sounds, just identifying your leases is the highest hurdle to new FASB standards

CFOs of private companies don't have much time to comply with new lease accounting standards even if FASB extends the start date a year, as it has proposed.

By Marc Betesh • Aug. 2, 2019

SEC hits Brixmor CFO, former REIT execs with $7M fraud fine

Executives improperly manipulated same-property NOI reporting, subjecting their company to the SEC fine.

By Robert Freedman • Aug. 2, 2019

FASB to delay lease accounting rules until 2021

New lease accounting standards won't go into effect until 2021 for private companies in a FASB proposal that's expected to be adopted soon. 

By Robert Freedman • Aug. 1, 2019

What Facebook's $5B FTC settlement means for Zuckerberg, third parties and corporate structure

The social network essentially had its data privacy standards set by "their most click-happy friend," said Gustav Eyler, director at the Department of Justice.

By Samantha Schwartz • July 25, 2019