Apple Inc. released its third Conflict Minerals Report yesterday, in which they disclosed reaching a significant milestone. 100% of their 242 identified smelters and refiners are now participating in “independent third party conflict mineral audit programs”. This shows rapid improvement over the … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: March 2016
Raising the Tone: Lessons from the Past
By now you’ve probably heard of the ongoing saga at Valeant (VRX). The beleaguered pharmaceutical company has seen its stock plummet, questions about its accounting practices, harsh criticisms about its business practices, and turmoil among management and the board. A recent … Continue reading
Conflict Minerals: Corp Fin Taking Notes?
Regulations on “Conflict Minerals”, and the section of the Dodd-Frank Act that gave rise to those rules, have seen a fair amount of controversy over the past two years. In a dramatic move, on August 18, 2015 the US Court of Appeals reaffirmed its … Continue reading
The Impact of M&A on PCAOB Firm Population
Since the PCAOB first started disclosing it, the total number of accounting firms registered with the regulator to perform audits for public companies has been a dynamic metric. For various reasons, the number of registered firms has waxed and waned. One clear … Continue reading
General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer Departures: A Five Year Review
Last year we published a detailed report on public-company CEO and CFO departures. In this post, we look into the departure statistics for another core member of the management team, namely the general counsel or chief legal officer. Although the disclosure requirements are not … Continue reading
The Misrepresentation of Earnings; by Dichev et al.
In a recent article in the Financial Analysts Journal, titled “The Misrepresentation of Earnings,” Ilia Dichev, John Graham, Campbell R. Harvey, and Shiva Rajgopal explore the defining characteristics of earnings quality and the misrepresentation of earnings. As part of their inquiry, … Continue reading
Auditor Changes Roundup: 2015 Annual Summary
For the third year running, BDO USA led the way in new SEC audit client wins among the major global and national firms. The Top 10 firm increased its net SEC client count by 17, gaining 42 and losing 25. That continues … Continue reading