Pledging securities, when a beneficial owner pledges their company shares as collateral, poses significant risks to corporate governance and share price. This risk is heightened when securities related to a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) investment are pledged, due to … Continue reading
Author Archives: Nicole Hallas
Risk of Pledged Securities for Public Companies
Pledged securities – shares of a public company that are pledged by their owner as collateral – present a potentially serious risk to a company’s governance and share price. When a major owner of a company pledges their shares, it exposes the company … Continue reading
Remediating Internal Control Weaknesses During Pandemic
As 2020 comes to a close, many public companies are gearing up for fiscal year ends and preparing annual financial statements. Particularly important this year is determining how to disclose pertinent information about COVID-19 in annual reports. Given the widespread disruption on regular operations, a disclosure of … Continue reading
Auditor Changes Roundup: Q3 2020
Cohen & Company, Grant Thornton, and Marcum, each with a net of three new SEC audit clients, account for the most SEC audit clients gained among all firms in Q3 2020. As mentioned in Accounting Today, EY had the most … Continue reading
COVID-19 Lawsuits Continue to Pose Ongoing Risk
As the COVID-19 pandemic wears on and 2020 nears its end, one thing is abundantly clear: the vast, unprecedented impacts of the pandemic are going to be a part of the conversation moving forward. This conversation will be perpetuated by … Continue reading
COVID-19 Litigation Continues To Be Filed by Consumers and Employees
Since the start of the pandemic, Audit Analytics has identified over 120 instances of COVID-19 litigation. These include lawsuits that are filed directly referencing circumstances that would not otherwise exist outside of the coronavirus pandemic. There are a wide array … Continue reading
Change in Accounting Estimate Boosts Microsoft’s Q1 2021 Gross Margin
Tech giant Microsoft [Nasdaq: MSFT] announced its first quarter 2021 results on October 27, 2020. Growth in Microsoft’s gross margin and operating income was driven by a change in accounting estimate for the useful lives of server and network equipment. … Continue reading