GUEST BLOG As the COVID-19 crisis unfurled, I was rapidly confronted by clients’ requests to rethink the scope and approach of our internal audit activities for the coming months—and beyond. Many questions had to be answered quickly: Which audits are still relevant? Which audits should we postpone? Which audits are […]
The Securities and Exchange Commission awarded a whistleblower “with compliance-related responsibilities” $450,000 for providing information that helped in a successful enforcement action. While the SEC didn’t name the whistleblower, the company involved, or provide his or her title—in keeping with its confidentiality protections—it did say in a statement that it […]
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it is extending the filing periods covered by its previously enacted conditional reporting relief for certain public company filing obligations under the federal securities laws, and that it is also extending regulatory relief previously provided to funds and investment advisers whose operations may […]
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against alcohol producer Diageo plc for failing to disclose its knowledge of high-pressure sales tactics to ship excess products to distributors to meet internal sales targets at its North American distributors. Diageo has agreed to pay $5 million to settle the enforcement action. […]
Under Armour, the sportswear brand that went from basement start-up to billions, confirmed that its accounting practices are under federal investigation, the latest in a series of blows for a brand that is already struggling to turn around its business. A spokesperson said Sunday that Under Armour has been cooperating […]
Toy company Mattel announced this week that has completed an independent investigation, led by its audit committee, into the allegations by a whistleblower of accounting improprieties and a lack of independence by the company’s external auditor. The investigation determined that income tax expense was understated by $109 million in the […]
Ever since Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002—a response to major accounting scandals at such companies as Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, Tyco, and others—internal auditors have been wringing their hands over their role in assuring compliance with the complex law. SOX, as it has come to be known, created radical […]
The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that Herbalife Nutrition—a direct selling company with operations in over 90 countries— has agreed to pay $20 million to settle charges that it made false and misleading statements about its China business model in numerous U.S. regulatory filings over a six-year period. According […]
The University of Texas School of Law is working to improve its financial oversight and controls after an internal audit found that an ex-facilities employee committed a nearly $1.6 million fraud. Former facilities director Jason Shoumaker was indicted last year on charges of theft, money laundering, and abusing his official […]
A new academic study is calling into question a rule enacted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board that requires audit firms to disclose the name of the lead engagement partner who oversaw the audit. The regulation is known as Rule 3211 and took effect in January 2017. The idea […]
