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ANR: Deloitte Dumps Hong Kong-listed Client; PwC’s ‘Botched Audit’ Down Under; CREW Wants ATR’s Tax Returns Scrutinized | 03.15.12

Deloitte Resigns as Boshiwa Auditor [DJ/WSJ]
On Thursday, Hong Kong-listed baby products maker Boshiwa fell more than 30% in morning trading after its auditor Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu resigned, according to a statement to the stock exchange. “In tendering its resignation, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has considered that there are certain information requested by them in relation to their audit (that) are outstanding or explanations provided by the company’s management (that) are not to their satisfaction, which preclude their completion of the audit,” according to the announcement.

Centro counsel critical of PwC over 'botched audit' [SMH]

Lawyers for the Centro property group have lambasted the work done by the property group's former auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, in 2007, telling the Federal Court it resulted in a ''botched audit'' that highlighted incompetence, carelessness and a lack of supervision inside PwC. The strong criticism during a class action case yesterday marks the first time Centro has attacked its former auditor for errors that resulted in misclassifications of billions of dollars of short-term debts and failures to disclose post-balance date items. ''No doubt PwC will try to put a benign spin on it,'' Centro Retail Trust's counsel, Peter Jopling, QC, told the court yesterday. ''This was a botched audit. PwC made some errors that in this case can only be described as extremely basic.''
 
New 2013 U.S. News Tax Rankings [TaxProf]
For anyone out there that can't get enough taxes (or lists), Paul Caron has the full ranking for law schools with the best tax programs.
 
Watchdog: IRS should probe tax returns of group led by Grover Norquist [The Hill]
Who's getting the stinkeye now?
 
Colleagues Who Can Make You Fat [WSJ]
Some 29% of people on diets say colleagues pressure them to eat more, make fun of their diets or order them restaurant food they know isn't on their diets, according to a recent survey of 325 dieters by Survey Sampling International for Medi-Weightloss Clinics, a Tampa, Fla., franchiser of physician-supervised weight-loss clinics. The approach can seem innocuous, but can result in weight gain over time. A colleague brings in home-baked cookies to celebrate a promotion, a birthday or to rally the team, and who wants to look like they don't appreciate the work of others if they decline?
 
CFOs Shout Down Idea of Mandatory Auditor Rotation [CFO]
Senior finance executives are loudly urging the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to abandon thoughts of requiring corporations to switch their accounting firms every few years. As of today, more than 625 comment letters have poured in since the PCAOB issued a concept release last August making the case for mandatory auditor rotation. That is an unusually high number of letters for a proposal related to auditing. About 24% of them are signed by CFOs, and many others are from chief accounting officers, controllers, and audit-committee chairs, who are pushing back against the concept.

 

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