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Accounting News Roundup: KPMG Names Lynn Doughtie as Next CEO; A Halliburton Whistleblower’s Tale; When Partners Eat Alone | 04.21.15

KPMG Taps Veteran as First Female CEO [WSJ]
Lynn Doughtie will succeed John Veihmeyer in the U.S. Chairman and CEO roles on July 1. She has run the firm's advisory (aka consulting) business since 2011.

The whistleblower's tale: How an accountant took on Halliburton [Marketplace]
Tony Menendez was the Techncial Director of Accounting Research and Training and he received an email in 2006 that upended his career and life for close to a decade: "The email was sent by Mark McCollum, Halliburton’s chief accounting officer, and a top-ranking executive at Halliburton, where Menendez worked. It was addressed to much of the accounting department. 'The SEC has opened an inquiry into the allegations of Mr. Menendez,' it read. Everyone was to retain their documents until further notice.  Panic gripped Menendez. How could McCollum have learned he had been talking to the SEC? The substance of the email was true. After months of raising concerns inside the company, Menendez had filed a complaint with regulators and Halliburton’s audit committee that accused the giant oil services company of violating accounting rules. But those complaints were supposed to be kept strictly confidential. Did the agency violate that trust? Did a board member? Somebody had talked." 

Leader of SEC’s Accounting Fraud Task Force to Leave Agency [Bloomberg]
David Woodcock took the role just two years ago.

Art of Accounting: Wasted Lunch Hour [AT]
Guy shows up at an accounting office and sees partners eating alone. Freaks out: "They should have gone together to the sandwich/salad place where they bought their lunch and eaten there. Instead of the 22 minutes, they would have spent 40 to 45 minutes with the extra time talking about their practice. […] Going out to lunch would have been much more productive than the 20 minutes they think they saved by eating at their desks. Of course, they might not like each other, so they prefer to each alone, but then they are even more foolish because they used their personal feelings to trump working on their business."

HSBC sorry for sending web visitors to porn site [AFP]
A regrettable error.

Metallica's Kirk Hammett loses iPhone containing 250 new guitar riffs [Guardian]
Been there.