The Wall St. Journal reports that a judge has tossed a case brought by freaky-ass, longlife milk company Parmalat against Grant Thornton and Bank of America.
Parmalat filed for bankruptcy back when everyone thought invading Iraq was a good idea so this thing has been dragging.
This is another major lawsuit that G to the T has managed to avoid, along with the dismissal of the Refco suit last month.
GT seems to be quite the bullet dodger and can probably breathe easy. For now, anyway.
Judges Tosses Parmalat Lawsuits [WSJ]
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Moss Adams Values ‘A Balanced Life’ over ‘Accountability’
It’s pretty much a given that all “serious” accounting firms have “values” that they pitch to their rank and file and other interested parties.
Rumor has it that Moss Adams has recently changed the ‘A’ in their PILLAR of values from “Accountability” to “A Balanced Life”. This may or may not be a completely arbitrary change but it does put the firm out there as a work/life horn-blower.
While we applaud the attempt of accounting firms to provide a balanced life, it is certainly a debatable reality. Besides, shouldn’t a public accounting firm be accountable before it provides a balanced life? Many will make the argument that if you don’t want to work overtime for very little gratitude you should GTFO of public accounting. Can’t say we disagree.
While the thought of accounting firms having actual values is nice, sometimes brutal honesty would be really refreshing. One would think that smaller firms would have the luxury of leveling with their employees about what the culture is like.
However, judging by the switcheroo by MA, they like to do the work/life song and dance just like the big boys.
If anyone from the Moss Adams family would care to chime in on the latest switch in values, please do so. Also, for those of you at the other smaller-ish firms, let us know about your firm’s open commitment to balanced life (or lack thereof). If you work at a big firm, just complain away about your work/life balance.
Charlie Rangel Needs Your Help
For those of you that don’t concern yourselves with civics nonetoomuch, Chuck is the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. Ways and Means writes the tax laws for this fair land of ours. Get it?
Anyhoo, Rangs has a bit of a problem. People are shouting from the rooftops that this guy has to go. Why? A small matter of forgetting to list some assets on his disclosure forms.
Minor omissions, after the jump
Web CPA:
…in the Washington Post today decrying some of the newest revelations from last week, including a Merrill Lynch account valued between $250,000 and $500,000, tens of thousands in municipal bonds, and between $30,000 and $100,000 in rent from a Harlem brownstone that he owns, all of which he failed to list on his congressional disclosure forms from 2002 to 2006.
And if you remember:
This comes on top of the news last year about the four rent-stabilized apartments he rented at below-market rents, his use of government stationery to raise money for a pet project, his failure to report income from his sale of a Florida condo, and his failure to pay taxes on rental income from another home in the Dominican Republic.
According to the WaPo piece, Rangs’s net worth doubled-ish, “from between $516,015 and $1,316,000 to between $1,028,024 and $2,495,000”.
Yeah, so, that’s kind of a big change. We’re thinking that Chuck is way too busy being a tax wonk to track all this stuff. Or maybe he’s just too tired. Either way, it’s way easier to forget about four rent-controlled apartments than you think.
Rangel Under Pressure to Step Down [Web CPA Debits & Credits]
Moody’s Calls Out the USD Haters
Russia and China can suck it re: the U.S. Dollar, according to Moody’s, “In the absence of a credible alternative it’s hard to see abrupt changes and that’s not even in the interest of the creditors,” Pierre Cailleteau, managing director of sovereign risk at Moody’s, said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday. The credit rating “remains solid,” he said earlier at a briefing.”
Do you like apples?
Moody’s Says World Has ‘No Credible Alternative’ to U.S. Dollar [Bloomberg]