NewsCloud.com Auditors News

Audit liabilty - the PwC case

A court case raises questions about the liability of auditors misleading investors

Limited liability for US auditors coming in?

US auditors are about to get limited liability. If they screw up, they can get off scot free

The audit cartel

Auditors are making huge money because there are only four firms that cotnrol the market. And they are abusing it.

Auditors, independence and distance

The likelihood of issuing a going concern report decreases as the distance between the auditors' office and the SEC office increases

Auditors and independence

Auditors take note: from now on, you will have to tell audit committees all about compromising links BEFORE you do any work for them

Accountants and fraud

What's wrong with this picture? Most CFOs and senior comptrollers think auditors are responsible for detecting any and all fraud. But most of them will admit they can intentionally misstate their financial accounts.

Auditors, litigation and caps

The prospect of litigation funders threaten to drive auditors out of business. But do auditors deserve liability caps?

Internal auditor stress

Internal audit teams are being stretched more than ever and they are having trouble finding the right people to fill the gaps, according to a new report.

Top trends for internal auditors

Globalization, changes in risk management, advances in technology, talent and organizational issues, and changing internal audit roles are ranked as the big issues that will reshape internal auditing over the next five years.

Auditors off the hook in the Parmalat case

Parmalat's auditors and bankers have been let off the hook when a judge dismissed lawsuits against them. Last month the same judge ruled that Citigroup, Bank of America, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Grant Thornton did not have to face charges because all of the alleged improper conduct took place outside of the US and were therefore not covered by US securities law.

Internal audit risk gaps

Auditors say they take risk seriously but serious gaps are emerging. Fewer are confident about their risk assessments in the areas of technology, fraud and strategy. And one in five says they don t do an annual risk assessment of their company. And that s despite Sarbanes-Oxley.

Fraud and delinquent communities

A new report shows that most fraudsters are not acting on their own. Usually it involves the CEO and CFO working together to cheat shareholders. The report also reveals that external auditors and directors might be in on it too.

Judges' low opinion of auditors

Here s a warning for auditors: researchers have found that judges now have a low opinion of them and they will no longer take the excuse that a bad set of accounts is management s responsibility. That means more auditors will be taken to court and put out of business.

Auditors and red flags

Auditors are supposed to watch out for the red flags when they combing through a company's books. There are 42 red flags but auditors don t rank all of them as dangerous. Some, like having a board and CEO pushing you to make the numbers, are more dangerous than others. Here s the list.

Liability caps ahead

Auditors are likely to get special protection. The European Commission has released a working paper with proposals to give auditors liability caps so that investoprs can t sue when they screw up accounts.