accounting news stories on Newser

Obama Just Legalized Fraud

Kevin Spak — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:12:46 CDT

Did you enjoy the dot-com bubble? Well, expect a replay on an even bigger scale, because last week President Obama signed a bill that, according to Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone , "will very nearly legalize fraud in the stock market." The JOBS Act is ostensibly designed to make it easier...

Whoops! Germany Finds $79B in Math Screwup

Kevin Spak — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:08:10 CDT

Good news/bad news time, Germany. The bad news: Your accountants might be incompetent. The good news: Hey, you’ve got $79 billion less debt than you thought! An accounting screwup at FMS Wertmanagement—the so-called “bad bank” set up to handle all the toxic assets from mortgage lender Hype Real Estate...

GE 2010 Profits: $14.2B GE Tax Bill: $0

Matt Cantor — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 10:36:05 CDT

General Electric is America’s biggest firm, but it’s not paying a dime in US taxes this year—instead, it has claimed a $3.2 billion tax benefit, the New York Times reports. Though it made a $14.2 billion profit in 2010, $5.1 billion of which was made here,...

Execs Busted for 'Office Babe' Email

Mary Papenfuss — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 05:46:46 CST

Accounting behemoth PricewaterhouseCoopers is roiling in controversy after a group of executives distributed a photo-heavy email ranking the top babelicious workers in the Dublin office. "We are taking this matter extremely seriously and are launching a full investigation," said a company spokesman of the email, distributed among 17 male workers....

Goldman Helped Greece Hide Catastrophic Debt

Rob Quinn — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:50:06 CST

Greece's budget problems were allowed to grow to their current monstrous size with the help of a Goldman Sachs deal worthy of an Oscar for creative accounting. Greek government officials—no strangers to number-juggling themselves—used the US bank to concoct a derivatives deal that allowed the country to circumvent...

Atlanta May Elect 1st White Mayor in 36 Years

Harry Kimball — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:43:44 CST

A simple focus on accounting is poised to radically—read: racially—change the politics of Atlanta . In a majority-black city that hasn’t had a white mayor in 36 years, a Caucasian city councilwoman from a tony neighborhood has a commanding lead in the polls. Mary Norwood has promised to clean...

Wall Street Cleverly Carves Up Bad Assets

Kevin Spak — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:31:47 CDT

Wall Street’s financial magicians have come up with a way to transform toxic assets into shiny new ones. In popular new deals called “re-remics,” a sour mortgage-backed security is split in two, one containing all the good mortgages, the other all the bad, the Wall Street Journal explains. The result:...

Accounting Firm Faces $2B in Lawsuits in Madoff Scam

Matt Cantor — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 08:04:15 CDT

The Canadian branch of the world’s largest accounting firm is facing seven lawsuits for up to $2 billion on behalf of investors who fell victim to Bernard Madoff, the Telegraph reports. PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada was the auditor of a feeder fund, Fairfield Sentry, that directed cash to the Ponzi schemer. PwC...

Ex-AIG Honcho Settles New SEC Case for $15M

Harry Kimball — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:14:02 CDT

The SEC today simultaneously announced a complaint against former AIG chief Hank Greenberg and the resolution of the matter—a $15 million payment to settle the suit, the New York Times reports. Greenberg and a former AIG CFO were accused of “numerous improper accounting transactions” between 2000 and 2005 that...