The Observer has noted today that:
Northern Rock’s accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers is facing accusations of a damaging conflict of interest after it emerged that it earned bigger fees for helping the crisis-hit lender to sell on its loans, and borrow funds in the wholesale markets, than for auditing the business.
The bank’s annual report reveals that PwC was [...]
Mark Vyner is a man who has followed his convictions. He was a partner in Grant Thornton until he got pretty uncomfortable with that required of him (as he explains here). Now he works for Christian Aid.
I liked his recent blog on a charity cycle ride he did form London to Paris. As he notes:
One [...]
Question: What’s £757,000?
Answer: The average earnings of a partner in PWC in the UK last year.
Justification: There isn’t one.
Why?: They take no risk. PWC cannot fail. It’s the biggest firm of accountants in the world. The collective governments of the world cannot see it disappear; ergo, there is no downside risk. In that case their [...]
I’m bored by the argument created by PWC and rolled out on BBC news last night by the CBI and even by HMRC that if a company pays national insurance because it employs people in the UK it’s OK for it not to pay corporation on the profits those employees then generate for it in [...]
PWC have noted that:
Two new Statutory Instruments provide a formal exemption for medical check ups or vouchers used to pay for them - but only where they are provided to all staff or focused on those who have been identified as at special risk for some reason. This is a significant change in practice.
New regulations [...]
The PWC web site (which is well protected by passwords - heaven knows why) has the follwoing to say this week on action needed on the UK tax amnesty:
The period allowed to notify the intention to disclose information on offshore bank accounts under the Offshore Disclosure Facility (ODF) ended on 22 June 2007 with a [...]
The FT has reported a survey by Accountancy magazine that shows the proportion of women at the “Big Four” accountancy firms who were made partners this year dropped by a third from 2006 in spite of efforts to attract and retain women in senior roles.
Analysis by Accountancy magazine to be published this week shows that [...]
Nigel Harris at AccountingWEB makes the interesting observation that E&Y, PWC and KPMG are all claiming to be the biggest audit firm in the UK.
To their credit Deloittes settle for the number 2 slot, by their own admission. In fairness, that pretty much matches what I’m gathering of Deloittes right now.
As for the others, as [...]
I am not a great fan of PWC’s Total Tax Contribution. But credit should be given where it is due. The latest incarnation includes recommendation that:
Tax numbers and performance should include:- a clear explanation as to why the current tax charge is not equivalent to the statutory rate of corporate income tax;- a transparent reconciliation [...]
Accountancy Age says:
PricewaterhouseCoopers, auditor of Yukos, has withdrawn ten year’s worth of audit opinions at the collapsed Russian oil group, after it became aware of new information which it said had not been known at the time of the audits.
The firm withdrew ten years of audit reports for the period 1994 to 2004 saying representations [...]
