CEO Quits Effective Immediately

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, IFRS, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

In a surprise move, Citigroup announced on Tuesday that Vikram S. Pandit, the bank’s chief executive, had resigned, effective immediately. While his unexpectedly fast departure has raised many questions, critics said there were many signs that the end was near for Pandit. Questions: 1. How long had Mr. Pandit been chief executive of Citigroup? 2…. Read more »

Interesting ACLU case

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The ACLU is filing suit against Morgan Stanley, alleging that the company targeted African American borrowers in risky loan offerings. The ACLU claims that Morgan Stanley is culpable for predatory loan offered through the New Century Financial Corporation, who is a now-defunct subprime lender, because Morgan Stanley pressured New Century to make these troublesome loans… Read more »

The Cost Disease

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Much of our political debate is fueled by the rise in the cost of healthcare, education, and other necessary services. Interestingly, the new book “The Cost Disease” is based on the work of William Baumol, who as a young economist in the 1960s promoted the idea tagged “Baumol’s Disease,” which explains that our current predicament… Read more »

An Ugly Tale: Double-Life and Secret Fortune

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CFO John Franklin Howard, the trusted CFO and CPA for Raley Holdings, Inc., a defense contractor based in Grapevine, Texas, now has more than just $32 million to account for from his embezzlement; he is also facing solicitation of murder charges. Interestingly, he used some of the embezzled money to pay someone to murder his… Read more »

When Will Apple Hit the Trillion Dollar Mark?

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When will Apple become the first company ever to be valued at $1 trillion? This new guessing game is the focus of the article by Nick Bilton. Questions: 1. Explain the $1 trillion in accounting terms (or the accounting equation). What is/are the product(s) that got the company to this point? Research these products and… Read more »

How to Earn $46,000 for Each Day Spent in Prison

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Bradley Birkenfeld, the whistleblower in a tax fraud case against Swiss bank UBS AG, was awarded a record-setting $104 million reward from the IRS. Birkenfeld learned about the inner workings of UBS as an employee of the company and supplied many secrets about his former employer’s dealings with U.S. clients. Despite this, he was jailed… Read more »

Debt for Life?

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Here are the facts. Four-year college graduates’ pay advantage over high school grads has doubled over the past 30 years. However, in 2010, student debt exceeded credit-card debt for the first time and in 2011, it surpassed auto loans. In March 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that student debt had passed $1 trillion… Read more »

Money Market Funds: A Safe Bet?

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Should we risk another 2008 financial meltdown? The answer is no. However, late last month the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) abandoned efforts to impose new regulations on money market funds intended to prevent another panic like the one that occurred then. Because money market funds are typically invested in short-term, low-risk assets (like United… Read more »

The Business Model of Overstating Benefits: How Harmful or Ethical?

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It is estimated that between 50,000 to 100,000 patients died or had a heart attack as a result of taking the drug Advandia. For seven years, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) failed to report data that indicated Advandia increases the risk of heart attack by 40%. As we reported back in July, in the biggest health care fraud… Read more »

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

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Procter and Gamble (P&G) has operations in 41 countries and 126,000 employees, with annual sales of $84 billion. While these revenues are double that of its closest competitors, analysts and shareholders are beginning to wonder if the company might see faster growth if it split up. Questions: 1. What is the current stock price? What… Read more »