Long Awaited Agreement is Only a First Step

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According to Thomson Reuters, the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) on Aug. 26, 2022, finally signed an agreement with Chinese authorities that will allow the board to inspect and investigate audit firms based in China and Hong Kong whose clients trade on American exchanges.

Questions:

  1. When will the PCAOB start inspections?
  2. What were the legislative provisions that helped the PCAOB seal the deal?
  3. What are some of the reasons why China has so far not granted full access to audit papers?
  4. What fraud, mentioned in the article, cost a lot of money for U.S. investors?

Source:

Ho, S. (2022) U.S. and China Sign Historic Agreement on Audit Firm Supervision. Thomson Reuters Tax and Accounting News, Aug. 29 (Retrievable online at https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/news/u-s-and-china-sign-historic-agreement-on-audit-firm-supervision/)

A Lawsuit in U.S. District Court to Stop The Merger of Two of the Largest Publishers

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Behavioral and Social Issues Related to Accounting, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized.

According to The New York Times, Steven King, well-known author, testified as a witness for the government in its lawsuit to stop the merger of two of the largest publishers.

Questions:

  1. What is the amount of the proposed acquisition?
  2. Who are the two publishers and which one is acquiring the other in this consolidation?
  3. How does Mr. King’s testimony illustrate the government argument that consolidation in the publishing industry has hurt authors and the industry? Discuss and give examples.
  4. What does the word “imprint” mean as it is used in this article?

Source:

Bednar, A. (2022). Stephen King Testifies That Merger Between Publishing Giants Would Hurt Writers. The New York Times, August 2 (Retrievable online at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/02/business/stephen-king-penguin-random-house-antitrust-testimony.html)

Layoffs Announced at Robinhood

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According to the New York Times, Robinhood announced layoffs for the second time this year.

Questions:

  1. What is Robinhood?
  2. What percent of employees will be layed off in this second round?
  3. Why are the layoffs occuring?
  4. What roles in the company will be primarily affected?

Source

Kelley, L. and D. Yaffee-Bellany. (2022). Robinhood lays off 23% of its staff, blaming crypto meltdown and inflation. The New York Times, August 2 (Retrievable at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/02/business/robinhood-layoffs.html)

CNN Profits Tank

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized.

According to the New York Times, CNN profits have slumped for the first time in years.

Questions:

  1. The network is on a pace to drop below its usual profit point. What is this point?
  2. What service did the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery make when it took over CNN?
  3. What are some of the revenue generating ideas that have been floated for CNN?
  4. What are some of the expense cutting measures that have been taken?
  5. Why is the overall strategy not to emphasize ratings for producers?

Source:

Mullin, B. (2022). Profits Slump at CNN as Ratings Plummet. The New York Times, Aug. 2 (Retrievable online at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/02/business/media/cnn-profit-chris-licht.html).

Insider Trading

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Ethical Dilemma, Financial Accounting, Income Taxes, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized.

According to the Washington Post, Stephen Buyer, ex-GOP Congressman from Indiana, is accused of exploiting nonpublic information in his role as a corporate consultant to reap hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits.

Questions:

  1. Which arm of the government charges individuals with insider trading?
  2. During what period did Buyer act on insider trading information?
  3. What stocks did Buyer illegally profit from due to his access to nonpublic information?
  4. In abusing his role as a corporate consultant, how much did Buyer earn in illegal profits?

Source:

Shaban, H. (2022). Stephen Buyer, former GOP congressman, accused of insider trading. The Washington Post, July 25 (Retrievable online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/25/stephen-buyer-insider-trading-sec/)

Access to Federal Reserve Alarms Financial Experts

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized, Video Updates.

According to the Washington Post, notoriously risky cryptocurrency firms may be integrated into the traditional banking system under a little-noticed provision in a new bill that raises alarms among financial experts.

Questions

  1. When was the bill introduced and what will it allow?
  2. What has happened to the digital asset market since early May?
  3. What are the long-term issues surrounding bank reserves invested in cryptocurrencies?

Source:

Newmyer, T. (2022) Bill to grant crypto firms access to Federal Reserve alarms experts. The Washington Post, July 3 (Retrievable online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/03/crypto-banks-risk-lummis/)

Prior to May’s Crypto crash

Roth IRAs for Children

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According to IRS rules, there is no minimum age to open a Roth IRA as long as certain rules are met.

Questions:

  1. What is probably the most important rule for children to meet?
  2. What are some other Roth IRA rules?
  3. Does money for a Roth have to come directly from your child’s pocket?
  4. What if the money is from self-employment?

Source:

Carrns, A. (2022) You’re Never Too Young for a Roth I.R.A. The New York Times, June 10 (Retrievable at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/10/business/kids-roth-ira-retirement.html)

Largest Penalty Fine Ever by the SEC for Ernst &Young (EY) Cheating

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Behavioral and Social Issues Related to Accounting, Cost Accounting, Ethical Dilemma, Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized.

According to the New York Times, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said the cheating involved hundreds of EY’s workers from 2017 to 2021, resulted in the largest penalty ever imposed by the agency against an auditing firm.

Questions:

  1. What amount was the fine imposed by U.S. securities regulators?
  2. What were the three (3) charges against the accounting firm?
  3. Which other Big 4 accounting firm had similar allegations of cheating by auditors on internal training exams?
  4. Was this the first instance of widespread cheating on ethics exams by EY employees? Explain.

Source:

Goldstein, M. (2022). Ernst & Young to Pay $100 Million Fine After Auditors Cheated on Ethics Exams. The New York Times, June 28 (Retrievable online at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/28/business/ernst-young-sec-cheating.html)

Trouble Ahead? Bad Economic Week

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Behavioral and Social Issues Related to Accounting, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized, Video Updates.

Are we headed for a recession?

Questions:

  1. What is the opinion of Goldman Sachs’ CEO?
  2. What did JPMorgan Chase’s CEO say?
  3. What did Elon Musk say?
  4. What is your opinion and why?

Source:

Mui, C. (2022). More than 60% of executives think a recession will hit soon, new survey finds. Fortune, June 17 (Retrievable online at https://fortune.com/2022/06/17/majority-executives-anticipate-recession/)

Attention Cryptocurrency Investors

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Behavioral and Social Issues Related to Accounting, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Fraud Accounting, Income Taxes, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized.

According to the New York Times, the fall in Bitcoin was accelerated in recent weeks by the collapse of two major cryptocurrency projects; this sows doubts about the stability of the overall cryptocurrency market.

Questions:

  1. Bitcoin dropped below $20,000 this week. This is the first time since when?
  2. From March 2020 to November 2021, what happened to the price of a single Bitcoin?
  3. What are the signs that Wall Street and Fortune 500 companies have become more open to cryptocurrency that they dismissed during an earlier time? 
  4. What actions have regulators taken with respect to cryptocurrencies and why?

Source:

Griffith, E. and D. Yaffe-Bellany. Bitcoin Plummets Below $20,000 for First Time Since Late 2020. The New York Times, June 18 (Retrievable online at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/18/technology/bitcoin-20000.html)