This is taking the micky

[BREWSTERS]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16435996

Price Waterhouse Coopers fined £1.4m for failing to do their job and therefore putting clients and investors at risk.

£1.4m!!!! Their audit fee was probably ten times that amount...at least.

I've been waiting for the world to catch onto the fact that all these banks accountants were not doing their job - part of which was to verify the value of assets and which obviously hadn't been done for years. This is the first time I've seen any action against any accountancy firm regarding the banking collapse, and it amounts to the equivilent of 50 lines or a lunchtime detention. Disgraceful.

 

[websaway]

I don't think you will get anyone disagreeing with you on this one.

 

[anthony]

This case is the tip of the iceberg, poor financial management is a daily occurance, for every one case you hear of there are 1,000 others bushed under the carpet.

Be even more interesting if we had a domain related one come along. The last one I recall was the Snapnames shill bidding saga, but that was one guy acting alone. It's corporate shit which makes real news.

 

[GreyWing]

It's more what it does to their image where the real damage is done. Sure they can brush it all under the carpet but companies that use them can't.

Which company you going to invest in... Company a which is audited by PWC or Company B which is audited by someone who has never had any of this nonsense?

That's the way boards will look at it and some will move away from them because they know it could hit their companies share price.

Anyone remember Anderson Consulting... They were effing huge before the crap hit the fan the last time. Now long gone, so these types of things can bring down the big boys. This one probably won't but if there is another then it really could be the end of PWC.

 

[BREWSTERS]

It's more what it does to their image where the real damage is done. Sure they can brush it all under the carpet but companies that use them can't.

Which company you going to invest in... Company a which is audited by PWC or Company B which is audited by someone who has never had any of this nonsense?

That's the way boards will look at it and some will move away from them because they know it could hit their companies share price.

Anyone remember Anderson Consulting... They were effing huge before the crap hit the fan the last time. Now long gone, so these types of things can bring down the big boys. This one probably won't but if there is another then it really could be the end of PWC.

Good points GreyWing - trouble is, all these big firms are guilty - every firm who took money to audit any bank who was (is) holding junk assets and didn't do the leg work to verify those assets, is guilty of misleading the public and investors.