tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3011727801882113130.post4357356335569775760..comments2023-07-02T09:28:04.887-04:00Comments on Alex Dalmady's Blog: Dirty JobUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3011727801882113130.post-80571993949200118702009-02-21T17:30:00.000-05:002009-02-21T17:30:00.000-05:00Alex:No, you're >95% spot on, leastways re....Alex:<br><br>No, you're >95% spot on, leastways re. the not-quite-Big 4 firm in London where I've been training. But to say one thing in our defence specifically re. Stanford - he KNEW all this, and that's why he (and Bernie M. for that matter) used tinpot eighty-year-olds 'working' alone, oblivious to lectures such as yours (and probably most everything else too), completely unfit for purpose (leaving aside Stanford's guy now being an ex-auditor in every sense of the word) and thus ideally suited for such conmen.<br><br>Then at the other extreme (or should I say, in the other pocket) sit the vast global auditing firms who are in no position to turn down eight-figure fees from at least equally as vast clients - so where does that leave auditor independence? - and who perforce deploy audit teams so large that the chances are virtually zero of a peon auditor understanding the wider implications of, never mind having the clout or cojones to act upon, suspicions.<br><br>Here in the UK, our training is crystal clear on one thing, though: we are NOT looking for fraud - we are maintenance, but not cops. We simply have to establish that the financial statements appear true and fair to the extent of the work we've been able to do on them. And we look down with scorn on our box-ticking colleagues in the US obsessing over "the account with $30 in it". But - since nobody's perfect and every firm has its share of skeletons in the closet - it's hard not to point the finger at the various national regulators, the ones who allow the cast of Cocoon to sign off audits, and at the representatives of national interests that prevent clear international accounting standards in complex areas from being unambiguous and hence inescapable.Martin Blancnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3011727801882113130.post-43912530227704187292009-02-21T19:38:00.000-05:002009-02-21T19:38:00.000-05:00Wow. I thought I could write. Great Stuff Martin.T...Wow. I thought I could write. Great Stuff Martin.<br><br>Thanks for coming by.<br><br>AlexAlex Dalmadynoreply@blogger.com