Fireside Chats, Enforcement This-N-Thats

The SEC Historical Society has scheduled a two-part program on accounting in its Fireside Chats series, which you can log into from in front of your fireplace - or wherever you happen to be - on Oct. 22 and Oct. 28 from 1-2 pm EDT. (Archived webcasts will be available as well.) This particular two-part series is sponsored by Deloitte.

Oct. 22: The Role of Professional Judgment in Accounting and Auditing
Moderator: Prof. Zoe-Vonna Palmrose, former Deputy Chief Accountant, SEC and currently Professor at Marshall School of Business, USC . Speakers: Robert J. Kueppers, Deputy CEO, Deloitte LLP, and Greg Jonas, formerly of Moody's and currently a member of the PCAOB Standing Advisory Group.

Oct. 28: Exploring Principles vs. Rules-Based Accounting and Auditing Standards
Moderator: Prof. Patricia Fairfield, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University (and formerly an Academic Fellow at the SEC). Speakers: Robert J. Kueppers, Deputy CEO, Deloitte LLP, and Scott A. Taub, former Acting Chief Accountant and Deputy Chief Accountant, SEC and currently Managing Director, Financial Reporting Advisors LLC.

Both of the above topics are keenly of interest in a world that seems to be moving increasingly to IFRS (see our post yesterday on the G-20 call for convergence by June, 2011; see an alternative view on IFRS by Prof. Tom Selling in his blog, The Accounting Onion. Selling served as an Academic Fellow at the SEC in addition to his other experience.)

For further info on the SEC Fireside Chats, see the SEC Historical Society website, http://www.sechistorical.org/ Calendar.

SEC Inspector General Issues Reports on Enforcement Division, Inspections
Broc Romanek reports in TheCorporateCounsel.net blog this morning in a post entitled The Coming Overhaul of SEC's Enforcement Division that the SEC's Office of Inspector General issued 2 new reports listing 21 recommendations for improving the Division of Enforcement (OIG Report No. 467), and 37 recommendations for improving the Office of Compliance Inspections & Exams (OIG Report No. 468), respectively.

In addition to some recommendations previously reported when the OIG released its report at the end of August on the SEC's handling of the Madoff affair, (as previously reported, see also SEC's Post-Madoff Reforms), one of the things I found particularly interesting in current (Sept. 29) OIG report on Enforcement (I remind you of the disclaimer posted on the right side of our blog at http://www.financialexecutives.blogspot.com/ ) is the reference to 'poaching' on printed pg. 27 (pdf pg. 26) of the report, in which a staff member noted (in response to OIG survey of the Enforcement Division):

Dealing with other enforcement groups is often a hassle, because every office is primarily motivated to guard their own territory and make sure the other office isn't trying to poach the good cases. That said, informal, relationship based contacts with staff in other offices about particular matters is frequently helpful and rewarding. Sometimes I am discouraged from working with other groups because it is viewed as relinquishing control of "our case.”

I imagine the comment on 'poaching' good cases is not unique to the SEC or the government, as I assume prosecutors at various levels in government, and attorneys in private practice, may experience the above sentiment as well. And, even outside of the field of law, breaking down silos and working together for the common good can be a reality of organizational life for any organization; nonetheless I found the comment particularly interesting, in addition to the other subject matter relating to how cases and tips are handled and the OIG's recommendations thereto.

SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami, in the Management Comments (response to OIG recommendations) included in the report, noted: "We concur in all of the recommendations in the report. In fact, Enforcement Division has already taken significant steps toward creating a better organized and effective division" (Read the complete Management Comments in Appendix IV of the report, and OIG response to Management Comments in Appendix V, for details.)

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