Auditors at Big Firms Cited
In a brief but revealing article by the Wall Street Journal, auditors at the seven largest accounting firms in the U.S. were cited for deficiencies found in 37.5 percent of the audits inspected by regulators. The vast majority of the deficiencies involved evaluation of the market prices companies supplied for complex assets. Citations were also made for failure to test managers’ assertions about the methods and data used to value assets.