Opinie 01 oktober 2008

Crisis? What crisis? Also an accountancy-crisis!

Soms loop ik rond met een idee voor het schrijven van een blog. Ik laat dat dan even rijpen en doe wat research. Af en toe loop je er dan tegenaan dat anderen al hebben gezegd wat jij zou willen zeggen. Je kunt het dan uiteraard gaan parafraseren en in je eigen woorden weergeven.

Maar waarom eigenlijk? Ere wie ere toekomt: Richard Murphy van Tax Research UK schreef het volgende.

The people we have to hold to account for the Credit Crunch

It strikes me that there are four key firms behind the credit crunch who have suffered nothing like the exposure they deserve. They are: PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Deloitte and Ernst & Young.
They audited all the serious players. They have signed off the accounts of all the banks on a going concern basis that have either now gone bust or needed emergency funding.
They provided the offshore mechanisms for many of the off balance sheet deals that allowed sub-prime refinancing to happen.
They audited those offshore structures.
They ensured they fell out of the tax net.
You can be pretty sure they're auditing most of the hedge funds.
They have been some of the fiercest advocates of the neo-liberal model that has brought the world to its knees.
Why aren't we holding them liable?
Why aren't we creating a new model of auditing?
Why aren't we saying if you want to audit in the UK you can't have an offshore office?
Why are we still allowing people to audit the structures they create?
Why, oh why haven't we learned the lessons of previous debacles when they were so obviously there to see. After all, Prem Sikka has recounted them for years.
Auditing and accounting has to be subject to the regulatory reform that must change the world of finance forever if we survive the current mess.

Terechte vragen. En niet alleen binnen de Amerikaanse context. Maar voorlopig zijn de grote vier muisstil. Bang om geschoren te worden? Of likken ze hun wonden? Zou zomaar eens kunnen:

Red

AIG - Taken over by the Feds. Will PwC remain as auditor? 
Bear Stearns - Purchased by JP Morgan who uses PwC (Formerly Deloitte)
Merrill Lynch - Was Deloitte, bought by Bank of America (PwC)
Lehman Brothers - (EY) Bankrupt. Pieces being picked up by Barclays and Nomura.
Washington Mutual - Deloitte
Northern Rock - Nationalized (PwC)
New Century - KPMG
Countrywide (KPMG) - Bought by Bank of America (PwC)
Wachovia (KPMG) - This article does not paint a pretty picture. Update: Potential takeover by Citi (KPMG) or maybe Santander or Wells Fargo.

Yellow

Fannie Mae -Suing Former auditors KPMG, now with Deloitte and recently put under US government conservatorship.
Freddie Mac - PwC and recently put under US government conservatorship. (For a nice timeline and commentary on Fannie/Freddie issues and takeover check out this report from Currency Trading.net)
Morgan Stanley - Deloitte
Goldman Sachs - Recently accepted capital infusion from Warren Buffet, PwC
Societe Generale (Deloitte and EY)
Credit Suisse - (KPMG)
UBS - EY
Wells Fargo - (KPMG)
Fortis - (PwC and KPMG) Looks like they are now on the way out, perhaps as soon as the weekend of the 9/27-28.

Green (for now) 

JP Morgan - (PwC) Has picked up Bear Stearns and now Washington Mutual, both formerly audited by Deloitte
Nomura - (EY)
Barclays - (PwC) Buying US portion of Lehman 
Royal Bank of Scotland - (Deloitte)
Bank of America - (PwC) - Bought Countrywide (KPMG) and Merrill Lynch (Deloitte)
BNP Paribas (PwC)
Credit Agricole (PwC and EY)
Santander - (Deloitte)

Dit staatje was voor het weekend van 27/28 september 2008 opgemaakt en te vinden op de accountancy-weblog re: The Auditors.

Het lijstje is in dat weekend en daarna alleen maar groter geworden. En zal nog groter worden. Kortom: aardverschuivingen in accountantsland. En toch is het daar angstaanjagend stil. Of zou het stilte voor de storm zijn?