Jack Johnson’s Woes

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Advanced Accounting.

Description: Hockey star Jack Johnson is reportedly bankrupt. Despite earning roughly $18 million over his career, it appears that bad advice – and perhaps some misadventures by his parents – have led to his financial downfall. Johnson claims to have secured a new team of advisers to assist him in sorting his way out of… Read more »

Concerns raised on car loans

Posted by & filed under Auditing, Financial Accounting.

Description: Auto and finance industry executives are voicing misgivings over the move towards long-term car loans of seven or eight years. The big fear: car owners will start returning vehicles prior to the expiry of the loans, creating a dilemma when they try to finance a new vehicle while the original car loan exceeds the… Read more »

Full disclosure; still waiting

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Accounting Theory, Advanced Accounting, Canadian Government, Cost Accounting.

Description: Canadian banks  have improved their disclosures since the financial crisis. But these improvements may not have gone far enough. For instance, many investors may know that bankers have lobbied our federal government concerning its attention to transaction fees on credit cards. Yet, because of the banks’  disclosure practices, many  of these same investors would… Read more »

And speaking of corruption . . .

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Auditing, Canadian Economy, Canadian Government, Ethics, Financial Reporting and Analysis.

Description: Canadian companies have been lobbying the federal government to delay implementing its new anti-corruption rules. Public Works and Government Services Canada has been threatening to de-list suppliers – including major names such as HP and Siemens – for up to 10 years because of convictions for corruption in foreign countries. Public Works points out… Read more »

Big banks busted

Posted by & filed under Advanced Accounting, Contemporary Business Issues, Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility.

Description: Following on the heels of the Libor scandal (in which banks were found out for manipulating short term interest rates), on Wednesday documents disclosed that six large banks were fined $4.3  billion (yes, that’s billion with a “B”) for manipulating the foreign exchange market. Additional fines and  civil suits could keep this nasty story… Read more »

Just in case

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Canadian Government, Managerial Accounting.

Description: With oil prices continuing to head south, resource companies have to reconsider their capital plans. Recently, Canada Natural Resources Ltd (CNRL) announced that it may be required to revisit its over $8 billion capital budget in the face of these resource price declines. Investors threaten to punish energy companies that do not show themselves nimble… Read more »

Kia, Hyundai pay $100 million fine

Posted by & filed under Auditing, Ethics, Uncategorized.

Description: It’s a tad more than your average traffic ticket. Automakers Hyundai and Kia (which are both controlled by Hyundai) paid $100 million in fines for over-stating gas mileage figures on automobile window stickers. The overstatements were detected by the US Environmental Protection Agency in its audits of audit company test results. In addition to the… Read more »

Canadian companies; US politics

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Auditing, Contemporary Business Issues.

Description: Following a 2010 US Supreme Court decision, Canadian companies have joined with their US counterparts, directing funds towards lobbying and political financing. Large organizations such as Power Corp, RBC, Encana and Barrick Gold have entered the field. The Shareholders Association for Research & Education (SHARE) has raised some serious questions of accountability regarding this political… Read more »