June 2014 – Attestation Update

Guilty plea to 3 criminal counts, $8.8B fine, and 1 year ban on dollar settlements for BNP Paribas’ laundering of $190B

1 Comment / Fraud, Other stuff / Jim Ulvog

BNP Paribas has settled up for their systemic efforts to use the U.S. banking system to launder money for Iran, Sudan, and Cuba.

Criminal pleas

Here are the plea agreements:

federal level, 1 guilty plea – 1 count of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act
state level, 2 guilty pleas – 1 count Falsifying Business Records in First Degree and 1 count Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree.

Volumes

The dollar amount of laundered money is 6 times larger than any previous press reports suggest. All earlier comments said about $30B was involved.

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Guilty plea to 3 criminal counts, $8.8B fine, and 1 year ban on dollar settlements for BNP Paribas’ laundering of $190BRead More »

Guilty plea to 3 criminal counts, $8.8B fine, and 1 year ban on dollar settlements for BNP Paribas’ laundering of $190B Read More »

Additional consequences of insider trading – #13

Leave a Comment / Audits / Jim Ulvog

On June 25, 2014, Scott London was interviewed at length in a webcast presented by The Pros & The Cons. During the interview, Mr. London shared several more aspects of the consequences of his illegal insider trading.

Add the following items to the long list of consequences of illegal behavior.

Knowing you will be a case study decades into the future – After one interviewer mentioned this would be a great case study for the Harvard Business Review, Mr. London said he knows that will be the case. He hates to be the subject of case studies but doesn’t think there would be a better example.

Embarrassment for your child during a college class – …

Additional consequences of insider trading – #13Read More »

Additional consequences of insider trading – #13 Read More »

BNP Paribas settlement expected Monday

Leave a Comment / Other stuff / Jim Ulvog

That’s a report from DealBook – BNP Paribas Expected to Plead Guilty and Pay $8.9 Billion Fine.

Leaks to the newspaper say the plea deal could be announced on Monday, June 30. Final details will be worked out this weekend.

Looks like most of the transfers were from 2002 through 2009, but some carried on into 2012.

Sanctions are starting to shape up as follows:

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BNP Paribas settlement expected MondayRead More »

BNP Paribas settlement expected Monday Read More »

Interview with Scott London during CPE webcast

Leave a Comment / Audits / Jim Ulvog

Scott London was interviewed at length during a CPE webcast presented June 25, 2014. The class was presented by Gary Zuene, of The Pros & The Cons.

Mr. London was remarkably open.

He repeatedly accepted full blame for the insider trading. At several points he explained the context, pressures he was under, and actions by others (especially his golfing buddy) that help us understand the situation better. Each time he mentioned something outside of himself he again said that he is responsible. He is to blame.

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Interview with Scott London during CPE webcastRead More »

Interview with Scott London during CPE webcast Read More »

BNP Paribas nearing settlement for $30B of money laundering. Getting a bargain at $8B penalty?

Heads starting to roll in BNP Paribas settlement talks

2 interviews with Scott London

Leave a Comment / Audits / Jim Ulvog

Two interviews of Scott London have appeared quite recently in advance of his marathon interview in a CPE class:

6/21 – Quentin Fottrell at Market Watch – Confessions of an insider trader on the eve of his prison sentence
6/16 – Walter Pavlo at Forbes – Fmr KPMG Partner Scott London Shares Cautionary Tale Before Prison

A few ideas from each of the interviews and a few of my observations.

Quentin Fottrell at Market Watch –

Mr. London perceives that insider trading is rampant.

He asserts he received about $50,000 in total, which includes the Rolex (which he rarely wore), and concert tickets.

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2 interviews with Scott LondonRead More »

2 interviews with Scott London Read More »

CPE event of the year – 4 hour ethics class featuring interview with Scott London

Leave a Comment / Audits / Jim Ulvog

Well, at least I think it will be the event to see. Next Wednesday, June 25, Scott London will be interviewed in a webcast presented by The Pros & The Cons.

To my recollection, all the previous interviews of Mr. London were brief events entering or leaving a court room. There have been a few conversations with reporters, but nothing in detail. This will be the first, in-depth interview I know of. Several hours will allow the time to give full, nuanced answers and explore follow-up questions.

Gaylen Hansen, former chair of the NASBA Ethics Committee will be the lead interviewer. Gary Zuene recently announced the Michael Sallah, investigative journalist from The Washington Post, has joined the interviewing team. Looks to be a great team of interviewers.

Block out 1 to 5 Eastern / ~~9 to 1~~ 10 until 2 Pacific time for a 4 hour ethics class.

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CPE event of the year – 4 hour ethics class featuring interview with Scott LondonRead More »

CPE event of the year – 4 hour ethics class featuring interview with Scott London Read More »

Why KPMG won’t be suing Scott London

2 Comments / Audits / Jim Ulvog

After the sentencing of Scott London to 14 months in prison, KPMG issued me (and the rest of the world) a statement saying:

It was appropriate that Scott London was held accountable for the consequence of his illegal and unethical action.

As I mentioned earlier, there were some comments in public by Mr. London’s attorney that KPMG and Mr. London had worked out something through the partnership agreement. My guess is they closed out his capital account.

My guess at the time was that the sentencing cleared the path for KPMG to sue Mr. London. They would definitely have cause since the Herbalife reaudit cost around $15M, and they probably sent the bill to KPMG, who probably paid it quickly. I’ll guess that KPMG paid for the reaudit of the other two clients.

So, will KPMG sue Mr. London?

When I tweeted about my post, Francine McKenna followed up with a tweet saying something to the effect that this was the end of the case. Nothing else would be heard.

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Why KPMG won’t be suing Scott LondonRead More »

Why KPMG won’t be suing Scott London Read More »

What you need to document on paper copy you can do inside a PDF

Leave a Comment / Audits, Compilations & reviews / Jim Ulvog

Here’ a great video with tips on how to use Adobe software to mark up and document a workpaper when it is in PDF format:

Annotating Adobe Acrobat Documents, from CPA-Scribo.

Take the client document in electronic format and mark it up without going to paper. Very cool.

With a little creativity, you could do inside a PDF anything you would do with the paper copy.

Hope you enjoy the efficiency tips.

What you need to document on paper copy you can do inside a PDF Read More »

Another perspective on BNP Paribas – centralized control of French economy

Leave a Comment / Other stuff, Pondering / Jim Ulvog

Previously mentioned another perspective on possible penalties on BNP Paribas for violation U.S. sanctions on trade in some countries – could it be U.S. harassment of banks who don’t bow to U.S. foreign policy?

At The Feed, Walter Russell Mead provides perspective on why there has been such a strong reaction from the French government – Hollande’s Top Priority: Save BNP. His discussion is quite helpful for me.

The article explains that the government, big companies, and the banking system in France are tightly linked. There are overlapping ownership interests, centralized control, close coordination, and wide revolving doors between the government and private sector.

The article explains: …

Another perspective on BNP Paribas – centralized control of French economyRead More »

Another perspective on BNP Paribas – centralized control of French economy Read More »

Minor details of Bryan Shaw’s sentencing for insider trading case

Leave a Comment / Audits / Jim Ulvog

The sentencing documents are available on the federal PACER system for Bryan Shaw’s conspiracy conviction. Not really any new information. Did want to mention what is listed there. Also want to mention tracking info in the Bureau of Prison’s system for both Mr. Shaw and Mr. London.

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Minor details of Bryan Shaw’s sentencing for insider trading caseRead More »

Minor details of Bryan Shaw’s sentencing for insider trading case Read More »