Refco scandal won't hurt accountancy firm
Legal action costs will be absorbed, says Grant Thornton
Legal action costs will be absorbed, says Grant Thornton
Grant Thornton, the accountant facing lawsuit threats over the role it played
as auditor to Refco, has claimed that any legal costs incurred will be absorbed
thanks to the financially sound position of the firm.
Chief executive Edward Nusbaum said: ‘We anticipate the legal costs will be
expensive, as they are in every case. But Grant Thornton is very sound
financially and any legal costs will be absorbed by the firm.’
The number five accounting firm was the first to warn futures and commodities
broker, Refco, of ‘significant deficiencies’ in its internal controls before the
decision was made to float the company on the New York Stock Exchange in August.
Grant Thornton warned Refco that formal procedures for closing the books were
lacking and its finance functions were not large enough to meet reporting
demands.
The accountancy firm has defended its position, insisting that it was misled
by Refco management, including former CE Philip Bennett who is currently being
charged with fraud.
Edward Nusbaum continued: ‘We want to find out exactly what happened. I think
companies are judged by how they deal with these situations because, even with
Sarbannes-Oxley, there’s no guarantee of catching all fraud.’
Regulators and banks have now begun their attempt to salvage Refco after a
$430m bad-debt scandal triggered one of the fastest slides to insolvency of any
financial company.
The numbers you crunch tell a story. Your expertis...
19yEmbracing user-friendly AP systems can turn the tide, streamlining workflows, enhancing compliance, and opening doors to early payment discounts. Read...
View articleOrganisations can enhance their financial operations' efficiency, accuracy, and responsiveness by adopting platforms that offer them self-service cust...
View articleIn a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...
View resourceDiscover how AP dashboards can transform your business by enhancing efficiency and accuracy in tracking key metrics, as revealed by the latest insight...
View articleBody Shop, Ted Baker, Farfetch, MatchesFashion and Wilko among latest retailer insolvencies. Number of businesses in trouble are the highest in five y...
View articleInsolvency statistics in the UK for the second quarter of 2023 were the highest since 2009 with 83% of them relating to small businesses Read More...
View articleThere were 6,342 recorded company insolvencies in Q2, reflecting a 9% increase compared to the number of insolvencies in Q1, and a 13% increase compar...
View articleThe survey paints a “brightening” picture of the global economy, according to the ACCA Read More...
View articleThe pandemic may have “distorted” some economic data Read More...
View articleAdvisory firms must offer a “more supportive” and holistic approach to clients amid the economic downturn Read More...
View articleHaving a clear plan and clean data to help optimise the use of scarce resources will be key for businesses Read More...
View articleThe Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has supported millions of jobs amid the pandemic, but with the support measure set to end in September, how can a...
View article