Word: audits
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...director, without apology? Bush received subsidized loans from Harken to buy company stock--a practice he now wants to ban. In 1989 Harken concealed losses by selling most of a subsidiary to an off-the-books entity controlled by company insiders. Bush was on the audit committee, which, at least in theory, approved the deal. It's the same tactic used by Enron--on a massive, more pernicious scale--before it imploded...
...fall of 1990 and forced the company to restate its earnings early the next year. The $3.3 million loss became a $12.6 million loss. White House officials say Bush was clueless about the tricky accounting. "They gave discretion to the CEO," says communications director Dan Bartlett. He adds, "Audit committees were different then than they are now." Bush, who last week called on directors to "ask tough questions about accounting methods," doesn't hold himself to that standard. Harken's case, he told reporters, was one in which "the rules aren't as specific as one would expect, and therefore...
WHAT BUSH AND CHENEY DID While BUSH was on Harken Energy's board of directors and a member of its audit committee, the company hid losses by selling a subsidiary to itself. Harken officers bought Aloha Petroleum with a loan from the company. Harken labeled the sale a $7.9 million profit, shrinking its losses to just $3.3 million for the year. The SEC forced the company to restate its losses to $12.6 million...
Even with the improvements of recent years, too many corporate boards of directors still serve as little more than puppets of management. Bush only briefly touched on this in his speech, calling for a majority of each board--and for all members of its audit, nominating and compensation committees--to be "truly independent" and to "ask tough questions." But this should be spelled out further. Independent should mean more than someone who doesn't work for the company; it should exclude anyone who has a consulting gig or supplier deal or who has recently left the company...
...Justice to impose a €158,250 fine on France for each day it refuses to lift its ban on British beef. The French government has ignored the court's earlier ruling that the ban is illegal. BOTTOM LINES "If you saw something, you stopped it. Oh, a good audit was a beautiful thing." Al Bows, 88, retired Andersen senior partner, on accountancy when Arthur Andersen hired him in 1935 "It looks to me like spring, when the snow melts and you see the dog shit that's been there all winter." John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media...