Pricewaterhouse Coopers

Advancing technology has not only enabled people to receive information easily, but it has also enabled them to transmit their messages to the world at large …. at the minimal of costs.

This is clearly seen by the number of web-sites and blogs that have emerged over the years …… and coupled with those fantastic search engines like Google, obtaining relevant information becomes a formality.

This matter becomes more relevant in Malaysia with the introduction of the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010.

But as mentioned in my earlier posting, bloggers who squeal on the internet (and not to the enforcement agencies) would not be accorded any protection under that Act.

That doesn’t seem to have deterred the owner of ‘zarinahtakesapaycut.blogspot.com’ from pursuing his or her agenda.

That individual has even gone so far as to name the site after the Chairman of the Securities Commission, Zarinah Anwar ….. someone who has been the target of other bloggers like Ahirudin Attan a.k.a. Rocky’s Bru.

She’s now being blamed by her name-sake blog for allowing an audit firm, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, to get away from complying with the law ….. a serious accusation to be made against a securities regulator, no matter how technical it is!

The criticism and allegations on the blog seems to be targetted at other entities and parties including the government and opposition parties.

In no time, nearly every individual or party may be dragged into the issue.

It is possible that the owner of this blog site may also have an agenda to pursue …… besides trying to help Najib “weed out Corporate misconducts as a service to the taxpayers and Malaysians in general”.

Notwithstanding that, it is important that the targets of this blog’s attacks should, besides trying to stay above the fray by maintaining decorum, ALSO ensure that the accusations do not stick …. especially when these accusations seem to be coming in thick and fast!

Like the old inverted saying …… you not only need to appear to be “proper” ….. you also need to actually be “proper”!

If that can be done, this web-site will start to lose its audience which currently though, is building up at a significant pace.

It was a surprise to read in the online papers that the giant auditing/accounting firm, PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PwC), had the audactiy to take the Indian securities regulator, Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI), to Court to challenge the latter’s authority to carry out a probe into PwC’s audit of Satyam.

It was however no surprise to me that the High Court ruled in favour of the securities regulator. click HERE

How can PwC stop SEBI from probing into the way the former conducted itself especially when investors relied heavily on the financial statements of Satyam; more so that they have relied that it had been properly audited?!

What is really damaging to the PwC world-wide brand is the charge that SEBI wants to bring against the firm – that it had allegedly been involved in the falsification of the accounts of Satyam!

The fact that PwC attempted to cajole SEBI to settle out of court indicates the desperation of the firm.

The fact that SEBI rejected the overtures indicates the seriousness of the allegation.

Are we seeing the demise of another International Accounting Firm ….. similar to that of Arthur Andersen after the Enron fiasco?

Reading subsequent media reports and commentary about the ‘Sime Crisis’ following the sacking of its CEO, Zubir, has only made me more convinced that the whole Board of Directors plus its external auditors, Pricewaterhouse Coopers must take responsibility for this debacle.

Why debacle, you might ask? It has not collapsed as a group, you might say!

Maybe, but the confidence in this purported blue chip, which has one of the highest market capitalisation in the market, has been dented considerably.

Of course, Malaysians are a polite lot that in front of you, they will say sweet nothings into the ears of the parties involved.

But behind the scene, especially in the grape-vine, the comments are not only damaging to all concerned but down-right vicious ….. and with justification!

To say that the group had processes in place …. it’s just that they had not been implemented properly ….. was certainly laughable ….. because it is all too familiar!

If one was to seriously respond to this ‘excuse’, it would be … that is why you have internal and external auditors. And when the internal auditors raised the red flag in August 2008, it was conveniently swept under the carpet!

If the excuse was that the non-executive independent directors were obliged to give the benefit of the doubt to management, the external auditors, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) certainly had NO such obligation or professional reason to do so!

This was their red flag to delve into the issue of cost over-runs including its recovery of such costs. This is no more an ordinary run of the mill statutory audit. PWC had been put on enquiry and were obliged to look into the concern meticulously.

But what did PWC do? They signed off the accounts of Sime Darby for 2008 and 2009 with a clean audit report! Not even an emphasis of matter especially on the possible cost over-runs and its recoverability!

The fact that official media had highlighted these matters (besides the blog media) prior to the finalisation of the 2008 and 2009 accounts speak volumes about the role (or lack of it) of PWC!

The official media currently has been quite polite about this latest incident ….. yes, they have been polite relatively speaking …. but if you read in between the lines, the insinuation is the total collapse in the ‘check and balance’ roles of the other parties involved with Sime Darby …. notably the auditors and members of the Audit Committee headed by the ex-chairman of PWC. This is so unbecoming! click HERE

Andrew Sheng, a proponent of strong corporate governance is unfortunately embroiled in this mess as director and he cannot easily extricate himself out of this especially when he was appointed in 2007!

He has to regain credibility by insisting massive and fundamental changes to the way things are done in the Malaysian corporate world in general and Sime Darby in particular!

Update : I was one of the members of public who witnessed the launching of Andrew Sheng’s latest book, ‘From Asian to Global Financial Crisis’. In his remarks, I recall him emphasising that regulators were the ones that ‘had the power to go to the ‘back part of the shop (meaning companies) to find out what was really happening’. I hope this was not his reason for inaction on his part as a member of the Audit Committee!

If I can quote John McEnroe again, this is the pits!

A deemed blue chip with a market capitalization that is the envy of companies locally, regionally and dare I say globally …. and we get this kind of news! click HERE

Yes, Sime Darby said it would be making provision for losses in the region of RM964 million. But if you were to read their detailed announcement to Bursa, you will realise that the total loss is just under RM2.0 billion.

And we thought the hole created by the ex-subsidiary, SIME BANK, was bad …. you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!!

A company that epitomized corporate governance of the highest standards …. even before its merger with PNB stable of plantation/property companies …. it was thought that under the new regime of Zubir and the visionary thinking of Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Sime Darby was destined for greater things.

How wrong could we be?

And for Andrew Sheng, the Sime Darby director picked to look into these losses, to say that …..

“We have given instructions to the management to strengthen controls and manage all operations in the most prudent and efficient manner.”

……. nearly got me to puke!! This kind of statement is reserved for the small fry, fly by night listed companies that make up a miniscule proportion of the market capitalization. Not Sime Darby.

Shame on you all!!

UPDATE (15 May 2010) – Yes, Sime Darby is a Government Linked Company and whose merger with the PNB companies was the brain child of Nor Mohamed Yakcop and which caused so much consternation and aggravation.

Furthermore, the fact that the government’s investment whizz kids at Khazanah had issued all those multi coloured manuals setting out BEST PRACTICES (in key areas of governance) to be adopted by ALL its government linked companies, should have given comfort to everyone!!

And come to think of it, isn’t Pricewaterhouse Coopers the auditors? This cost issue began in 2006. Have these costs been adequately disclosed in the accounts?

Pricewaterhouse Coopers name is now constantly surfacing in major scandals …… Satyam in India, Kanebo in Japan, Goldman Sachs in the US ….. and now Sime Darby in Malaysia??

Talking about the aggravation caused by the merger, I recall Zubir effectively sacking its CFO and others including directors of Golden Hope (one of the PNB companies that was merged with Sime Darby) in 2008 for losses incurred for apparent irresponsible hedging practices on the prices of Crude Palm Oil ….. and that caused losses of several hundred million of Ringgit. click HERE

It is no wonder that there are calls for a review of Sime Darby’s group practices. I quite support this proposal but let’s make sure the consultants appointed for this task don’t tell you what you want to hear. There is a distinct tendency to do so in Malaysia!

They always say that in a democracy, you are innocent until proven guilty.

So when it was reported that GOLDMAN SACHS was charged for fraud by the United States’ Securities & Exchange Commission, one would naturally give the benefit of the doubt to the accused ….. after all, it’s not proven yet!

But having said that, the defendant is no ordinary defendant. It is a world renowned investment bank that advises governments and multi-nationals the world over. Products and advise provided by them are deemed sacrosanct and beyond doubt! How could one even think about alleging wrong doing against a top notch organisation like Goldman Sachs? click HERE

Initial cracks actually occurred when the Greek government was alleged to have fudged its books, on the advice of Goldman Sachs, in order to appear not to have breached its borrowing figures. click HERE

The current charge initiated by the SEC however seems more serious – and it appears directly linked to product that triggered the 2007 economic crisis – the SUB-PRIME MORTGAGES!

How apt. The Obama administration seems bent on getting the scourge that caused the mayhem.

And I believe it was spot on!

These are the people who load others with burdens hard to bear ….. and yet they themselves do not touch these burdens with even one of their fingers!!

At a talk I attended recently, we were told these consultants are so-called not from the word ‘consult’ but from the acronym ‘ConSult’ ….. i.e. those who ‘Con’ you first for your money and then ‘inSult’ you later for your fallibility!!

Remember Lehman Brothers that collapsed earlier ….. and who applied similar despicable techniques as the one Goldman Sachs is alleged to have done …. the Repo 105 scam.

And who was it that seems to have affirmed the scam ….. the auditors …. in this case, Ernst & Young. The firm may be next in the line of fire from the SEC!

Come to think of it, the auditors seem to be seriously implicated in the scams that have exploded over the past few years. Satyam’s fiasco also resulted in the arrest of two partners from the audit firm, Pricewaterhouse.

Before Pricewaterhouse can claim it as a one-off, they had to also close shop in Japan in 2006 for being implicated in the accounting fraud by its cosmetic client Kanebo. The firms subsequently surfaced with another local Japanese firm under some joint venture.

All this points to the requirement for more government involvement moving forward ….. as opposed to leaving it totally to these so-called experts whose only motive seem to be PROFITS AT ALL COST!!

Closer to home, it may be wise for the Malaysian government to do like-wise. It would be good to remind them that in the economic crisis of the late 1990s, it was the government’s own economic adviser in the form of Rashid Hussain, who was implicated in the shorting of the Ringgit then!!

CAVEAT EMPTOR!

UPDATE (18 APRIL 2010) : Yes, the auditors for Goldman Sachs is Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC). Yes, PwC were also the auditors of AIG when it imploded ……… !

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Advancing technology has not only enabled people to receive information easily, but it has also enabled them to transmit their messages to the world at large …. at the minimal of costs.

This is clearly seen by the number of web-sites and blogs that have emerged over the years …… and coupled with those fantastic search engines like Google, obtaining relevant information becomes a formality.

This matter becomes more relevant in Malaysia with the introduction of the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010.

But as mentioned in my earlier posting, bloggers who squeal on the internet (and not to the enforcement agencies) would not be accorded any protection under that Act.

That doesn’t seem to have deterred the owner of ‘zarinahtakesapaycut.blogspot.com’ from pursuing his or her agenda.

That individual has even gone so far as to name the site after the Chairman of the Securities Commission, Zarinah Anwar ….. someone who has been the target of other bloggers like Ahirudin Attan a.k.a. Rocky’s Bru.

She’s now being blamed by her name-sake blog for allowing an audit firm, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, to get away from complying with the law ….. a serious accusation to be made against a securities regulator, no matter how technical it is!

The criticism and allegations on the blog seems to be targetted at other entities and parties including the government and opposition parties.

In no time, nearly every individual or party may be dragged into the issue.

It is possible that the owner of this blog site may also have an agenda to pursue …… besides trying to help Najib “weed out Corporate misconducts as a service to the taxpayers and Malaysians in general”.

Notwithstanding that, it is important that the targets of this blog’s attacks should, besides trying to stay above the fray by maintaining decorum, ALSO ensure that the accusations do not stick …. especially when these accusations seem to be coming in thick and fast!

Like the old inverted saying …… you not only need to appear to be “proper” ….. you also need to actually be “proper”!

If that can be done, this web-site will start to lose its audience which currently though, is building up at a significant pace.

It was however no surprise to me that the High Court ruled in favour of the securities regulator. click HERE

How can PwC stop SEBI from probing into the way the former conducted itself especially when investors relied heavily on the financial statements of Satyam; more so that they have relied that it had been properly audited?!

What is really damaging to the PwC world-wide brand is the charge that SEBI wants to bring against the firm – that it had allegedly been involved in the falsification of the accounts of Satyam!

The fact that PwC attempted to cajole SEBI to settle out of court indicates the desperation of the firm.

The fact that SEBI rejected the overtures indicates the seriousness of the allegation.

Are we seeing the demise of another International Accounting Firm ….. similar to that of Arthur Andersen after the Enron fiasco?

Reading subsequent media reports and commentary about the ‘Sime Crisis’ following the sacking of its CEO, Zubir, has only made me more convinced that the whole Board of Directors plus its external auditors, Pricewaterhouse Coopers must take responsibility for this debacle.

Why debacle, you might ask? It has not collapsed as a group, you might say!

Maybe, but the confidence in this purported blue chip, which has one of the highest market capitalisation in the market, has been dented considerably.

Of course, Malaysians are a polite lot that in front of you, they will say sweet nothings into the ears of the parties involved.

But behind the scene, especially in the grape-vine, the comments are not only damaging to all concerned but down-right vicious ….. and with justification!

To say that the group had processes in place …. it’s just that they had not been implemented properly ….. was certainly laughable ….. because it is all too familiar!

If one was to seriously respond to this ‘excuse’, it would be … that is why you have internal and external auditors. And when the internal auditors raised the red flag in August 2008, it was conveniently swept under the carpet!

If the excuse was that the non-executive independent directors were obliged to give the benefit of the doubt to management, the external auditors, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) certainly had NO such obligation or professional reason to do so!

This was their red flag to delve into the issue of cost over-runs including its recovery of such costs. This is no more an ordinary run of the mill statutory audit. PWC had been put on enquiry and were obliged to look into the concern meticulously.

But what did PWC do? They signed off the accounts of Sime Darby for 2008 and 2009 with a clean audit report! Not even an emphasis of matter especially on the possible cost over-runs and its recoverability!

The fact that official media had highlighted these matters (besides the blog media) prior to the finalisation of the 2008 and 2009 accounts speak volumes about the role (or lack of it) of PWC!

Andrew Sheng, a proponent of strong corporate governance is unfortunately embroiled in this mess as director and he cannot easily extricate himself out of this especially when he was appointed in 2007!

He has to regain credibility by insisting massive and fundamental changes to the way things are done in the Malaysian corporate world in general and Sime Darby in particular!

If I can quote John McEnroe again, this is the pits!

A deemed blue chip with a market capitalization that is the envy of companies locally, regionally and dare I say globally …. and we get this kind of news! click HERE

Yes, Sime Darby said it would be making provision for losses in the region of RM964 million. But if you were to read their detailed announcement to Bursa, you will realise that the total loss is just under RM2.0 billion.

And we thought the hole created by the ex-subsidiary, SIME BANK, was bad …. you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!!

A company that epitomized corporate governance of the highest standards …. even before its merger with PNB stable of plantation/property companies …. it was thought that under the new regime of Zubir and the visionary thinking of Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Sime Darby was destined for greater things.

How wrong could we be?

And for Andrew Sheng, the Sime Darby director picked to look into these losses, to say that …..

“We have given instructions to the management to strengthen controls and manage all operations in the most prudent and efficient manner.”

……. nearly got me to puke!! This kind of statement is reserved for the small fry, fly by night listed companies that make up a miniscule proportion of the market capitalization. Not Sime Darby.

Shame on you all!!

UPDATE (15 May 2010) – Yes, Sime Darby is a Government Linked Company and whose merger with the PNB companies was the brain child of Nor Mohamed Yakcop and which caused so much consternation and aggravation.

Furthermore, the fact that the government’s investment whizz kids at Khazanah had issued all those multi coloured manuals setting out BEST PRACTICES (in key areas of governance) to be adopted by ALL its government linked companies, should have given comfort to everyone!!

And come to think of it, isn’t Pricewaterhouse Coopers the auditors? This cost issue began in 2006. Have these costs been adequately disclosed in the accounts?

Pricewaterhouse Coopers name is now constantly surfacing in major scandals …… Satyam in India, Kanebo in Japan, Goldman Sachs in the US ….. and now Sime Darby in Malaysia??

It is no wonder that there are calls for a review of Sime Darby’s group practices. I quite support this proposal but let’s make sure the consultants appointed for this task don’t tell you what you want to hear. There is a distinct tendency to do so in Malaysia!

They always say that in a democracy, you are innocent until proven guilty.

So when it was reported that GOLDMAN SACHS was charged for fraud by the United States’ Securities & Exchange Commission, one would naturally give the benefit of the doubt to the accused ….. after all, it’s not proven yet!

Initial cracks actually occurred when the Greek government was alleged to have fudged its books, on the advice of Goldman Sachs, in order to appear not to have breached its borrowing figures. click HERE

The current charge initiated by the SEC however seems more serious – and it appears directly linked to product that triggered the 2007 economic crisis – the SUB-PRIME MORTGAGES!

How apt. The Obama administration seems bent on getting the scourge that caused the mayhem.

And I believe it was spot on!

These are the people who load others with burdens hard to bear ….. and yet they themselves do not touch these burdens with even one of their fingers!!

At a talk I attended recently, we were told these consultants are so-called not from the word ‘consult’ but from the acronym ‘ConSult’ ….. i.e. those who ‘Con’ you first for your money and then ‘inSult’ you later for your fallibility!!

Remember Lehman Brothers that collapsed earlier ….. and who applied similar despicable techniques as the one Goldman Sachs is alleged to have done …. the Repo 105 scam.

And who was it that seems to have affirmed the scam ….. the auditors …. in this case, Ernst & Young. The firm may be next in the line of fire from the SEC!

Come to think of it, the auditors seem to be seriously implicated in the scams that have exploded over the past few years. Satyam’s fiasco also resulted in the arrest of two partners from the audit firm, Pricewaterhouse.

Before Pricewaterhouse can claim it as a one-off, they had to also close shop in Japan in 2006 for being implicated in the accounting fraud by its cosmetic client Kanebo. The firms subsequently surfaced with another local Japanese firm under some joint venture.

All this points to the requirement for more government involvement moving forward ….. as opposed to leaving it totally to these so-called experts whose only motive seem to be PROFITS AT ALL COST!!

Closer to home, it may be wise for the Malaysian government to do like-wise. It would be good to remind them that in the economic crisis of the late 1990s, it was the government’s own economic adviser in the form of Rashid Hussain, who was implicated in the shorting of the Ringgit then!!

CAVEAT EMPTOR!

UPDATE (18 APRIL 2010) : Yes, the auditors for Goldman Sachs is Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC). Yes, PwC were also the auditors of AIG when it imploded ……… !