What would you do, if you had the authority as a regulator, to improve the audit deficiency rate among Big 4 accounting firms?
“I do not respect the SEC,” declared Mr. Musk. Who’s position do you support, Mr. Musk’s or the SEC’s? Why?
So, do you want managers to have audit experience, or not? Do you believe the conclusions? What are alternative explanations?
Do you believe there should be more competition in the audit market? Why or why not? What are some of the negative consequences of “breaking up” the Big 4?
If/when you become CEO of a public company, what lessons will you take from Elon Musk’s disclosure that resulted in the SEC suit? What may you announce via social media? Do you believe the SEC’s case is appropriate?
The pressure to hit Wall Street consensus expectations can make some go over to the “dark side.” How prevalent is this tendency, in your opinion? What additional steps do you think could or should be done to prevent such behaviors?
If you were the Chair of the SEC, would you be concerned about fewer public companies? If so, what would you do about it? Is promoting IPOs part of your official charge? Should it be?
If you were a CFO, would you want to move to semiannual reporting? If you were at the SEC, would you? If you were an investor? What are the issues?
What is your opinion of the FCPA? Why was it passed? Is it a “good” law? Why or why not? If you were in the C-suite at Microsoft, what would you do now? Are there any accounting implications? Contingent liabilities?
Dropbox prices its IPO at $21, and offers shares to the public with 1 vote per share, yet retains 10 votes per share for the founders and select investors. Do you think the price per share incorporates different voting rights? Should the SEC prohibit, or perhaps sunset, dual class structures? Why or why not?
How might GE’s culture of so-called “success theater” have contributed to potentially aggressive accounting (revenue recognition) practices? What systems may help control such tendencies, if they are indeed problematic?
The disclosure of CEO pay to the median employee pay was part of Dodd-Frank, and consequently appears to have been imposed “top-down” from Congress/regulatory agencies, rather than “bottom-up”, that is demanded by investors. Why do you think this is the case?
Do you believe that GE’s stock price is affected by the fact that it uses multiple “pro forma” or non-GAAP earnings measures? Why or why not?
If you were chair of the SEC, how would you measure the costs and benefits of financial disclosures to try to determine the optimal amount and type of disclosure?
How does the SEC decide which disclosures are problematic, such as those pertaining to free cash flow?
Do you think it is possible to devise a comprehensive and uniform way to determine whether pro forma earnings are reasonable, that is, that do not overstep the SEC’s guidelines for reporting non-GAAP earnings? Or, do these cases have to be considered on a case-by-case basis?
What would do (if you were CFO of a firm) if your firm suddenly is the topic of a social media “storm”? Does this trigger any type of required disclosure with the SEC? Would you need a “team” of social media monitors to keep up with social media trends?
What are some of the implications (accounting implications, implications on corporate behavior, etc.) if corporate penalties (fines, settlements) were all deemed to be permanently non-deductible? Do you agree with the proposed legislations? Why or why not?
