The Accounting department is celebrating graduates of these classes by hosting our first ever class reunion.  If you are a graduate (Bachelor, Masters, or PhD) in any of these years, please read the invitation at http://www.utk.edu/email/cba/201409.html and RSVP to attend.  You will have a chance to meet up with old classmates, professors, and other UT friends.  We hope to see you there!

Carcello is the E&Y and Business Alumni Professor in the Department of Accounting and Information Management in UT’s College of Business Administration. He also is department head and executive director of the Neel Corporate Governance Center at UT.

The purpose of the advisory committee is to advise and make recommendations to the SEC as the SEC seeks to protect investors; promote investor confidence and integrity in the securities marketplace; and maintain fair, orderly and efficient markets. The 21-person committee consists of Carcello, the SEC’s full-time Investor Advocate, two law professors, two former SEC commissioners, and fifteen senior executives of financial institutions, institutional investors, and investor advocacy groups. The committee was established in 2010 with the passing of the Dodd-Frank Act.

“I am tremendously honored to be associated with this prestigious group,” said Carcello. “An important issue facing any advanced economy is establishing efficient and well-functioning securities markets that have adequate protection for investors. I welcome the opportunity to join these distinguished individuals to help the SEC carry out its important mandate.”

The SEC oversees all public companies, stockbrokers, and security dealers, and shares oversight of financial institutions with other regulators. “If you touch the financial markets, the committee’s recommendations can affect you,” continued Carcello. Commission members were selected based on their expertise in financial markets, years of experience, and personal integrity.

“We are honored by this significant recognition to Professor Carcello,” said Steve Mangum, dean of the UT College of Business Administration. “He is a leading academic in his discipline, a dedicated teacher, and a significant contributor to the reputation of the University of Tennessee. His impact on our students and programs will be further enhanced by his service on this prestigious committee.”

Carcello brings extensive credentials to the Investor Advisory Committee. He has been an expert witness for the SEC and has been involved on two Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) advisory boards; he currently serves on the PCAOB Investor Advisory Group, which advises on investors’ issues, and has served on its Standing Advisory Group, which advises on auditing standards. He has published dozens of articles in academic and professional journals on audit committee performance, financial fraud, going-concern reporting, and audit quality.

Carcello was named by Business Finance magazine as one of the “most influential” individuals in accounting and finance for four consecutive years (2004-07), the only academic to be so recognized, and was named by Business Week as a “prominent faculty” in its ranking of undergraduate business programs.

In addition to Carcello, the members of the Investor Advisory Committee are:

• Darcy Bradbury; managing director and director of external affairs; D.E. Shaw & Co., L.P.
• J. Robert Brown Jr.; law professor, University of Denver
• Eugene Duffy; partner and principal; Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC
• Rick Fleming; investor advocate; SEC
• Roger Ganser; chairman of the board of directors; BetterInvesting
• James Glassman; executive director; George W. Bush Institute
• Craig Goettsch; director of investor education and consumer outreach; Iowa Insurance Division
• Joseph Grundfest; William A. Franke Professor of Law and Business; Stanford Law School
• Mellody Hobson; president and director; Ariel Investment, LLC.
• Stephen Holmes; general partner and COO; InterWest Partners
• Adam Kanzer; managing director and general counsel; Domini Social Investments; chief legal officer; Domini Funds
• Roy Katzovicz; partner, investment team member and chief legal officer; Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P.
• Barbara Roper; director of investor protection; Consumer Federation of America
• Kurt Schacht; managing director; CFA Institute
• Alan Schnitzer; vice chairman and chief legal officer, The Travelers Companies, Inc.
• Jean Setzfand; director of financial security; AARP
• Anne Sheehan; director of corporate governance; California State Teachers’ Retirement System
• Damon Silvers; associate general counsel; AFL-CIO
• Steven Wallman; founder and CEO; Foliofn, Inc.
• Ann Yerger; executive director; Council or Institutional Investors

The article further references Dr. Dreher:  “Dreher, who recently published a research paper examining the impact of proxy advisor recommendations and shareholder voting on auditor ratification, says that while there is a higher auditor dismissal rate following an event like a restatement, the change in auditor is not being made because of shareholder recommendations.  “Auditor ratification votes are typically very high, so even with a negative proxy advisor recommendation, there was a shift of maybe 5 percentage points, which isn’t very much,” she says. “But even with such a small deviation, shouldn’t that small amount still make directors wonder why shareholders are so concerned? It doesn’t appear that it does.”

Dreher says that while companies may have an argument for sticking with an auditor following an error, their reasoning and thoughts behind that decision aren’t typically disclosed, which could make a big difference in how shareholders view the vote the following year.”

The full text of the article can be found at:http://www.agendaweek.com/c/889724/84984/bank_america_opposition_puts_auditor_ratification_spotlight?referrer_module=issueHeadline&module_order=2