 Latitudes and Attitudes: What's in the News? By Glen Willard |
When I write this column I usually like to make it a "no-brainer". That is, something I can pop out that doesn't require too much thought and amuses me, even if no one else. That's what I'd prepared to do this time. I'd just completed a three-week trip to the U.S. visiting family in Georgia, Mississippi and Texas. I could report from the states on such matters as the good southern fried chicken I ate, not to mention eight straight days with fried okra and turnip greens (cooked with a ham hock by one aunt) on my plate, the Tex-Mex chow we had near Beaumont, the oyster po-boy in Vicksburg and the jambalaya and gumbo near Baton Rouge. Right there, that's maybe even two columns if proper deference is given to the locales and cuisine.
However, a review of the contents of the magazine this month gave cause for me to think maybe we focused fairly heavily on the less serious, but maybe more entertaining aspects. Besides, a review of the local weekly English newspaper dealt with a whole host of interesting subjects worth commenting on, some serious. So hear I go.
First, there were some entertaining letters to the editor apparently in response to a previous opinion piece on 'Stalin Wine'. It seems a good number in the Ukrainian Diaspora take issue with the piece.
I find it interesting sometimes what those folks get riled about. Anyway there may be issues here as to both free speech and what's commonly now referred to as PC. I may look into this further.
Then there was an opinion piece by the editor on "immunity for the powerful". This of course has to do with the basic and blatant disregard for the rule of law when applied (not applied) to members of the parliament. Certainly I'm all for pointing out (again) that the whole point of the rule of law is that no person be above it. Beyond certain aspects of the ministerial duties of their offices, no nation can claim to be a "nation of laws and not of men" if it offers complete, blanket immunity for its elected and/or appointed officials.
A note: I notice this newspaper seems to have started to make reference to 'tycoons'. It seems this is in places where it formerly, at least in some cases, referred to those same people as 'oligarchs'. If this is a policy change, it's an interesting one. I sympathize in a way since the latter term is sometimes overused and even misapplied. However, the Greek's definition of oligarchy, from which the term comes, is similar to my dictionary's: "a form of government in which the ruling power belongs to a few persons". Thus the term oligarch does seem applicable to many of the wealthy in Ukraine who directly, by holding public office, or indirectly by other means, wield undue power in the Ukrainian government. Plus, the term tycoon seems most quaint these days. To me at least.
Another article "Expat fights backyard land fiasco" points up the inadequacies of Ukrainian land law and property rights law. I say this is a minimum of what it may point up. Whether the case in point is one or not, clearly, the law and property rights, are open for abuse by corrupt and unscrupulous individuals and companies.
Anyway the story has to do basically and in simplest form with a dispute over ownership of land. One party is attempting to build on property others believe they own. I gather the property has been open and for some use by the people (the ex-pat group) and possibly there is an issue too in connection with lateral support. All societies over time develop laws related to land and water. By this I mean there is some form of recognition of prescriptive right (where land has been used openly for a period of time where such use is open and well-known), rules with respect to riparian use of water from streams, rivers, artesian wells, etc., rights of lateral support of edifices long constructed, property that through long communal use (such as a park) is treated as "dedicated" property, as well as many other laws that result from fairness and practical community living.
So my interest as a former "dirt lawyer" (real estate lawyer) is piqued by this case. Surely, whether codified properly or not, Ukraine must have some definitive law in this instance I would think. But clearly, Ukraine has to advance much further in its real property law. The property rights of individuals must be constitutionally protected in order to have a free society.
The final article or subject that interested me was a survey of accounting and auditing firms. Actually, the articles and interviews more than the survey. It's difficult to get into surveys when most of the interesting information has a WND in the columns.
The profession of accounting is near and dear to my heart. My undergraduate degree was in accounting and I became a certified public accountant in the U.S. the same year I passed my first state bar exam as a lawyer some 37 years ago. I practiced accounting with public accounting firms for 11 years, with about half that time spent as an auditor. I have great admiration for accountants and the profession of accounting. Standards are high and the people drawn to the profession are generally of the highest quality.
Nevertheless, the profession of accounting is in trouble worldwide. That's my opinion. The reason is that laws related to liability of accountants and their firms to third parties who are said to have relied on the reports of accountants and auditors has been so broadened over the past 50 or so years. There is no accounting firm in existence today that could not be forced out of business tomorrow due to liability lawsuits.
Accountants have to be independent. Accountants complicate their liability when they perform services other than pure auditing. They must perform services other than auditing in order to make money. Companies will simply, not of their own free will, pay sufficiently high rates for auditing services alone to allow accountants to make enough money to provide for and maintain the high quality of service, training and professionalism needed.
The current situation leads to conditions where too, the danger to the attest function of the accountant is great. The pressure on individual accountants has become too much.
Unfortunately, some day soon auditing services may have to regulated and monitored by government agencies. And shareholders and/or consumers (more likely) must bear the costs.
And Ukraine's accountants must be doubly troubled. This is my own thought. I'm sure I'll hear disagreement.
I have questions. Are Ukrainian accountants, when they attest, able to satisfy themselves as to the ownership of the entities they attest? Are they sure all companies relationships are known to them so that they can properly consolidate financial data (or segregate them)? What about inter-company pricing? How satisfied are they with the current and deferred tax provisions and liabilities? How comfortable can they be that there are not side deals, buyback arrangements when income is recognized?
The above questions are just a start. I can ask many more, most just as relevant. Note that those same questions have to be asked in any country in which one performs audits. To date, however, Ukraine has been a fairly lawless business society, much is opaque, the underground economy is huge, bribery exists as a part of doing business at many levels, not all the business owners and their associates are "nice" people (as in having an abiding affection and appreciation of the niceties of the law), and I can go on.
All in all I guess I didn't feel too well after reading the accounting and audit firms articles in the local paper. I'm happy those interviewed are doing well. Business and profits are
increasing. I don't envy them their jobs though. I do salute them as professionals and wish them the best of luck.
And that's my news review of the day.
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More in the section:
Random Notes: Ukraine, The Revived Brand
The Magnificent Obsession: part Five
Read also previous issue' articles:
RANDOM NOTES: Let's Have Another Holiday
Public Relations Versus Advertising
RANDOM NOTES: Billing by the Hour is Dumb
THE WORKPLACE: Public Relations and Common Sense
THE EAR: Looking Back - and to the Future
THE WORKPLACE: Can't Die? May As Well Work
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