" U.S. accounting firm Deloitte & Touche LLP has won a lawsuit against a former top executive it accused of improperly trading in stocks and options of the firm's clients, including Motorola Inc and Best Buy Co Inc. A Delaware court sided with Deloitte in the case in an opinion dated Dec. 29, saying the former executive, Thomas Flanagan, had "obviously" been in violation of his employers' independence policies in making certain trades. Deloitte had sued Flanagan in Delaware Chancery Court in October 2008 for breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and breach of contract, saying the 30-year partner who had risen to vice chairman of the firm had secretly hidden trades in shares of Deloitte's audit clients and lied about it to the firm. "Because an auditor sells, at base, its independence and integrity, the firm relies heavily on the purported honesty and independence of its professionals," Vice Chancellor John Noble, of the Delaware ...
Blogged about my life in the Big 4 and now about life in Private Accounting