Monday, March 13, 2023

Yes, The Rumors Are True: Silicon Valley Bank's Auditors Issued An "Unqualified" Opinion On The Bank's Financials Two Weeks Before It Failed (SIVB; OOPS)

From Going Concern, Friday March 10:

It's true (Part II, Item 8 “Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm”). KPMG has served as SVB auditor since 1994.

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/s/ KPMG LLP (185)
We have served as the Company's auditor since 1994.
San Francisco, California
February 24, 2023
 
Even Bailey Bros. got a qualified opinion, jeez.

We've been down this road before, thanks to former Wall Street Journal blogmeister Matt Phillips.

First posted December 20, 2012: 

"Auditor: 'Material Weaknesses' at Bailey Bros. Building and Loan"
Uh oh.
Via Quartz:

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm to the Shareholders and
Board of Directors of the Bailey Bros. Building & Loan Association
We have audited the Bailey Bros. Building & Loan Association (the Building & Loan) internal controls and financial reporting as of [Sept.. 30, 1945]. The management of the Building & Loan is responsible for maintaining such controls, along with assessing their effectiveness and conformity with prevailing accounting and financial standards. Our responsibility is merely to express an opinion.
As such, we are compelled to inform you that we have discovered several instances of material weaknesses and deficiencies which may put shareholders and indeed the entire community of Bedford Falls at significant risk. Frankly, the Bailey Bros. Building & Loan Assoc. is a terribly run financial institution. We’ve never seen anything like it.

Much of our concern is centered on the fitness of Vice President William Bailey for the day-to-day management of the firm’s cash accounts. We made several attempts to interview Mr. Bailey as part of our audit, including arranging no less than six separate appointments at which he failed to appear. It was only after arriving unannounced at the Building & Loan’s downtown Bedford Falls headquarters on Nov. 21, that we were able to meet with Mr. Bailey. Our visit did little to allay our concerns.

Upon entering we witnessed Mr. Bailey drinking an unknown substance—we believe it to have been liquor—from a small flask. And when we questioned him about the several missed appearances, he grew visibly distraught and confused, repeatedly showing us a series of strings knotted around his fingers. Perhaps most distressing was the presence of wildlife—we witnessed a squirrel, crow and owl—in Mr. Bailey’s office, which is both a potential health hazard and liability for the Building & Loan.

Let us be blunt. “Uncle Billy,” as Mr. Bailey is known, exhibits clear symptoms of early stage dementia....
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