Deloitte Appoints NYSSCPA Members to Executive Spots
By NYSSCPA.org News Staff

NEW YORK -- Deloitte & Touche announced this week that New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA) members were appointed to high-level company positions.

The Big Four accounting firm announced Saturday that its board had nominated NYSSCPA member William G. Parrett as chief executive officer of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Bloomberg News reported.

Parrett, 57, the managing partner of the firm's Deloitte & Touche unit, joined Deloitte in 1967, and became a partner in 1977. If confirmed in April by a majority of Deloitte's 7,000 partners will take office effective June 1.

Parrett would succeed James E. Copeland Jr. as global chief executive. Copeland announced last September that he would retire when his term expires in May. He did not cite a specific reason for his departure, but he said that the recent accounting scandals had been difficult.

The firm, based in New York, will search for a chief executive for its Deloitte & Touche unit, a spokesman, Matthew Batters, said.

On Tuesday, Deloitte & Touche announced that NYSSCPA members James H. Quigley and Barry Salzberg, will become U.S. Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the U.S. Board of Directors respectively, effective June 1. The firm also announced that Sharon L. Allen of California will become Managing Partner.

"I am pleased that the firm has elected people of such talent and integrity to lead the firm both in the U.S. and globally,” Copeland said. “All of our new leaders have the personal character to offer outstanding leadership for our firm and profession during a period when we must rebuild the confidence of the investing public in our capital markets system.”

Quigley, 50, of New Canaan, Conn., is currently Co-Regional Managing Partner in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and is a member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors. Salzberg, 49, of Edison, N.J., is currently a U.S. Deputy Managing Partner, head of the U.S. Tax Services practice and member of the Executive Committee. Allen, 51, is a current board member and the firm's Regional Managing Partner for the Pacific Southwest, including Southern California, Arizona and Nevada.

Parrett said he would probably focus on trying to make the differing accounting rules in different countries more compatible, as well as on trying to bring the Big Four firms to consensus on critical issues, The New York Times reported Monday.

"One of my key objectives will be to ensure that we have a positive face to the investment community to help restore trust," he said. "On professional issues, on technical issues and on matters affecting the investing public, we should speak as a profession."

Parrett also said Deloitte will soon join the other big accounting firms in splitting consulting and auditing services, Reuters reported.

"We're hoping to get that completed in the next couple of weeks," Parrett said.

On Tuesday, Parrett said that audit clients should be able to allow Deloitte to prepare tax strategies for senior executives, the Financial Times reported.

Parrett said it should be a matter of choice, but that a ban on such tax work would reduce the amount of knowledge an audit firm had about its clients, endangering the quality of its work.

"These things tend to go in cycles," Parrett said. He said it used to be the case that senior executives had to have their tax work done by their employer's auditor. "What is important is that Deloitte delivers top-quality products and not get involved in sub-standard ideas."