(UPDATE) Some KPMGers and Their Kin a Tad Outraged They’re Missing Out on a Billion Dollars

Posted on by Adrienne Gonzalez

We've put out a call for a copy of the email, which appears to be internal (hey, maybe YOU can share with the class), but until then, let's take a look at what has Klynveldians all worked up this time:

WTF!! KPMG employees cannot enter in the Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge 🙁

"Quicken Loans has selected KPMG to serve as an Independent Observer and to perform an agreed-upon procedures engagement in relation to its “Quicken Loans Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge with Yahoo Sports.”

Quicken has published strict eligibility restrictions which prohibit KPMG partners, employees, and their immediate family members (parents, children, siblings or spouse, regardless of where they live, or persons living in the same household, whether related or not) from entering or winning the contest. Please comply with these restrictions and do not enter Quicken Loans Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge.

This is confirmed by a Klynveldian-by-relation, who somehow found GC and had to bitch that because his kin works there, he can't participate either (gotta keep on top of that independence, ya know):

My [family member] works at KPMG so I am not eligible to enter the Quicken Loans billion dollar bracket challenge even though we don't live in the same household or anything. I was really banking on winning that. But seriously how fucked is that? Probably Scott London's fault.

Please don't tell me his family was talking about Scott London at the Thanksgiving table last year.

Anyhoo, it's true, written right here in those official rules that no one ever reads:

Employees, contractors, directors, and officers, and their immediate family members (parents, children, siblings or spouse, regardless of where they live, or persons living in same household, whether related or not) of the sponsor, Quicken Loans Inc. ("Sponsor"), its subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, consultants, legal counsel, accounting firms, public relations, sales representatives, website providers (including but not limited to Yahoo), webmasters, advertising and promotional, and marketing agencies, and any others engaged in the development, production, execution or distribution of this Challenge (collectively, "Challenge Entities") are not eligible to enter or win.

For everyone else, you have until March 20th to get on this and rub it in the face of your KPMG and KPMG Kin pals.

UPDATE: The internal communication from KPMG to its lowly minions appears below for your reading pleasure.

"Special Ethics and Independence Message

Issue 2014-02 | March 14, 2014

Important Notice – Quicken Loans’ Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge

Quicken Loans has selected KPMG to serve as an Independent Observer and to perform an agreed-upon procedures engagement in relation to its “Quicken Loans Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge with Yahoo Sports.”

Quicken has published strict eligibility restrictions which prohibit KPMG partners, employees, and their immediate family members (parents, children, siblings or spouse, regardless of where they live, or persons living in the same household, whether related or not) from entering or winning the contest. Please comply with these restrictions and do not enter Quicken Loans Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge.

Except for partners and employees who participate on this agreed-upon procedures engagement, including partners who directly supervise the engagement partner, this engagement does not impact the loans and investments that other KPMG partners and employees may have with Quicken Loans."

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First Marblehead Taking a Mulligan on Financial Statements

More importantly, how are the KPMG auditors celebrating (because we want to know)?

From the 8-K, filed this morning:

On May 10, 2011, The First Marblehead Corporation (the “Corporation”) announced that its board of directors (the “Board of Directors”), in consultation with management, the audit committee of the Board of Directors (the “Audit Committee”) and KPMG LLP, the Corporation’s independent registered public accounting firm, concluded that certain unaudited financial statements previously issued by the Corporation should no longer be relied upon.

In order to correct errors in the recording of certain non-cash items, as described below, the Corporation will restate the unaudited financial statements contained in the Corporation’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2010 (the “Q1 Form 10-Q”) and the Corporation’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2010 (the “Q2 Form 10-Q”). The Corporation expects to file the restated Q1 Form 10-Q and the restated Q2 Form 10-Q, as well as the Corporation’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2011 (the “Q3 Form 10-Q”), no later than May 16, 2011.

If you really want to get into the gory details, First Marblehead is bringing 14 securitization trusts onto the balance sheet that were previously accounted for off-balance sheet and its deferred tax assets in Q1 and Q2 are jumping over to the liability side (and the corresponding benefits are becoming expenses). The company says this is NBD as CFO Ken Klipper said, “These restatements … do not affect our cash position and are expected to have no impact on our ongoing business operations.” But the next six days may be a little uncomfortable for the accounting department and the KPMG audit team.