Sunday News Roundup 26.01.25: Davos D-Day, audit watchdogs defanged, and more Canadian accounting news
Our weekly Canadian accounting news roundup includes the Mark Carney in Davos, the PCAOB and FRC pressured, PwC Canada and the Martel Ponzi, and much more
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TORONTO, Jan. 25, 2026 – Without a doubt, the biggest business news of the week was Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech at the 56th World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Entitled "Principled and Pragmatic: Canada's Path," the speech outlined a “rupture in the world order," and combined an economic path forward for middle powers such as Canada, with a veiled denunciation of Donald Trump and the United States.
Was it Churchillian? Perhaps in spirit if not in standard, though Carney quoted Thucydides and referenced Vaclav Havel, and it earned Carney a rare standing ovation, garnering headlines around the world, and provoking the ire of the US president, whose feelings are clearly hurt. To stretch the metaphor to the silliest of extremes, let’s call it the economic equivalent of D-Day, if the “D” stands for “Donald” or maybe “Davos-Day.”
Of course, the Davos speech followed closely upon Carney’s announcement of a trade deal with China, in which Carney essentially traded import access (electric cars) for export access (canola). As this article goes to press, Donald Trump is blowing up on Truth Social, saying “Canada is systematically destroying itself” and China is “taking over” Canada. In all the hullabaloo, it was easy to miss the very real ramifications of the Trump regime in American accounting, which is influencing accounting regulators around the world.
US audit watchdog defanged, UK audit bill put to sleep
Case in point: The defanging of the US audit watchdog known as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. It began back in July of 2025 with the ousting of Erica Y. Williams as the Chair of the PCAOB. Since then, it’s been a steady drip of deregulation in American accounting, with a chilling effect in monitoring and enforcement following the confirmation of a new SEC chair. We now have evidence that enforcement has dramatically declined and the regulator’s budget drastically reduced.
One fascinating byproduct of this extreme deregulation is the effect its having around the world. Clearly, accounting firms in the UK are seeing this as a similar window of opportunity, and the Starmer government is caving into demands under the cover of “competitiveness.” According to Accountancy Age, “a rare alliance of the Big Four and mid-tier firms is pushing the FRC to abandon its controversial ‘name and shame’ policy.”
Who knows? The firms may just get their wish, as the Starmer government quietly killed the long-anticipated Audit and Corporate Governance Reform Bill, almost eight years to the date of the collapse of Carillion. In a surprise statement, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) issued a statement, saying: "We cannot hide our disappointment that after many false dawns, the government has decided to scrap the Audit and Corporate Governance Bill.”
The Guardian UK called the announcement “feeble,” saying that, “eight years after systemic flaws were exposed, ministers have abandoned their long-promised overhaul in favour of another ‘pro-growth’ nod.” As for the UK accounting profession, the names BHS (2016), Carillion (2018), Patisserie Valerie and Thomas Cook (both 2019) and more will be forgotten, except by the many thousands who lost their jobs.
One wonders what it all means for Canadian audit regulation. Now, on to the rest of the news from the past week in Canadian accounting.
PwC Canada to get paid in Ponzi scheme recovery plan
If you’re living on the West Coast, you’re already familiar with the story of Gregory Martel, a mortgage broker who ran a Madoff-like Ponzi scheme, and is now a fugitive wanted by the FBI. The CBC reported this past week that the court-appointed receiver, PwC Canada, stands to bill over $12 million yet it has only collected $892,490 to date for work it performed between April and July 2023.
Moreover, PricewaterhouseCoopers is first in line to get paid, following a judicial ruling by BC courts that allows PwC to claw back profits from Martel investors that made money, in order to pay creditors. That was bad news for investors that unwittingly invested in Martel’s scheme, who said they were being “robbed twice,” this time by the Canada Revenue Agency. The CRA later released a statement saying that saying “in some circumstances, PwC can cancel or amend T5 slips.”
Lessons Learned: When junior accountants take time off to study
Interesting little human resource story from the Daily Hive about an accounting firm that had to take its former employee, a staff accountant, to the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal. While the Daily Hive gets the basic facts straight, you have to read the actual decision to really understand the issue. Reading between the lines, the story is actually about a junior accountant who took time off to study for his designation, and then left for another job offer.
Lesson learned? If you’re going to allow your accounting student to accrue a negative vacation balance so they can study for the exam, make sure you have an explicit human resource policy in place, so you don’t have to take your former employee to court.
Quick Hits: Articles of Interest
Canadian
Yellowknife accounting firm files defamation suit against Norman Wells town officials (CBC)
How creative accounting made Trans Mountain look profitable (The Tyee)
International
The UK government’s retreat from Carillion audit reforms is feeble (Guardian UK)
By Canadian Accountant staff.
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