Freddie fallout (scroll down at the link)

Freddie Mac CFO Anthony Piszel is now trying to unload his own real estate, provided someone can get a mortgage to buy it.

Piszel, 51, whose job is hanging by a thread at the beleaguered finance company, listed his stately vacation playground on Maryland's Eastern Shore two weeks ago for $5 million - presumably since learning the fate of the company.

The custom-renovated, three-story Georgian-style mansion, known as "Rigby's Lott," is on 4.5 gated waterfront acres. It features six bedrooms, six baths, formal dining and living rooms, a cherry-paneled den, game/media room and gourmet kitchen.

Piszel bought the Easton, Md., spread - which includes a new pool, hot tub, a guest house, a horse stable and riding ring - only 18 months ago.

Anthony “Buddy” Piszel joined Freddie Mac in November 2006 as the executive vice president and chief financial officer. Piszel is a member of the company’s senior executive leadership team and reports directly to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard F. Syron.

As chief financial officer, Piszel is responsible for the company’s financial controls, financial reporting, tax, capital oversight, and compliance with the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley. He also oversees the company’s annual budgeting and financial planning processes.

e Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Pub.L. 107-204, 116 Stat. 745, enacted 2002-07-30), also known as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 and commonly called SOX or Sarbox; is a United States federal law enacted on July 30, 2002 in response to a number of major corporate and accounting scandals including those affecting Enron, Tyco International, Adelphia, Peregrine Systems and WorldCom. These scandals, which cost investors billions of dollars when the share prices of the affected companies collapsed, shook public confidence in the nation’s securities markets. Named after sponsors Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) and Representative Michael G. Oxley (R-OH), the Act was approved by the House by a vote of 423-3 and by the Senate 99-0. President George W. Bush signed it into law, stating it included “the most far-reaching reforms of American business practices since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt.”[1]

The legislation establishes new or enhanced standards for all U.S. public company boards, management, and public accounting firms. It does not apply to privately held companies. The Act contains 11 titles, or sections, ranging from additional Corporate Board responsibilities to criminal penalties, and requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to implement rulings on requirements to comply with the new law. Debate continues over the perceived benefits and costs of SOX. Supporters contend that the legislation was necessary and has played a useful role in restoring public confidence in the nation’s capital markets by, among other things, strengthening corporate accounting controls. Opponents of the bill claim that it has reduced America’s international competitive edge against foreign financial service providers, claiming that SOX has introduced an overly complex and regulatory environment into U.S. financial markets.[2]

The Act establishes a new quasi-public agency, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB, which is charged with overseeing, regulating, inspecting, and disciplining accounting firms in their roles as auditors of public companies. The Act also covers issues such as auditor independence, corporate governance, internal control assessment, and enhanced financial disclosure.

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
he Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (or PCAOB) (sometimes called “Peekaboo”) is a private-sector, non-profit corporation created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a 2002 United States federal law, to oversee the auditors of public companies. Its stated purpose is to ‘protect the interests of investors and further the public interest in the preparation of informative, fair, and independent audit reports’. Although a private entity, the PCAOB has many government-like regulatory functions, making it in some ways similar to the private Self Regulatory Organizations (SROs) that regulate stock markets and other aspects of the financial markets in the United States.

Under Section 101 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the PCAOB has the power to:

* register public accounting firms that prepare audit reports for issuers;

* set auditing, quality control, ethics, independence and other standards relating to the preparation of audit reports by issuers;

* conduct inspections of registered public accounting firms;

* conduct investigations and disciplinary proceedings concerning, and impose appropriate sanctions where justified upon, registered public accounting firms and associated persons of such firms (including fines of up to $100,000 against individual auditors, and $2 million against audit firms);

* perform such other duties or functions as the Board (or the SEC) determines are necessary or appropriate to promote high professional standards among, and improve the quality of audit services offered by, registered public accounting firms and their employees;

* sue and be sued, complain and defend, in its corporate name and through its own counsel, with the approval of the SEC, in any Federal, State or other court;

* conduct its operations, maintain offices, and exercise all of its rights and powers in any part of the United States, without regard to any qualification, licensing or other provision of State or municipal law;

* hire staff, accountants, attorneys and other agents as may be necessary or appropriate to the PCAOB’s mission (with salaries set at a level comparable to private sector self-regulatory, accounting, technical, supervisory, or other staff or management positions);

* allocate, assess, and collect accounting support fees that fund the board; and,

* enter into contracts, execute instruments, incur liabilities, and do any and all other acts and things necessary, appropriate, or incidental to the conduct of its operations and the exercise of its powers under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

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