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PwC global chairman Mohamed Kande says the growth of artificial intelligence may eventually lead to fewer entry-level graduates being hired, although he said AI was not behind recent job cuts at the firm. In 2021, PwC said it wanted to hire 100,000 people over the course of five years, but Kande said this would no longer be possible. "When we made the plans to hire that many people, the world looked very, very different," he said. "Now we have artificial intelligence. We want to hire, but I don't know if it's going to be the same level of people that we hire - it will be a different set of people." Kande noted that PwC actually needed to hire hundreds of new AI engineers but was struggling to find them.

 

BBC News

The Guardian

Kohl's is expected to appoint Michael Bender as its permanent chief executive, following a board decision after reviewing several candidates. Mr Bender, who was previously CEO at Eyemart Express and also worked at Walmart and Victoria's Secret, has served as interim CEO since spring and has been on the board since 2019. He is set to replace Ashley Buchanan, who was dismissed over an undisclosed personal relationship that conflicted with company business.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

A cyberattack on tech vendor SitusAMC may have exposed client data for JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Morgan Stanley, and others, the New York Times has reported. The November 12 breach affected corporate data including accounting documents and legal contracts. SitusAMC CEO Michael Franco said customer data may also have been impacted, but the breach did not disrupt operations and no encrypting malware was used. Law enforcement, including the FBI, was notified. FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed no impact on core banking services but investigations are ongoing to assess the full scope.

 

New York Times

Reuters

A group of Chinese and Chinese-American employees who previously worked in TD Bank's New York branches say their roles were terminated as the lender sought to address its money-laundering breaches after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering involving criminal organizations. “TD Bank has aggressively and disparately enforced AML policies against its Chinese and Chinese-American employees and at its NYC Chinatown Branches because they are Chinese and unjustly and insincerely linked to the Chinese money brokers that used TD Bank, N.A. to launder millions of dollars gained from criminal activity,” according to the complaint.

 

The Globe and Mail

A federal appeals court has temporarily halted a California law requiring companies with annual revenues exceeding $500m to disclose how climate change may impact their finances. The law, set to take effect in January, aims to enhance transparency and encourage companies to evaluate their emissions reduction strategies. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce argued that the law infringes on First Amendment rights. Chamber of Commerce lawyer Daryl Joseffer said: “One state should not have the ability to impose this kind of burden on the entire country.” Meanwhile, another law mandating annual carbon emissions reporting for companies earning over $1bn can stay in place for now, the court ruled.

 

U.S. News

The Securities and Exchange Commission has dismissed its high-profile lawsuit against SolarWinds and its Chief Information Security Officer, Timothy Brown, over the 2020 Russia-linked Sunburst cyberattack. The case, filed in 2023, accused the firm of hiding security flaws but faced judicial pushback and industry criticism. A joint motion to dismiss with prejudice was filed Thursday. SolarWinds welcomed the move, saying: “We hope this resolution eases the concerns many CISOs have voiced.” The cybersecurity sector had feared the case could discourage transparency among security leaders.

 

Reuters

The global fund management industry is on track to reach $200tn in assets by 2030, up from $139tn last year, with private markets poised to account for more than half of revenues, according to a report by PwC. The asset- and wealth-management industry will take in about $432bn in revenue from private assets in 2030, exceeding the totals for traditional actively managed investments and for passive products, the consultancy found. “The winners won’t be those who gather the most assets, but those who rewire the fastest,” Albertha Charles, global asset and wealth management leader at PwC UK, said Monday in a report that surveyed 300 global firms and investors.

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

A new analysis by former senior Federal Reserve researcher John Roberts finds that the Trump administration’s the One Big Beautiful Bill will give the U.S. economy a short-term boost next year, primarily through roughly $100bn in extra early-year tax refunds. This is expected to raise GDP growth by about 0.4 percentage points in the first half of the year, though the effect will fade quickly, resulting in only a 0.32-point lift for the full year. However, the legislation will also significantly widen the federal deficit by about 0.8 percentage points, due to tax cuts and increased defense and border-security spending. These dynamics highlight the issues Federal Reserve officials will weigh in their upcoming December meeting, as internal divisions remain over the need for further rate cuts while President Donald Trump continues to push for lower interest rates

 

Reuters

The University of Michigan's final U.S. consumer sentiment index for November dropped to 51, from 53.6 in October, only slightly above the preliminary reading. The current conditions gauge slid 7.5 points to a record low of 51.1, while views of personal finances were the dimmest since 2009. Buying conditions for big-ticket goods dropped to the lowest on record.

 

Advisor Perspectives

Bloomberg

Intuit has reported an 18% rise in revenue to $3.89bn in the second quarter, driven by a 25% jump in QuickBooks revenue as more midsize firms adopted its artificial intelligence-enabled tools. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $3.34, beating analysts’ forecasts of $3.09. Net income more than doubled to $446m from $197m. The global business-solutions group, which includes QuickBooks, saw revenues increase 18% to $3bn, while consumer revenue rose 21% to $894m, supported by growth at Credit Karma. Intuit has reiterated full-year guidance for revenue growth of 12%-13%, and adjusted EPS between $22.98 and $23.18. Additionally, it has inked a multi-year deal worth more than $100m with OpenAI to use the ChatGPT maker's AI models to power the company's AI agents. Chief executive Sasan Goodarzi said the integration of Intuit apps within ChatGPT will involve "no revenue share", and customer data privacy and security principles will remain unchanged.

 

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

Bath & Body Works chief executive Daniel Heaf has criticised the retailer's now-abandoned strategy of targeting new categories at the expense of its core offering of body care, home fragrances, and decorative soaps. He added: “Over the years, consumers have evolved. They seek greater efficacy, ingredient-led products, modern packaging, emotive storytelling and elevated multi-channel experiences. Our competitors have risen to meet those needs. We have not". To address this, the firm is adopting a Consumer First Formula initiative that will see it exit categories such as haircare and men's grooming, recruit influencers to "ignite social buzz" around its products, and revamp its app and website. The third quarter ended November 1st brought revenues of $1.59bn, down 1% from a year earlier, and net income of $77m, or 37 cents per diluted share, down from $106m.

 

CNBC

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

Nicklaus Companies has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after a Florida court awarded founder Jack Nicklaus $50m in a defamation lawsuit. The company reported estimated assets of between $10m and $50m, and liabilities ranging from $500m to $1bn.

 

Bloomberg

Fieldguide has published a report highlighting a growing disconnect between artificial intelligence vision and execution in audit and advisory firms, with 83% of leaders saying their AI ambitions fail to translate into practice. While 94% report faster engagements and 81% link AI to profitability gains, operational barriers like poor data, integration issues, and internal resistance continue to stall firm-wide adoption. The study warns that failure to embed AI risks weakening competitiveness, as firms that invest in clean data and workflow refinement are already seeing compounding benefits.

 

CPA Practice Advisor

The FASB released a post-implementation review of its 2016 leasing standard, revealing that while it succeeded in providing investors with better insights into leasing activities, the implementation costs were significantly higher than anticipated. The report noted: "Although feedback from investors on the usefulness of lessees recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities is mixed, for many investors the lease assets and lease liabilities are a useful starting point." FASB chair Rich Jones and technical director Jackson Day acknowledged the challenges faced by stakeholders in adapting to this major accounting change. The standard, which required companies to include operating leases on their balance sheets, was initially set to take effect in 2019 for public companies and 2020 for private companies, but faced delays due to the pandemic. FASB plans to continue monitoring and improving the standard as necessary.

 

Bloomberg Tax

Accounting Today

CPA Practice Advisor

The United States, alongside over 70 countries, has committed to the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). This framework aims to enhance transparency in digital asset reporting, similar to the Common Reporting Standard. The US Treasury has submitted regulations to implement CARF by 2029, requiring foreign crypto exchanges to report U.S. account holders to the IRS. Currently, the IRS lacks visibility into foreign crypto accounts, but CARF will address this gap.

 

Forbes

IBM and Cisco aim to connect quantum computers over long distances by 2030, laying the groundwork for a future quantum internet. The initiative requires developing new technologies like a microwave-optical transducer to convert quantum data into signals for fiber-optic transmission. “We are looking at this end-to-end as a system . . . rather than two discrete road maps,” said Vijoy Pandey, SVP at Cisco’s Outshift. IBM’s Jay Gambetta highlighted the challenge of converting stationary qubits into “flying” microwave qubits. Both companies will also release open-source tools to support the project.

 

Reuters