Grant Thornton

Two recent reports suggest that there's great variation in global confidence levels, both in the U.S. and abroad. And the U.S. isn't exactly the home of the confident. Latin America, led by a booming Brazil, leads the world in confidence these days.

Koss Corp. has sued its auditor, Grant Thornton, for failing to find the alleged $31 million fraud perpetrated by Koss' VP of Finance. It's easy to point fingers, but in this case, it seems clear the blame lies with Koss management.

Big national banks get the attention, but it turns out that small banks are more interested in snapping up failed former rivals than their larger competitors. Some 46% of small banks say they're keen on bidding for failed banks' assets, compared with just 36% of large banks.

How does the alleged $31 million fraud at Koss Corp., a company with sales of no more than $45 million, go undetected for years? Blame management. It gave the employee charged with misappropriating funds far too much autonomy. And it never told auditors to do more than just the required audit.

The news keeps getting worse at embattled stereo-headphone maker Koss Corp. The Milwaukee company now fears that the amount that disappeared from its coffers is closer to $31 million, according to a filing by CEO Michael Koss with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. The company last month...