The University Club at the University of Regina was in financial distress. The club had been losing money for several years and was being subsidized by the University of Regina. However, due to budget cuts by the Saskatchewan government, the university was no longer in a position to subsidize the operations of the club. The board of the club had to make some tough decisions at this time. Could the club exist without university subsidy? Should the board increase membership fees, increase the number of members, or simply close the club? To make an informed decision they needed to perform a detailed analysis of the financial statements. An accounting professor, who had recently joined the club’s board, suggested performing ratio analysis to assess the problem areas.
On February 25, 2013, the chief investment officer at University of Regina Investing (URI) was reviewing the draft copy of the annual report for 2012 that was to be submitted to the client, the University of Regina. One investment that stood out was Poseidon Concepts Corporation, which the fund had bought at $14.02 per share in April 2012, had reached a high of CA$16.02 in September 2012, and had eventually lost all stock value. The chief investment officer decided to review the transaction to identify any warning signs or red flags indicating that Poseidon Concepts Corporation’s management was involved in earnings manipulation. If there were signs, and if they had been identified earlier, could URI have avoided incurred losses?
Transfer pricing used by multinational corporations to lower its tax burden, thereby increasing its consolidated income, can have far-reaching implications for the stakeholders, as a fund manager for Saskhedge fund found out the hard way. A stock investment the manager had made in Cameco Corporation has dropped its value by 20 per cent. In addition, Canada Revenue Agency has initiated a law suit against the firm for alleged tax avoidance in relation to the company's transfer pricing practices with its Swiss subsidiary. The suit could result in an additional tax liability of $800 million to $850 million. The manager needs to explain to the investment board the implications of the lawsuit on the stock price and advise the board on whether the projected $800 to $850 million is a fair estimate.