"I can't spend all my time looking at this standards issue and doing the job at the council, so I thought the best thing to do was to temporarily stand down for two to three weeks to deal with this matter and then get back to running what is regarded by the Audit Commission as one of the best-run councils in the country".

BBC: Derrick Murphy

It is set against a background of concern that Wales is running out of landfill space, with the National Audit Office (NAO) Wales last year recommending that 500 new waste management facilities were needed by 2010.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Wales | Council landfill waste reduction

And corporate-audit clients would also have to subscribe to the board's running costs.

ECONOMIST: A profession under fire | The

For example, while David Sokol was running around in 2010 making deals for himself and his employer with Lubrizol, the Berkshire Hathaway Audit Committee held only five formal meetings.

FORBES: Why Did IGT Hire John Vandemore? Quick Answer is PwC

But as millions of procrastinators scramble to meet Monday's deadline to file their taxes, the agency is running every tax return through a confidential computer program to determine the chances of collecting more money from an audit.

WSJ: AP Exclusive: Likely tax cheats flock South, West