Securitization Accounting and Grand Theft Auto
Many books and articles have been written to describe the mishaps that led to the Great Recession of 2008, but few have done so while putting the role of accounting standards and auditing in context. I reported back in January…
Ten Claims in Support of IFRS Adoption by the SEC – and Why They are False (Part Three of Three)
Click here for Part One of this Three-Part Series. * * * * * False Claim # 6: Costs of conversion to IFRS can be spread out over a long transition period. All I can do here is to point out…
Ten Claims in Support of IFRS Adoption by the SEC – and Why They are False (Part Two of Three)
Click here for Part One of this Three-Part Series. * * * * * False Claim #2: A move to IFRS would restore the public trust in accounting standards. I'm going to present three examples – one from 2007 and…
Ten Claims in Support of IFRS Adoption by the SEC – and Why They are False (Part One of Three)
Dear Reader, This essay is far too long for one blog post. For that reason, I have chopped it into three pieces, with links at the end of each one to take you to the next. I apologize for any…
Where is the Center for Audit Quality When We Actually Could Use It?
Below is an email I received from Lynn Turner. My several comments are in brackets, and the italics/bolding are all supplied by yours truly (I also took the liberty of fixing a couple of minor typos): "One of the interesting…
The JOBS Act: Plutocracy in Action
The Jumpstart Our Business Act (H.R. 3606) was recently passed by the House of Representatives and sent to the Senate. Without meaning to put words into anyone's mouth, the JOBS Act appears to be based on three highly uncertain premises:…
Stock Compensation, Tax Law, Financial Reporting and Facebook’s IPO
Last August, I wrote a post in which I expressed my dismay that Carl Levin (D-Michigan) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are trying to make tax law based on the premise that FASB rules for stock options are caviar -- when…
Another “Case” of Terrible Decisions Borne of Terrible Accounting Rules
My parable about GM's earnings-management-driven pension decisions inspired a friend of this blog (let's call him Mark) to share a story from around the same time period. I worked at J. I. Case, the farm and construction equipment manufacturer. As…