Has India Abandoned IFRS?
I need to be careful here, because this is something I was told second hand: India has bailed out of IFRS. My source is a member of the Consultative Advisory Group of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. He…
A Letter from Dennis Beresford
On Monday evening I received an email from Denny Beresford, former FASB chair (once again via the AECM listserv). Although I feel compelled to state that Denny's letter does not change my own views on the key issues, it provides much…
There’s No Process Like FASB Due Process
The feedback from my last post, The Myth of FASB Due Process…, was mixed. On the bright side, Edith Orenstein, whose comments inspired my previous post, was flattered to be "venerated," even though we disagreed. And, accounting ethicist author, Michael…
The Myth of FASB Due Process: And the Fact of Undue Influence
When the FASB announced last month that it was retreating from its proposal to require fair value measurement of all loans, someone identified by various media outlets as an FASB spokesperson (one Neal McGarity, whose name is not listed among…
The FASB Could Rescue the Financial System – But It Won’t
If you want to understand the causes of the financial crisis from 25 pages instead of the 600 pages burped up by the FCIC, then read this: Understanding the Subprime Financial Crisis, by Duke Law professor Steven L. Schwarcz. I…
FCIC Gives Accounting Standards a Free Pass (Along with Practically Everybody Else)
Darn few, if anyone who wrote about the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission's 600-page report has anything good to say about it. Jonathan Weil at Bloomberg may have described its shortcomings as well as anyone, and he also provides a vivid example of how the…
Executory Contracts: The Root of Most Off-Balance-Sheet-Financing Evils
If I may be permitted to say so myself, my principles-based solution for curing repo accounting abuses is the bomb. The off-balance sheet effects of repo accounting could be obliterated by a simple 'gross up' (i.e., separate presentation) of: (1)…
The FASB’s Proposed Repo Accounting: Loopholes Still Abound?
Last November, the FASB issued Proposed Accounting Standards Update 1900-100, Transfers and Servicing (Topic 860): Reconsideration of Effective Control for Repurchase Agreements: "During the global economic crisis, capital market participants questioned the necessity and usefulness of the collateral maintenance guidance…