With Niemeier as Chief Accountant, the Yoke of IFRS Will be Lifted
I recently found this quote from H. G. Wells, the English novelist and historian, in the introduction to the "Mike Gravel edition" of the Pentagon Papers: "The true strength of rules and empires lies not in armies or emotion, but…
High “Power Distance” at the SEC: Why Madoff Was Allowed to Take Investors Down with Him
Ever since I read Malcom Gladwell's acclaimed new book, Outliers: The Story of Success, I have been thinking about its many policy implications. The main message of the book is that highly successful people owe much more than one would…
Interesting Exchanges on FASB and IASB Governance
Since my previous post on the FASB's 3 - 2 vote to finalize the investor-indifferent FSP EITF 99-20-1, I have received a number of comments regarding the extent to which board size and composition have affected financial reporting standards. Alpha…
FSP EITF 99-20-1: Dissenting Board Members Hit the Nail on the Head
Do you think that stable funding could allow the IASB to divorce itself from the influence of the EU? If so, consider the example the FASB is setting under similar circumstances, and think again. The U.S. standard setter was granted…
Making Financial Statement Presentation Simple: Mandate Account Reconciliations
Following my most recent post on financial statement presentation, Eddie Thomas, a frequent commenter of this blog, wrote: "Wouldn't investors be better off pushing for a more robust XBRL so that they can make their own decisions about what is…
Financial Statement Presentation: The Sequel
Two readers, including Robert Bloomfield, Cornell accounting professor (my alma mater!) and Director of the Financial Accounting Standards Research Initiative (FASRI) of the FASB, were kind enough to point out an error in my previous post. Here is the gist…
The “Preliminary Views” on Financial Statement Presentation: Seven Years of Deliberation for This?
This past October, the FASB and IASB issued a joint discussion paper with their preliminary views on financial statement presentation: "[The IASB and FASB initiated the joint project on financial statement presentation to address users' concerns that existing requirements permit…
IASB: The Rules of Arithmetic Are Suspended Indefinitely
"The London Symphony played Beethoven last evening, and Beethoven lost." That quotation, which my father attributed to George Bernard Shaw, leapt into my mind as I read Marie Leone's CFO.com report of remarks made by Thomas Jones, vice chairman of…