Top Ten Reasons Why U.S. Adoption of IFRS is a Terrible Idea
[Click here for the 2012 version.] Now that the SEC has proposed its "roadmap" for jettisoning US GAAP in favor of IFRS, critics are finally starting to build momentum. Charles Niemeier, outgoing PCAOB board member, delivered a brilliant critique of the SEC's…
IAS 24: Related Party Disclosures Are Too Transparent to Suit China
Earlier this month, Compliance Week published an article entitled, "Related-Party Transactions Bane of China's IFRS." I had been generally aware that China's eagerness to fully embrace IFRS had been tempered by its reluctance to furnish the required related party disclosures…
IFRIC 15: Revenue Recognition Rules Hark Back to Not-So-Good Ole Days of U.S. Accounting
With the SEC's publication of their proposed roadmap for the U.S. adoption of IFRS, all of the press coverage I have been reading has focused on the big picture. (As usual, Floyd Norris's is among the best.) But in the…
The Futility of SEC Oil and Gas Disclosures: Part II
A couple of posts ago, I wrote about the SEC's project for revamping the reserves disclosures made by oil and gas companies. In particular, I focused on appropriate prices to be used for measuring the value of recognized reserves. Notwithstanding…
No Escaping the Politics of Information
It's one thing to rely on misleading financial statements and invest in a company that soon thereafter goes bankrupt; and quite another to invest in a hip replacement operation that turns out badly because your doctor had misleading information concerning…
FAS 140: Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off
I concluded my previous post by stating that financial reporting could be a lot less complex if the exclusive focus were on providing information of value to investors. There are many examples of the costs of failing to adhere to…
CIFiR Fumbles, Stumbles and Bumbles at the Goal Line
Pre-eminent: "surpassing all others" (Compact Oxford English Dictionary); "having paramount rank, dignity, or importance" (Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary). I have interrupted composing a post that will solve all of the problems of securitization accounting to bring you this: my latest discovery…
SEC on Oil and Gas Disclosures: Current Prices Aren’t “Meaningful”?
The issue I'm going to focus on is one that has been on everyone's mind for the last few months, although in a somewhat different context: the price of oil. The SEC has issued proposed rulemaking release No. 33-8935, Modernization…