If we don’t destroy ourselves first, we will someday discover intelligent life on another planet. But when we do, the chances are about one in a billion that we'll find hedge accounting standards more complex than our own. Now would also be…
While on the cusp of one more financial crisis, the time has come to ask yet again: What is the FASB accomplishing that will fix the deeply flawed accounting by banks for loan losses? Answer: nada, nichts, bupkis, absolutely nothing. Instead, the FASB has been wallowing…
Once one chooses to ignore market values and to account for loans on the basis of "amortized cost" – as the IASB has "tentatively" concluded and the FASB may now be starting to question once again – the inevitable and…
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…
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…
Some folks can see fine art in a soup can label, or poetry in a user's manual. I don't mean to brag when I state that I have a similar talent. I seem to have a knack for stumbling upon interesting accounting…
This is one thing of which I am certain: If finalized, the fair value provisions of the FASB's financial instruments exposure draft (file no 1810-100) would be the most significant change to financial reporting since the founding of the FASB…
I don't watch TV very much, except for sports – lots of sports. I nonetheless tore myself away from ESPN for thirty minutes last week when a friend strongly suggested that I watch an interview of Paul Volcker (former Fed…