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:…
"…[W]e know there are going to be challenging issues to resolve under any [IFRS] incorporation decision. The issues of LIFO and contingencies immediately come to mind. But even with all of this, I would offer up one final thought for…
I was in Minneapolis a couple of months ago, and my client was kind enough to put me up in a very swanky hotel near its offices. While waiting for my dinner at the lobby bar (I don't like to…
When I was at the SEC (1992 – 93), one of the senior staff members whom I admired greatly for his competence and integrity was Robert Bayless, the Chief Accountant for the Division of Corporation Finance. ("Corp Fin" is the…
I have long been frustrated by the SEC's practice of settling cases of financial misconduct without making the defendants admit to the allegations. That policy gives a defendant a significant economic incentive to settle with the SEC, because one who…
Last January, as the FASB proposed closing that 'Lehman loophole' in repo accounting while leaving three other loopy conditions to be met for "sale accounting" intact, I predicted that it would just be a matter of time for history to repeat…
If you were to ask a financial regulator what 'investor protection' means in the context of accounting standards, the textbook response will have something to do with ensuring that investors have enough information to make informed investment and voting decisions.*…
The minutes of the latest meeting of the SEC Staff with the CAQ SEC Regulations Committee provide an indication of what may be coming soon on the IFRS adoption front: "Jill Davis [Associate Chief Accountant in the Division of Corporation…
I have been hearing rumors that the SEC is getting ready to come out with its IFRS adoption plan any time now. Richard Breeden, a distinguished former SEC chair, and now the head of a $2 billion international investment fund,…
Last June, the IASB issued revisions to IAS 19, Employee Benefits. The accompanying press release would have us believe that the five-year project resulting in incremental changes to the accounting for pension costs are a significant improvement; unfortunately, they are…