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• PCAOB May Scrap Auditor Sign-off Proposal

  November 2, 2009

  The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has received mostly negative comments on a recent proposal to require engagement partners with final responsibility for an audit to sign the audit report, and it may end up abandoning the idea.

• Madoff Report: SEC’s Schapiro Needs to Review Performance Failures

  September 8, 2009

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission “never took the necessary and basic steps” that would have led to the agency uncovering Bernard L. Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme, according to the full report issued Friday by the agency’s Inspector-General.

• Accountant Disciplined for Using High School Grads to Perform Audits

  August 28, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Las Vegas accountant Michael J. Moore and his auditing firm Moore & Associates with issuing false auditing reports prepared by high school graduates who had little to no experience with accounting or auditing.

• Tax Preparer Regulation Stirs Up Hornets’ Nest

  August 17, 2009

  With trillion-dollar deficits, cap-and-trade and nationalized health care on the horizon, the issues involving the possible registering and licensing of tax preparers seem trivial.

• PCAOB Adopts Engagement Quality Review Standard

  July 28, 2009

  The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has voted to adopt a new auditing standard on engagement quality review and to issue a concept release on requiring the engagement partner to sign the audit report.

• IASB Changes IFRS Requirements for First-Timers

  July 23, 2009

  The International Accounting Standards Board has issued amendments to its rules for companies adopting International Financial Reporting Standards for the first time to allow some exemptions.

• More Certainty Needed for IFRS

  May 20, 2009

• GASB statement clarifies fund balance reporting

  May 4, 2009

  Governments have always found it difficult to properly report fund balances when the uses of various fund amounts were restricted in a number of ways.

• Peer Review in need of review?

  April 19, 2009

  Can anything good come out of a $65 billion Ponzi scheme?

• Economy, legislation threaten to impact S corps

  April 19, 2009

• IRS issues guidance for Ponzi victims

  April 19, 2009

  In the wake of several high-profile Ponzi schemes - most notably, the $65 billion fraud perpetrated by the now-jailed Bernard Madoff - the Internal Revenue Service has issued new guidance for victims of these types of schemes and their tax preparers.

• Economy causes internal audit upheaval

  April 19, 2009

  Among the many changes born of the financial crisis that's sweeping the globe are changes in internal auditing departments

• The spirit of accounting: Premises, premises: Out with the old, in with the new

  April 19, 2009

  About a year ago, we began hearing a clamor that accountants exacerbated the financial debacle by reporting market values in financial statements. In turn, accountants ducked the blame by arguing strongly that the Financial Accounting Standards Board was at fault for requiring investment market values to be reported. These complaints have continued to this day.

• PCAOB Mulls Revising Audit Confirmation Standards

  April 14, 2009

  Board considers changes in the wake of scandals.

• Survey Says Finance Pros Still Want IFRS

  April 9, 2009

  Seventy-five percent of finance professionals support the movement toward a single set of high-quality global accounting standards, according to a new survey by Deloitte.

• IFAC Backs G-20 Financial Reforms

  April 8, 2009

  The International Federation of Accountants has endorsed a set of proposals made at last week's G-20 Summit of world leaders that aim to reform the global financial regulatory system.

• Canada Accounting Board Delays Fair Value Decision

  April 8, 2009

  Canada's Accounting Standards Board said that it has not yet made a decision on whether to change its fair value standards to match up with U.S. standards.

• IRS nixes private collection

  April 5, 2009

• Commentary: Build a better financial statement

  April 5, 2009

  Are you able to get what you need from reviewing financial statements? Do you think there are ways to enhance the usefulness of the presentation of the information?

• International Accounting Monitors Choose Leader

  April 6, 2009

  The Monitoring Board that was recently established to add more public accountability to the International Accounting Standards Board has held its inaugural meeting and picked its first leader.

• FASB Explains Fair Value Changes

  April 6, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a "plain English" summary of the board's actions when it modified the standards for fair value and mark-to-market accounting in response to congressional demands.

• SEC Says Arizona CPA Ran $67M Ponzi Scheme

  April 6, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has revoked the license of an Arizona CPA and filed charges accusing him of running a $67 million Ponzi scheme.

• Reactions Mixed to FASB Fair Value Compromises

  April 3, 2009

  Accounting experts and industry organizations alternately praised and panned the Financial Accounting Standards Board's decision to loosen the standards for fair value and mark-to-market accounting.

• FASB Compromises on Fair Value

  April 2, 2009

  Under pressure from Congress to act quickly, the Financial Accounting Standards Board voted to approve substantial changes to fair value accounting.

• New SEC Chair

  March 31, 2009

• New Oversight Board Proposed

  March 31, 2009

• Tax Season Essentials

  March 31, 2009

• Tax Briefs

  March 31, 2009

• Accounting & Auditing Briefs

  March 31, 2009

• Support, Questions for IFRS

  March 31, 2009

• FASB Projects Aim to Improve Guidance on Fair Value Estimates

  March 31, 2009

• Report Recommends More Fair Value Disclosures

  April 1, 2009

  A new report suggests that companies adopting the Financial Accounting Standards Board's recent proposals on modifying mark-to-market and fair value accounting standards should provide more extensive disclosures to help investors make sense of the impaired assets.

• Execs Anticipate Major IFRS Transformation

  April 1, 2009

  CFOs at U.S. companies expect that the transition to International Financial Reporting Standards will give them the ability to transform their finance departments, according to a new survey, but the price tag could be high.

• FASB Caves on Mark-to-Market

  April 1, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has bowed to pressure from lawmakers and banking interests and put forward a proposal to relax fair value standards.

• Volcker to Lead Tax Reform Effort

  March 26, 2009

  The Obama administration will ask the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, to form a task force to recommend an overhaul of the tax code, according to reports.

• Geithner Proposes Sweeping Overhaul of Financial Regulation

  March 26, 2009

  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner proposed a sweeping revamp of government regulatory powers over the nation's financial system highlighted by establishing a single agency "with responsibility for systemic stability over the major institutions and critical payment and settlement systems and activities."

• Toxic Asset Superfund

  March 25, 2009

  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner did his best at filling in the blanks on the Obama administration's plan for cleaning up the so-called 'toxic assets' clogging the balance sheets of banks.

• Geithner Petitions Lawmakers for Broader Takeover Powers

  March 25, 2009

  In a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner asked lawmakers to grant the Treasury Department more power to seize failing financial firms.

• Grant Thornton Launches Hedge Fund Services Unit

  March 23, 2009

  Global CPA and business-advisory firm Grant Thornton is gearing to launch a new practice unit -- hedge fund internal control, governance and regulatory compliance services.

• Restatements Drop to Five-Year Low

  March 23, 2009

  Financial restatements in 2008 dipped 49 percent from the prior year, the lowest level in the past five years, according to a report compiled by proxy researcher Glass Lewis.

• AICPA Supports International Monitoring Board

  March 19, 2009

  The American Institute of CPAs said it backs the creation of a monitoring board that would link the International Accounting Standards Board to government regulators in different countries.

• Boards Try to Reconcile Lease Accounting Standards

  March 19, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board are working together on resolving the knotty problems involved in lease accounting.

• PCAOB Ups Accounting Support Fee $5.6M

  March 18, 2009

  The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has raised the aggregate 2009 fee it assesses to public companies and other issuers to $157.4 million from $151.8 million.

• IRS Will Accelerate NOL Refunds Under New Provision

  March 18, 2009

  The Internal Revenue Service says that small businesses with deductions exceeding their income in 2008 can use a new net operating loss tax provision to get a refund of taxes paid in prior years. The IRS says it will work to issue refunds within 45 days or less "to the degree possible."

• Lawmakers Rally to Restore Uptick Rule

  March 18, 2009

  Lawmakers continue to apply pressure to the Securities and Exchange Commission to reinstate a Depression-era rule that prevents traders from short-selling stocks whose share prices are falling.

• FASB Issues Fair Value Proposals

  March 18, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a pair of proposed fair value staff positions written to provide additional guidance regarding measurements and impairments of securities, after coming under pressure at a congressional hearing to ease mark-to-market accounting standards.

• Madoff's Auditor Arrested

  March 18, 2009

  David Friehling, the accountant who ran the tiny auditing firm that serviced Bernard Madoff's broker/dealer firm, has been arrested and charged with securities and investment advisor fraud.

• Small business to face closer audit scrutiny

  March 15, 2009

  The nation's small businesses are squarely in Washington's crosshairs - targeted for more rigorous, more painful scrutiny by both federal tax enforcement officials and the nation's auditing standard-setters.

• FASB staff fills gap in SPE disclosures

  March 15, 2009

  As the Financial Accounting Standards Board tinkers with amendments to its Statement 140 and Interpretation 46R, the FASB staff has issued a staff position that expands disclosures about corporate involvement with variable-interest entities and transferred financial assets.

• How much should financial reports tell?

  March 15, 2009

  One of the many problems the ongoing financial crisis has brought to light is the fact that generally accepted accounting principles do not necessarily give investors all the information they need to foresee the perils that a company faces. And though auditors have to certify that an entity is a "going concern," they do not have to note that the concern is going over a cliff.

• The Spirit of Accounting: Escaping the minimum GAAP compliance syndrome

  March 15, 2009

  We have a perennial puzzle we just can't explain to our satisfaction.

• IRS Issues Guidance For Ponzi Scheme Victims

  March 16, 2009

  Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Doug Shulman has announced guidance for Ponzi scheme victims and their tax preparers. The guidance, which Shulman emphasized is not specific to the Madoff case, is in the form of a revenue ruling and a revenue procedure.

• FASB Gives Cautious Response to IFRS Roadmap

  March 13, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board and its parent organization, the Financial Accounting Foundation, sent a comment letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission giving a thumbs-up to the proposed roadmap to International Financial Reporting Standards, but they urged more consultation and study.

• Melancon Speaks out on Top Accounting Issues

  March 12, 2009

  American Institute of CPAs' president and chief executive Barry Melancon reiterated his organization's stance that fair value accounting was not a primary cause of the current economic distress and that the private sector -- rather than Congress -- should continue to set accounting standards.

• Congress Pressures FASB to Revise Mark-to-Market

  March 12, 2009

  Financial Accounting Standards Board Chairman Robert Herz was pressed to make changes in mark-to-market accounting standards in as soon as three weeks during a contentious congressional hearing.

• IFRS Roadmap Slams into Reverse

  March 11, 2009

  The adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in the U.S. looks to be increasingly in doubt.

• Shareholder Meetings Likely to Be Contentious

  March 10, 2009

  Accounting firm BDO Seidman anticipates that shareholder meetings this year will be dominated by concerns about excessive executive compensation, recession plans and credit concerns.

• Bernanke Foresees Accounting Rule Modifications

  March 10, 2009

  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that accounting standards need to be modified to deal better with valuing illiquid assets.

• Early Adoption of IFRS Appears Unlikely

  March 9, 2009

  Many financial executives in the U.S. have begun the initial stages of convergence with International Financial Reporting Standards at their companies, but early adoption in 2009 for qualifying companies will be difficult, if not impossible, due to the significant time requirements, according to a new report.

• Quality Control Tips for Small, Midsized Audit Firms

  March 9, 2009

  To help small and midsized accounting firms cope better with implementing international auditing standards, the International Federation of Accountants has published a "Guide to Quality Control for Use by Small- and Medium-sized Practices."

• ACCA Challenges Global Leaders to Endorse IFRS

  March 9, 2009

  The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants wants world leaders who attend the G20 summit next month to endorse International Financial Reporting Standards, and to leave fair value accounting alone.

• Congress Proposes New Accounting Overseer

  March 6, 2009

  Two members of the House Financial Services Committee have introduced a bill that would establish a new Federal Accounting Oversight Board and probably loosen mark-to-market accounting standards.

• Tax Reserve Disclosures Fall Short

  March 5, 2009

  One third of public companies did not satisfy the minimum requirements of disclosure of their tax reserves last year as required by new rules put in place by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

• PCAOB Tries Again on Audit Quality Review

  March 5, 2009

  The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has re-proposed for comment a standard for auditing firms to use for reviewing their audit reports internally by a second or concurring partner before they are issued.

• SEC Pressured on Chief Accountant Pick

  March 4, 2009

  Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro has been under pressure not to appoint a leading critic of International Financial Reporting Standards as a permanent chief accountant, according to a former official who filled that post.

• Make Financial Statements Less Frustrating

  March 3, 2009

  Are you able to get what you need from reviewing financial statements?

• Auditing Clarity Project Completed

  March 3, 2009

  The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board has completed a project aimed at updating and clearing up ambiguities in auditing standards.

• AICPA Adds Four Members to Auditing Board

  March 3, 2009

  The American Institute of CPAs has appointed four new members of the Auditing Standards Board.

• Buffett Addresses Mark-to-Market

  March 2, 2009

  Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett said in his annual letter to shareholders that he endorses mark-to-market accounting, even though it helped produce the worst financial results for his company in the 44 years he has been running it.

• Financial Crisis Advisory Group to Meet Again

  February 26, 2009

  The next meeting of the Financial Crisis Advisory Group is scheduled for March 5 as accounting leaders and regulators sort out issues related to the recession.

• Ric Rosario

  February 26, 2009

  Ric Rosario is stepping into some big shoes at Camico Mutual Insurance Co.

• Schapiro approved as SEC chair

  February 23, 2009

• Olson calls for simplification aid to taxpayers

  February 23, 2009

  National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson urged Congress to simplify the U.S. Tax Code and recommended measures to reduce the burden on taxpayers who are struggling to pay their bills.

• In brief

  February 23, 2009

• The post-IFRS world

  February 23, 2009

  From my vantage point on the other side of the Atlantic, I was delighted to see the Securities and Exchange Commission publish its roadmap to adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards. I just hope the U.S. constituents are as pleased as I am and that we can make some real progress towards global accounting standards.

• The spirit of accounting: Convertible debt: Progress at a glacial rate

  February 23, 2009

  Page 330 of our 2002 book, Quality Financial Reporting, includes this comment: "No one should accuse accountants of being glacial; after all, glaciers move."

• Survey Favors IFRS Adoption

  February 23, 2009

  As the debate over adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards heats up in the U.S., KPMG has released a survey indicating support for IFRS among investors, analysts and corporate executives who prepare financial statements.

• NASBA Wants SEC to Withdraw IFRS Roadmap

  February 20, 2009

  The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to withdraw its proposed roadmap for transitioning to International Financial Reporting Standards.

• PCAOB Starts Registering Broker-Dealer Auditors

  February 20, 2009

  The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued guidance on the recent requirement for registration of auditors of privately held broker-dealers.

• Gillan Named Senior Advisor at SEC

  February 19, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed former Public Company Accounting Oversight Board member Kayla Gillan as senior advisor to new Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Schapiro, effective immediately.

• Businesses Not Ready for Government Investigations

  February 17, 2009

  Approximately 80 percent of companies are not ready for government or regulatory investigations, according to a new survey.

• FASB Initiates Fair Value Projects

  February 17, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has added a pair of agenda projects aimed at improving the application guidance used to determine fair values and disclosure of fair value estimates.

• Financial Crisis Group Debates Accountants' Role

  February 13, 2009

  An international group of accountants, regulators, bankers and business luminaries met to discuss the impact of the financial crisis and the implications for financial reporting.

• IASB Chair Meets with New SEC Chair

  February 12, 2009

  The International Accounting Standards Board wants the U.S. to remain committed to its roadmap for transitioning to International Financial Reporting Standards and is making the case directly to the new SEC chairman.

• Financial Accounting Foundation Elects New Chair

  February 12, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Foundation has chosen John J. Brennan, chairman of mutual fund giant Vanguard Group, as its new chairman and a member of its board of trustees.

• SEC Begins XBRL Mandate for First 500 Companies

  February 11, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun requiring 500 of the largest companies to start filing their financial statements in an interactive data format.

• SEC Chair Wants to Beef up Enforcement

  February 9, 2009

  Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro announced plans to make it easier for SEC staff to bring enforcement actions and indicated that the Financial Accounting Standards Board would further modify fair value accounting standards.

• KPMG Manager Joins SEC Chief Accountant Office

  February 9, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed Robert Malhotra as a senior advisor in the SEC's Office of the Chief Accountant.

• Madoff Reaches Partial Settlement with SEC

  February 9, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission said that Bernard Madoff has consented to a proposed partial judgment imposing a permanent injunction on him.

• Global Alliance Aims for Simplified Reporting

  February 6, 2009

  A global alliance of the chief executives of 10 accounting institutes has issued a report advocating more useful and less complicated financial reporting requirements.

• COSO Issues Internal Control Guidance

  February 4, 2009

  New guidance aims to help organizations better monitor the effectiveness of their internal control systems.

• Like-Kind Exchanges Are Still a Good Strategy

  February 3, 2009

  Even with the current downturn in the real estate market, like-kind exchanges continue to be a popular way to dispose of property while deferring the taxable gain.

• FASB Plans to Clarify CDOs

  February 2, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board wants to bring more clarity to some of the complex credit derivatives that contributed to the financial crisis.

• New Board Will Monitor International Accounting

  February 2, 2009

  A new board that includes the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory bodies will now oversee the trustees who oversee the International Accounting Standards Board.

• SEC Finalizes XBRL Requirements

  February 2, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has posted the final version of its rule mandating Extensible Business Reporting Language for public companies.

• FASB Wants More Fair Value Disclosures

  February 2, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a proposed standard that would require disclosures about the fair value of financial instruments in interim financial statements as well as annual statements.

• Tax Season Essentials

  February 1, 2009

  Tax preparer penalties guidance, and exclusion of interim guidance on Section 67.

• No Minimum Distributions Required for 2009

  February 1, 2009

  There is a waiver of the minimum distribution rule for 2009 for employer-provided qualified retirement plans, individual retirement accounts, and annuities in the "Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008," (P.L. 110-458, 12/23/08).

• Disclosure or Use of Information by Preparers

  February 1, 2009

• Ease Section 529 Plan Investment Restrictions for 2009

  February 1, 2009

• Optional Mileage Rate Is 55 Cents

  February 1, 2009

• Employer's Annual Federal Tax Return in Place

  February 1, 2009

  IRS regulations for employers filing annual federal tax returns.

• Accelerating Minimum Tax and Research Credits

  February 1, 2009

• Multi-Employer Plan Amortization Period Extension

  February 1, 2009

• 403(b) Written Plan Requirement Relief

  February 1, 2009

• Tax Briefs

  February 1, 2009

  Lien relief for homeowners refinancing or selling, and Section 911 housing excludable amounts.

• Increased Regulation of Hedge Funds Expected

  February 1, 2009

  Over 98 percent of senior hedge fund managers surveyed expect increased regulation of the hedge fund industry.

• Single Repository for Municipal Bond Info

  February 1, 2009

  The SEC has announced it has made rules change so the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will become the central repository for ongoing disclosures by municipal issuers.

• Investor Protection for Certain Equity-Indexed Annuities

  February 1, 2009

  The SEC approved a new rule that establishes standards for determining when equity-indexed annuities are not considered annuity contracts under the securities laws and thus subject to the investor protections.

• Accounting & Auditing Brief

  February 1, 2009

• FASB on Financial Crisis, Fair Value, And...

  February 1, 2009

• Accelerated Filers, Restructuring Mortgage Loans and Assets

  February 1, 2009

• Standards Proposals, Service Organizations

  February 1, 2009

• New York Governor Signs CPA Legislation

  January 30, 2009

  New York Governor David Paterson has signed a bill expanding the regulation of CPAs throughout the state.

• PCAOB Offers Guidance on Auditing Small Companies

  January 29, 2009

  The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has published guidance to help auditors apply Auditing Standard No. 5 to audits of internal controls at smaller public companies.

• Geithner Aims to Increase TARP Transparency

  January 29, 2009

  Newly approved Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner moved to provide more transparency in the controversial Troubled Assets Relief Program by posting investment contracts on the Internet.

• Companies Should Report Key Performance Indicators

  January 27, 2009

  With the election over, we now must focus on what real changes will advance the markets.

• New SEC Chair Has Doubts about IASB

  January 27, 2009

  The incoming chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro, criticized the International Accounting Standards Board and expressed reluctance to move to International Financial Reporting Standards.

• SEC study defends fair value

  January 26, 2009

• 2009: A year of research and deliberation at GASB

  January 26, 2009

  Though the Governmental Accounting Standards Board expects to issue only one new standard in 2009, the year should be productive enough to position the board for significant advances over the subsequent two years.

• Tax strategy: Final tax return preparer regs: Some stability at last

  January 26, 2009

  On Dec. 16, 2008, the Internal Revenue Service released the long-awaited final tax return preparer regulations.

• Senate Approves Schapiro as SEC Chair

  January 26, 2009

  The Senate has approved Mary Schapiro by a unanimous vote as the next Securities and Exchange Commission chairman.

• SEC Intent on Enforcing Fair Value Accounting

  January 23, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission will make sure that companies are properly using fair value accounting and not deceiving investors, warned an SEC official.

• SEC Extends SOX Survey Deadline

  January 21, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Economic Analysis has extended the deadline to January 31 for public companies to participate in a Web-based survey about the costs and benefits of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

• Economists Group Recommends Fair Value Reform

  January 20, 2009

  The Group of 30, a set of economists from around the world, has produced a report recommending a series of reforms to address the financial crisis and provide financial stability.

• New SEC Chair May Delay IFRS Roadmap

  January 16, 2009

  Mary Schapiro, President-elect Barack Obama's choice as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, signaled that she could delay the planned transition to International Financial Reporting Standards.

• Henry Keizer

  January 15, 2009

  KPMG International's global head of audit contends with the turbulent worldwide economy.

• 2009 to Be Bellwether Year for Financial Reporting

  January 13, 2009

  Fitch Ratings predicts that 2009 will be a pivotal year for accounting, particularly in terms of fair value measurement and standards convergence.

• Groups Wrangle over FIN 48 for Private Companies

  January 12, 2009

  The Private Company Financial Reporting Committee met with the Financial Accounting Standards Board to discuss some of the problems that led to deferring controversial rules for accounting for uncertainty in income taxes.

• Broker-Dealer Auditors Need to Register with PCAOB

  January 12, 2009

  The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said the financial statements of non-public broker-dealers now need to be certified by PCAOB-registered auditing firms.

• SEC Picks Acting Chief Accountant

  January 7, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed James L. Kroeker as acting chief accountant, replacing Conrad Hewitt, who retired Monday.

• SEC Testifies on Madoff Investigation

  January 6, 2009

  SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz told a congressional panel that the Securities and Exchange Commission is ramping up its investigation of Bernard Madoff and his $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

• Board approves PCAOB budget

  January 5, 2009

  Fear that the U.S. economic meltdown will encourage corporations to cut accounting corners has helped spur the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to approve a 9 percent budget increase for itself during 2009, to $157.6 million.

• SEC chief accountant to step down

  January 5, 2009

  Securities and Exchange Commission Chief Accountant Conrad Hewitt announced that he will leave the regulator as the Obama administration takes over. Also leaving will be John White, the director of the Division of Corporate Finance.

• FASB speeds into 2009

  January 5, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board by its own accounts had a very productive 2008, and it looks like its output will be even higher in 2009.

• CAQ Offers Advice on Mortgage Modifications

  January 2, 2009

  The Center for Audit Quality has released a paper to provide guidance on applying accounting standards to residential mortgage modifications.

• FASB Formally Defers FIN 48, Provides Retirement Plan Disclosure Guidance

  January 2, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released a staff position officially deferring the effective date of FASB Interpretation 48, "Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes," for nonpublic pass-through entities and nonprofit organizations, and released guidance on accounting for the assets in postretirement plans.

• SEC Enforcement Chief Accountant Resigns

  January 2, 2009

  Susan G. Markel, chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement, is stepping down after 14 years at the agency.

• Financial Planning Briefs

  January 1, 2009

  College for Financial Planning expands scholarship program; fiscal 2008 SEC enforcement results; growing demand for retirement income planning; H.D. Vest offers remote check scanning; Ameriprise completes Seligman acquisition; predicting mutual funds' performance; taking Social Security early; SEC modernizes disclosure requirements for foreign companies offering securities in U.S. markets.

• Improper Gifts and Entertainment SEC Sanction

  January 1, 2009

  The SEC charged Lazard Capital Markets plus four employees with collectively spending more than $600,000 while improperly entertaining traders at Fidelity Investments in an effort to generate brokerage business.

• System Fee Waived

  January 1, 2009

  The SEC and the North American Securities Administrators Association say they will waive the initial set-up and annual system fees paid by investment advisor firms to help maintain the Investment Advisor Registration Depository system.

• Changes in Mutual Funds Disclosure Coming

  January 1, 2009

  The SEC has voted unanimously to improve mutual fund disclosure by requiring that funds provide investors with a concise summary in plain English of certain key information they need to make informed investment decisions.

• Accounting & Auditing Briefs

  January 1, 2009

  AICPA OKs electronic confirmations between auditors and respondents; Rothstein Kass releases paper on fair value for alternative investment funds; and Blue Coat Systems exec is charged in backdating suit by the SEC.

• Proposed IFRS Roadmap Unveiled

  January 1, 2009

  The SEC has published its proposed roadmap for the transition to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

• CAQ and Melancon on Fair Value

  January 1, 2009

  The Center for Audit Quality and the AICPA have written to the SEC concerning fair value, the CAQ maintaining that fair value measurements are appropriate and should continue, and the AICPA urging allowance of FASB to continue to set standards for mark-to-market accounting.

• Conceptual Framework Measurement

  January 1, 2009

  FASB has approved a staff proposal aimed at determining the most appropriate way to measure assets and liabilities that are recognized in the statement of financial position.

• SEC Changes Oil and Gas Accounting

  December 31, 2008

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has modernized its oil and gas company reporting requirements for the first time in more than 25 years.

• Financial Crisis Group Attracts International Cast

  December 31, 2008

  The International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board have attracted a set of high-profile members from around the world to form an advisory group on the financial crisis.

• New Year's Resolutions

  December 31, 2008

  Once again it's the time of year for me to make resolutions that I probably won't keep for five minutes.

• SEC Study Defends Fair Value Accounting

  December 31, 2008

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has released its eagerly anticipated report on mark-to-market accounting calling for improvements in fair value accounting standards, but not suspension of them.

Related Articles

• PCAOB May Scrap Auditor Sign-off Proposal

• Madoff Report: SEC’s Schapiro Needs to Review Performance Failures

• Accountant Disciplined for Using High School Grads to Perform Audits

• Tax Preparer Regulation Stirs Up Hornets’ Nest

• PCAOB Adopts Engagement Quality Review Standard

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