Accounting standards

The American Institute of CPAs has ramped up its mobility efforts to allow CPAs to practice in other states, with mobility bills enacted now in 12 states and legislation pending in 22 other states.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a report warning public pension funds that they risk violating the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws if they do not have adequate compliance policies in place to prevent wrongdoing.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued final regulations for tax deductions on domestic film productions, while revising the definition of the types of films that qualify for the deduction.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of the Chief Accountant chose six professional accounting fellows for two-year terms beginning in 2008.

Senior financial supervisors from five countries - France, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States - have issued a report assessing various risk management practices that banks and other financial services organizations have used that contributed to the recent turmoil in the world markets.

The real value of bank holdings has been generating controversy in the accounting profession as banks find themselves under increasing pressure to be more upfront about the true value of their assets, assuming they can be accurately valued, even with ballpark estimates.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed financial fraud charges against Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp., saying the health club chain's financial statements from at least 1997 to 2003 contained more than two dozen accounting improprieties.

Two audit partners at Deloitte & Touche have agreed to be barred from practicing before the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve a case involving auto parts maker Delphi.

The Financial Accounting Foundation's board of trustees has voted to approve sweeping changes in the oversight, structure and operations of the Financial Accounting Foundation and its two standards-setting boards, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has proposed an auditing standard on engagement quality review and a conforming amendment to the board's interim quality control standards that will supersede the board's interim concurring partner review requirement.

Four former executives of re-insurer General Re and one former executive of insurer American International Group were convicted by a jury of fraud and conspiracy for manipulating financial statements.

I sat in on part of a meeting of the Financial Accounting Foundation and heard that many in Europe are taken aback at the swift pace of convergence in the U.S. with international accounting standards, but they are still waiting for us to set a deadline.

The International Accounting Standards Board said its Fair Value Measurement project team has begun a standard-by-standard review of existing fair value measurements in International Financial Reporting Standards to assess whether each standard's use of a fair value measurement basis was intended to be an exit price.

In November, we devoted a column to the issues surrounding the new return preparer penalty standards under Internal Revenue Code Sec. 6694 enacted as part of the Small Business and Work Opportunity Act of 2007. Those changes focused on the expansion of coverage of Code Section 6694 to tax returns beyond income tax returns; an increase in the penalties imposed, including penalties based on 50 percent of fees derived from return preparation; and an increase in the disclosure standard required to avoid penalties to more likely than not (greater than 50 percent) from a realistic possibility of prevailing on the merits (greater than one third).

In January, the Mortgage Bankers Association, supported by five of the nation's largest lending institutions, asked the Financial Accounting Standards Board to relax certain accounting rules concerning how restructured -- that is, failed -- loans are written down.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a proposed FASB Staff Position on the endowments of nonprofit organizations that could have large implications for how they recognize their assets and use donor-restricted funds.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has voted to adopt Auditing Standard No. 6, Evaluating Consistency of Financial Statements, and an accompanying set of amendments to its interim auditing standards.

Small companies in the United States have long complained that it's unfair in terms of costs and time that they're required to meet accounting standards that were written for companies that are many times their size.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued final guidance on transfers of financial assets and repurchase financing, which should have an impact on the mortgage and real estate investment trust industry.

CPAs who are also senior financial executives expressed pessimism in the U.S. economy and expectations of continuing declines, according to a new survey by the American Institute of CPAs.