Accounting standards

The NASD has censured and fined Raymond James & Associates Inc. and Raymond James Financial Services Inc. $750,000 for violations relating to the firms' fee-based brokerage business.

The number of internal controls weaknesses related to lease accounting issues jumped more than 10 percent in April, according to a report released this week.

Saks Inc. asked three of its top executives, including its chief accounting officer, to resign, following an investigation by its audit committee related to the improper collection of vendor markdown allowances in one of its merchandising divisions.

A newly issued revenue procedure, Rev. Proc. 2005-28, makes it easier for some taxpayers to adopt a simpler method of allocating and apportioning interest expenses in determining their net U.S. and foreign-source income for foreign tax credit purposes.

In response to the Financial Accounting Standards Board's recent proposal on the Hierarchy of GAAP, the American Institute of CPAs has issued an exposure draft introducing a proposed Statement on Auditing Standards that would apply only to nongovernmental entities.

In spite of President Bush's recent efforts to push his plan to overhaul Social Security, a majority of Americans surveyed disapprove of Bush's handling of the issue, according to a recent poll.

TIAA-CREF's handling of an auditor independence issue that led to the resignations of two company trustees last December was "ultimately successful, although there were substantial missteps" along the way, according to a report released Thursday.

Reporting standards -- despite their complexity -- should be an exercise in honest communication, not merely an exercise in compliance, regulators and standard-setters told attendees at a financial reporting conference here.

The Securities and Exchange Commission this week filed fraud charges against Richmond, Va.-based paperboard and plastic packaging supplier Chesapeake Corp. and four of its former executives in connection with the company's 2000 restatements.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has published an exposure draft to rank generally accepted accounting principles.

Norwalk, Conn. Insurance and reinsurance have recently made headline news, and it has not been pretty.

As of this writing, bankruptcy reform legislation had passed the Senate and was expected to move quickly through the House and be signed by President Bush. The Bankruptcy Abuse and Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 may already be law as you read this column.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was supposed to help investors, not sink companies.

Washington - The Securities and Exchange Commission in early April named agency veteran Meyer Eisenberg to the post of acting director of the commission's Division of Investment Management.

Noting that the impact of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on companies, auditors and investors has been huge, one Big Four chief executive says that the changes "all are positive."

A committee established by the Securities and Exchange Commission to evaluate how the securities regulatory system affects smaller public companies is soliciting public comment on its proposed agenda.

The Financial Planning Association filed a petition in a District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals challenging a Securities and Exchange Commission rule exempting certain broker/dealers from the requirements of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

The Securities and Exchange Commission strongly objected to a statement by Big Four firm Deloitte & Touche regarding settlements the audit firm entered into with the commission to resolve charges related to two of Deloitte's former audit clients.

Deloitte & Touche LLP agreed to pay more than $50 million to settle charges brought against it by the Securities and Exchange Commission related to two of its former audit clients.

The Government Accountability Office has issued extensive new guidance for auditors and audit organizations in implementing revised continuing professional education requirements for those conducting so-called "Yellow Book" audits.