Accounting standards

Former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt Jr. and former CNN chair Walter Isaacson have been named to the board of the Global Center for Leadership & Business Ethics, an independent entity established to recognize individuals and organizations with extraordinary business ethics and leadership qualities.

The Justice Department has added perjury and obstruction of justice charges to the criminal case against Richard M. Scrushy, the former chief executive and chairman of scandal-plagued HealthSouth Corp.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a proposal that would allow filers to submit financial data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language, or XBRL.

The International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation Trustees have tapped Australian Stock Exchange chief Richard G Humphry to serve as a trustee from the Asia-Pacific region.

Class-action specialist Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP has filed suit against beleaguered mortgage financing concern Fannie Mae, charging the company with violations of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and making false and misleading statements that ultimately led to a "scandal of tremendous proportion."

The American Institute of CPAs has launched the third of its planned Audit Quality Centers.

In a move aimed at reducing the paperwork burden for small businesses, the Internal Revenue Service said it would boost the number of small businesses eligible to file a simplified expense form.

The regulator charged with overseeing mortgage concern Fannie Mae appears to be considering a shake-up of its top management to clean up the beleaguered firm.

Fund research provider Morningstar Inc. said it is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission related to incorrect total return data that Morningstar published earlier this year for a single mutual fund.

On the heels of a pair of settlements to resolve the company's $2.2 billion accounting scandal, two former top executives of software maker Computer Associates International Inc. pleaded not guilty to criminal charges.

The New Mexico Public Accountancy Board has joined the Securities and Exchange Commission and the California Board of Accountancy in disciplining Ernst & Young over the firm's audits of former client PeopleSoft.

A study commissioned by the board of the International Federation of Accountants has issued a series of recommendations to the financial reporting "supply chain" in order to achieve convergence on global accounting and auditing standards.

Sanjay Kumar, the former chief executive of Computer Associates International Inc., was indicted on charges of securities fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice just as the company announced that it had reached agreements with the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with an accounting scandal that caused it to restate $2.2 billion in revenue.

Troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae said this week that a report on its accounting policies and practices uncovered serious issues that raised doubts about the validity of its previous financial results.

The California Board of Accountancy has sanctioned Ernst & Young over the firm's independence in its audit of former client PeopleSoft.

The number 1-800-TAXHELP may look good on a business card, but the concept of vanity telephone numbers has serious drawbacks for professional services firms, according to one consultant.Writing in The Urbach Letter e-newsletter, consultant Victor Urbach said that vanity numbers "have their place, particularly in radio advertising. But I believe their value is overrated." He adds that some studies have shown that full-alpha[betical] 800 vanity numbers actually reduce response rates. "They claim it's because people think they'll remember the number, and thus put off calling until later," he says. "In marketing, later often means never."

Securities and Exchange Commission chief accountant Donald T. Nicolaisen has asked KPMG LLP to correct a statement that he says the firm attributed to him in a letter it sent to clients.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking for qualified accounting professors to fill four available academic fellowships at its headquarters in Washington.

New York (Sept. 21, 2004) -- A trend among the nation's four largest accounting firms of dropping small audit clients reportedly has the Securities and Exchange Commission's chief accountant concerned.