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Accounting
by leon on March 20, 2010
Disturbing report in the Financial Times about how JPMorgan Chase was using the same accounting trick as Lehman Brothers, declaring trades as sales. According to the FT, JPMorgan ended the practice...
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Accounting
by leon on March 16, 2010
First there was Andersen, now it's Ernst & Young. The Enronisation of Lehman Brothers continues with the New York Times reporting that Lehman Brothers' auditors Ernst & Young could ...
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Accounting
by leon on March 13, 2010
The revelations about the accounting shenanigans at Lehman Brothers get more appalling. These accounting tricks destroyed the financial institution which in turn created the financial crisis that d...
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Accounting
by leon on February 27, 2010
Plans for the United States to move to global accounting standards have been delayed for another 12 months with the Security and Exchange Commission announced it was extending the time line for US ...
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Accounting
by leon on February 10, 2010
It's reassuring, if inevitable, that Germany being the eurozone's dominant economy is now preparing to bail out Greece, constructing a firewall to ensure the debt crisis doesn't spin ou...
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Accounting
by leon on January 10, 2010
Under audit standards, auditors are required to conduct brainstorming sessions on every audit so they can discuss the potential for fraud and how to respond to the risk of fraud. The Public Company...
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Accounting
by leon on November 17, 2009
The economic crisis is having an impact on financial statements and auditors with Britain's Financial Reporting Council (FRC), as reported here, warning that accounting firms could sacrifice audit...
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Accounting
by leon on November 16, 2009
Corporate disclosures are about to get a lot longer and a lot more complicated. The International Accounting Standards Board has released its revised set of rules dealing with the classification a...
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Accounting
by leon on November 1, 2009
It wasn't that long ago that I was warning the commercial real estate market in the United States looked likely to trigger a new mortgage crisis with a soaring delinquency rate and building owners...
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Accounting
by leon on October 20, 2009
Earlier this year, the then incoming head of the Securities and Exchange Commission Mary Schapiro indicated she was in no hurry to bring global accounting standards (otherwise known as Internation...
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Accounting
by leon on October 18, 2009
Earlier this year, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board came out with a proposal requiring engagement partners to personally sign corporate audit reports.The PCAOB writes: "A requirem...
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Accounting
by leon on September 17, 2009
Do accounting rules excite you? They probably have that effect on Apple shareholders. The Apple share price has hit a 52-week high after the Financial Accounting Standards Board brought in a tentati...
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Accounting
by leon on August 18, 2009
In the past I have done entries, like this one, on how accountants seem to be recession-proof. Still, it seems like the global financial meltdown is finally catching up with bean counters, although ...
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Accounting
by leon on August 16, 2009
Of all the issues and scandals in the accounting world, none are likely to be as big as lease accounting. The fallout from lease accounting will make the issues over fair value look like a picnic. T...
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Accounting
by leon on July 10, 2009
First it was Sarbanes-Oxley. Now it looks like accountants will find that carbon trading a license to print money. Earlier this week, we had reports that the Big Four accounting firms are beefing the...
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Accounting
by leon on June 6, 2009
US accounting standard setters might be tightening the rules for banks, forcing them to take off balance sheet toxic vehicles on to their books but don't expect the banks to take that lying down....
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Accounting
by leon on May 27, 2009
The implosion at Indian IT specialists Satyam raises many questions about corporate governance. As Madhukar Angur says in the Deccan Herald , the debacle suggests we have learned very little since En...
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Accounting
by leon on May 25, 2009
The recession will reshape the work of chief financial officers. When the recovery comes, the world will be very different. CFOs will have to start shifting their focus to getting the most out of the...
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Accounting
by leon on May 3, 2009
If you thought fair value was an almighty bun fight, you ain't seen nothing yet. The International Accounting Standards Board is tackling off balance sheet vehicles that have destroyed so much we...
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Accounting
by leon on April 6, 2009
As if last week's ruling the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), which I have renamed the Fake Accounting Standards Board, wasn't bad enough. The FASB has ruled that companies can us...
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Accounting
, Information About
by leon on April 4, 2009
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown might proclaim the G20 summit as the beginning of a "new world order" but the reality is the financial crisis will be around for some time yet. Don't...
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Accounting
by leon on April 1, 2009
Last week, I did a blog entry on how the plans for the US to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) had slammed into reverse. The market meltdown has created widespread opposition t...
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Accounting
by leon on March 26, 2009
Earlier this month, I ran an interview with International Accounting Standards Board member Warren McGregor on a number of issues including the question of whether the United States would adopt the g...
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Accounting
by leon on March 19, 2009
What happens when you are not happy with the accounting rule-makers? Bring in a new one.That seems to be the proposal from Edward L. Yingling from the American Bankers' Assocation. He has recomme...
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Accounting
by leon on March 19, 2009
The rule maker for accounting standards is coming under pressure again. Once more the Europeans are putting the heat on the International Accounting Standards Board to change the rules and let the ba...
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Accounting
by leon on March 11, 2009
I recently had a chat with Warren McGregor who is a member of the International Accounting Standards Board. Here is the interview.SOX FIRST: Last year, the IASB got rolled by the Europeans and was fo...
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Accounting
by leon on January 16, 2009
With the world's markets in cardiac arrest, what are the major accounting hurdles for this year?According to a report from Moody's, How the Global Credit and Economic Crises are Affecting Acc...
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Accounting
by leon on January 1, 2009
The Securities and Exchange Commission has given the banking a much deserved kick in the guts by releasing a 211 page report that fends off the banks' claim that fair value created the financial ...
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Accounting
by leon on December 9, 2008
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has put auditors on notice. in the wake of the economic meltdown, they need to exercise extreme scepticism.The PCAOB has put out a report telling auditor...
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Accounting
by leon on November 25, 2008
I always talk about how accountants are recession-proof. The last blog entry I did on it looked at how they are enjoying above-average salary increases, despite the downturn.Now a new survey, reported...
