The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board has added its two cents to the fair value debate, publishing an audit alert that it says will help auditors apply international auditing standards in the current chaotic market environment. IAASB said it was responding to calls from the Financial Stability Forum for guidance that would help calm […]
Tammy Whitehouse
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SEC Launches Mark-to-Market Study; Results Due Jan. 2
The Securities and Exchange Commission is getting its ducks in a row to begin studying fair value, or “mark-to-market,” accounting as required by the federal bank bailout bill, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. “We are in the process of assessing the requirements, developing plans, and dedicating resources to fulfill the mandate,” said SEC […]
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PCAOB Due to Answer Constitutionality Appeal
Lawyers for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board have until mid-October to answer an appeal to a court decision earlier this year that killed a constitutional challenge to the board’s existence. Christian G. Vergonis, an attorney with Jones Day, said there’s no set date for a decision on whether the U.S. Court Of Appeals for […]
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IASB: Fair Value View Won’t Cause Incomparability Abroad
In response to the U.S. banking bailout and related accounting guidance on fair-value measurement, the International Accounting Standards Board is answering worries abroad about whether U.S. and foreign banks will be operating on a level playing field. European leaders called on IASB to assure international accounting rules are consistent with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles […]
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Congress, Regulators Spar on Fair-Value Accounting
Fair value accounting became the political whipping boy in the federal bank bailout package last week, with cries all over Capitol Hill to suspend it, leave it alone, or offer better explanations of how to use it. Some 65 members of Congress appealed to the Securities and Exchange Commission to suspend all fair value and […]
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The Rest of Fair Value’s Problems
While regulators are bowing to demands for more guidance on fair-value accounting in relation to the credit crisis, many other questions surrounding fair-value measurement will be left for the markets to sort out themselves. The Financial Accounting Standards Board has made clear that it wants to end the once-common practice of providing guidance around every […]
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SEC, FASB Answer Demands for Guidance; Banks Rejoice
While Congress regroups on a federal bailout plan, regulators are answering urgent demands for interpretive guidance on fair value measurement, issuing views the banking sector so far is cheering. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued a joint four-page Q&A late Tuesday that offers its views on how to value […]
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Treasury Committee Updates Auditing Proposal
A Treasury committee has updated its draft report on how to prop up the auditing profession but with no further consensus on what could or should be done to minimize the threat of liability wiping out an audit firm. Given the inability of the committee to reach an agreement on the extent to which audit […]
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FASB, IASB Define “Discontinued Operations”
The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board issued separate but converged proposals on defining when an operation is “discontinued” and therefore subject to the related disclosure and accounting requirements. FASB published proposed staff position FAS 144-D Amending the Criteria for Reporting a Discontinued Operation to establish disclosure requirements for all the […]
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Sub-prime Litigation: It’s Only Just Begun
Unprecedented government-led bailouts of cornerstone financial institutions serve as an indicator that the tidal wave of litigation over failed sub-prime mortgages has hardly even begun. LaCroix “If sub-prime litigation is a nine-inning ball game, we’re only in the top of the second inning,” says Kevin LaCroix, an attorney and partner in management liability insurer OakBridge […]
