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In the year-long parade of plans and proposals for how to ensure the United States retains its competitive edge in the global marketplace, the nation’s leading financial institutions are calling for an overhaul in the regulatory regime. The Financial Services Roundtable—a think tank with 100 members representing America’s banking, insurance, and investment sector—says America can […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission will vote this week on two notable proposals: whether to let foreign private issuers file financial statements in International Financial Reporting Standards without reconciling those statements to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and whether to approve a package of reforms to simplify financial reporting for smaller companies. The Commission will […]

Despite the steady march toward a single, global set of accounting standards for public companies, it’s premature to expect U.S. investors to comprehend financial statements prepared under two different accounting systems. That may be the view of a wide range of accounting experts, who are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to ease up on […]

Despite the steady march toward a single, global set of accounting standards for public companies, it’s premature to expect U.S. investors to comprehend financial statements prepared under two different accounting systems. That may be the view of a wide range of accounting experts, who are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to ease up on […]

A blue ribbon panel tasked with recommending ways to improve financial reporting and reduce complexity unveiled a number of its preliminary recommendations, including cutting down on industry-specific accounting guidance, “chunking” similar information in the financial statements, and making interactive data reporting mandatory for the largest companies as soon as next year. The 17 members of […]

There is a famous headline here in the United Kingdom: “House fire in Cumberland; nobody hurt.” At first glance, that same ho-hum sentiment could equally apply to Europe’s shift in 2003 from nation-based generally accepted accounting principles to a single system of International Financial Reporting Standards across the European Union. The headline: “7,500 listed companies […]

As companies prepare detailed analyses of uncertain tax positions to comply with new accounting rules, they can rest easy that the Internal Revenue Service won’t ask for copies—at least for now. The IRS recently issued a brief, three-sentence statement saying it would maintain its current “policy of restraint” with regard to the tax accrual workpapers, […]

On the heels of a Securities and Exchange Commission report on companies’ disclosure of executive compensation details, RiskMetrics (formerly Institutional Shareholder Services) has published its own list of disclosure best practices. The paper, “Proposed Best Practices in Executive Compensation Disclosure,” is an “early attempt to evaluate the 2007 compensation reports,” according to RiskMetrics. A related […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission has finally come forward with recommendations to help companies prepare their executive pay disclosures in next year’s proxy statements. The first tip: Scrap last year’s disclosures. John White, director of the SEC’s division of corporation finance, warned in a speech last week that anyone planning to prepare next year’s proxy […]

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. For trade compliance managers, there’s no such thing as a truly free trade, either. In the case of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the greatest cost comes in maintaining records showing that products qualify for NAFTA’s preferential tariff treatment. Compliance is enforced by the customs services […]