New York Governor David Paterson has signed a bill expanding the regulation of CPAs throughout the state.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has published guidance to help auditors apply Auditing Standard No. 5 to audits of internal controls at smaller public companies.

Newly approved Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner moved to provide more transparency in the controversial Troubled Assets Relief Program by posting investment contracts on the Internet.

The incoming chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro, criticized the International Accounting Standards Board and expressed reluctance to move to International Financial Reporting Standards.

With the election over, we now must focus on what real changes will advance the markets.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has released its congressionally mandated report on mark-to-market accounting, calling for improvements in the standards, but not their suspension. The 211-page report's recommended improvements include reconsidering the accounting for impairments and the development of more guidance for determining the fair value of investments in situations where market prices are not readily available.The report noted that investors generally believe that fair value accounting increases reporting transparency and facilitates better investment decision-making. It also indicates that fair value accounting did not appear to play a meaningful role in the bank failures in 2008.

Though the Governmental Accounting Standards Board expects to issue only one new standard in 2009, the year should be productive enough to position the board for significant advances over the subsequent two years.You could call it a year of research and deliberation - some of it conducted in-house by staff, and some by requests for comments and ideas from the field of state and local governments and the users of government financial information.