With governmental accounting changing fast in a fast-changing financial environment, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board has added projects to its agenda to deal with the increasing variety of public/private partnerships, the common presentation of financial statements for reporting units that do not qualify as reporting entities, and for developments in pension accounting.The decision to review existing standards on post-employment benefits was based on an extensive research project that began in early 2006.

The May 2008 issue of The Journal of Accountancy ran opinion pieces on the role of accounting in the subprime crisis and subsequent bursting of the credit market bubble. Paul Miller was invited to comment on a controversial claim that mark-to-market practices made things worse. The critics claim that GAAP practices weakened institutions that invested in collateralized debt obligations by revealing large losses when the CDOs’ market values evaporated.They assert that financial statements would better serve the public interest if managers can keep unrealized losses (which they consider to be unreal) out of their financial statements. By a huge leap of ego, they conclude that they and everyone else would be better off if nobody is aware that those losses had occurred. After all, everyone knows they aren’t real because they are always followed by gains. Except when they aren’t, of course.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board may change some accounting rules to make it more difficult for banks to get subprime loans off their books.At an accounting conference held last month in New York, FASB Chairman Robert Herz said that the rules might require banks to keep loans on their books that they previously have been able to package and sell off or securitize.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a former Ernst & Young partner, an investment banker and her father with insider trading involving information about potential M&A transactions.

The U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board said they are seeking public comment on two documents that are part of their joint project for developing an improved conceptual framework for future accounting standards.

XBRL International has appointed Gilles Maguet as secretary general of XBRL Europe, giving him the job of promoting the adoption of the Extensible Business Reporting Language in Europe.

Under new regulations, taxpayers must consent to the disclosure or use of their tax information by return preparers. Stiff penalties can be imposed on the preparer who makes unauthorized disclosures.