Audit & Accounting

Doubts are hovering over the timely implementation of the Basel II capital adequacy mandate in Europe, as the possibility lingers that the European Parliament will fail to clear the ruling smoothly.

With its role in standard-setting now clearly defined, the Auditing Standards Board has been making up for lost time as it moves toward a series of new proposed standards.

The Internal Revenue Service has been shifting its priorities from taxpayer service to enforcement and its management of the Business Systems Modernization program - an ongoing umbrella program of upgrades - from contractors to IRS staff.

The next few months should pump a little excitement into the profession as the Financial Accounting Standards Board moves to issue as many as 20 new documents - most of them exposure drafts - with some proposing significant changes to financial reporting.

In addition to its ongoing work on the implementation of Auditing Standard No. 2, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will focus on rules related to auditor independence and tax services and strengthening its enforcement staff during the second half of the year, according to its chairman.

The Securities and Exchange Commission Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies will hold its second meeting next week in New York to finalize its agenda, to consider suggestions on defining the term "smaller public company" and to hear testimony on methods to scale securities regulations for smaller public companies.

As part of its broader effort toward convergence with international reporting standards, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued Statement No. 154, "Accounting Changes and Error Corrections."

Volunteering in the community may be good for your career, a poll released by Deloitte & Touche suggests.

Warning that the corporate system can't work if boards of directors are hamstrung by fear of civil or criminal liability, Treasury Secretary John Snow this week called for balance in the enforcement of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

The U.S. Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission have published tips to assist fiduciaries of employee benefit plans in reviewing conflicts of interest of pension consultants.