Accounting standards

As if to continue the angst and agony of waiting, the Securities and Exchange Commission recently postponed the compliance date for the application of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Statement 123(R), "Share-Based Payments."The SEC ruling allows companies to implement the statement, which requires them to expense stock option compensation, at the beginning of their next fiscal year instead of in their first interim or annual period that begins after June 30, 2005, or, for small companies, after Dec. 15, 2005.

The two regulatory "missionaries" responsible for bringing religion to the accounting profession - the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission - told House lawmakers that their tandem efforts are paying off.Oversight of auditors by the three-year old PCAOB "has already changed the environment of registered public accounting firms," and the board's regulatory presence has "triggered a profound shift in the overall character of public company auditing," PCAOB Chairman William J. McDonough said in remarks before the House Financial Services Committee.

The demand for capital in the Republic of China, whose 9.5 percent growth has spurred its government to rein in that rapid rate for fear that its economy could overheat, is also spinning off steps to spruce up the country's accounting procedures.The country's rising capital market needs mean that accounting methodologies should be tailored to suit the needs of that market, asserted Liu Zhongli, president of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants, during a recent speech in Brussels.

A district court judge here gave the okay in late April to a settlement in which Arthur Andersen agreed to pay $65 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit brought by WorldCom investors who alleged that the audit firm failed to protect them by not uncovering the $11 billion fraud at the telecommunications company.Andersen also agreed to pay investors 20 percent of any remaining capital that it intends to distribute to its partners, and also to pay the difference between the $65 million and any larger settlement in any other lawsuit it may settle in the future, according to Sean Coffey, an attorney for lead plaintiff the New York State Common Retirement Fund.

In April, President Bush signed into legislation the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, also known as the Bankruptcy Reform Act.At least eight years in the making, the legislation marks the most significant bankruptcy legislation in decades, and will most likely wend its way to accounting firms.

April's landmark bankruptcy legislation helped change the world for spendthrift Americans.By virtue of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, Congress reformed bankruptcy laws by taking away some privileges, and then the U.S. Supreme Court gave some of them back with a ruling that IRAs would be safe from creditors. Both actions have prompted CPA advisors to rethink the strategies available to clients whose finances get out of control.

The types of activities that allow a state, under its own rules, to tax a business entity vary widely. In fact, the same company with relatively light activity within one state might be subject to tax in that state, yet not be taxed in a state where its activity is greater.

The Securities and Exchange Commission named Linda C. Thomsen to head the agency's enforcement division succeeding Stephen Cutler, who is leaving the regulator this month for a post in the private sector.

In the midst of a massive restatement, troubled mortgage-finance concern Fannie Mae said it won't file its first-quarter financial report with the Securities and Exchange Commission on time.

The NASD has censured and fined Raymond James & Associates Inc. and Raymond James Financial Services Inc. $750,000 for violations relating to the firms' fee-based brokerage business.

The number of internal controls weaknesses related to lease accounting issues jumped more than 10 percent in April, according to a report released this week.

Saks Inc. asked three of its top executives, including its chief accounting officer, to resign, following an investigation by its audit committee related to the improper collection of vendor markdown allowances in one of its merchandising divisions.

A newly issued revenue procedure, Rev. Proc. 2005-28, makes it easier for some taxpayers to adopt a simpler method of allocating and apportioning interest expenses in determining their net U.S. and foreign-source income for foreign tax credit purposes.

In response to the Financial Accounting Standards Board's recent proposal on the Hierarchy of GAAP, the American Institute of CPAs has issued an exposure draft introducing a proposed Statement on Auditing Standards that would apply only to nongovernmental entities.

In spite of President Bush's recent efforts to push his plan to overhaul Social Security, a majority of Americans surveyed disapprove of Bush's handling of the issue, according to a recent poll.

TIAA-CREF's handling of an auditor independence issue that led to the resignations of two company trustees last December was "ultimately successful, although there were substantial missteps" along the way, according to a report released Thursday.

Reporting standards -- despite their complexity -- should be an exercise in honest communication, not merely an exercise in compliance, regulators and standard-setters told attendees at a financial reporting conference here.

The Securities and Exchange Commission this week filed fraud charges against Richmond, Va.-based paperboard and plastic packaging supplier Chesapeake Corp. and four of its former executives in connection with the company's 2000 restatements.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has published an exposure draft to rank generally accepted accounting principles.

Norwalk, Conn. Insurance and reinsurance have recently made headline news, and it has not been pretty.