Audit

The Securities and Exchange Commission will require public companies to provide more information about the pay given to top executives under rules unanimously adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

As expected, Conrad W. Hewitt, a former Big Four managing partner and commissioner of California's department of financial institutions and superintendent of banking for the state, will take over the top accounting job at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A federal judge has ruled that the Internal Revenue Service went too far in retroactively banning the "Son of Boss" tax shelter.

Conrad W. Hewitt, a former Big Four managing partner and commissioner of California's department of financial institutions and superintendent of banking for the state, is expected to be named the chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Many audit committees concede some specific issues and processes could be improved -- including oversight of accounting judgments and estimates, risk management and agenda setting, according to a recent survey by the Audit Committee Institute of KPMG International.

Blaming delays in information sharing, as well as a battle over who will pick up the tab for legal fees, the trial over former KPMG partners' sales of questionably legal tax shelters won't begin until Jan. 15.

I was raised in a family of medical people: father, brother, son, to name a few. Where other kids in our neighborhood might have had a Cross or a Star of David hanging over their beds, I had a caduceus. Thus, you must immediately ask, why am I writing columns such as this? Well, the answer is relatively simple. To repeat the famous cliche, I really couldn't stand the sight of blood, especially my own.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed the first charges in its stock options practices investigations, charging the former chief executive of Brocade Communications Systems Inc. Gregory Reyes with misconduct linked to option grant practices.

As expected, the Financial Accounting Standards Board formally added a project to its agenda to reconsider the current accounting standards for leases.

By my count, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox must have stamped out at least another couple of brushfires over these recent summer months.

Kathleen L. Casey was sworn in as the 88th Securities and Exchange Commission commissioner by Chairman Christopher Cox on Monday.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is likely to formally add a project on lease accounting to its agenda this week, according to published reports.

Late last month, the SEC announced the institution and simultaneous settlement of an enforcement action against Morgan Stanley (Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and Morgan Stanley DW Inc.). The SEC action alleged that Morgan Stanley failed to maintain and enforce adequate written policies and procedures to prevent the misuse of insider information in its possession.

More than 2,000 companies appear to have used backdated stock options, according to a new paper from professors at the University of Iowa and Indiana University.

New rules will allow the New York State Board of Regents stronger local oversight of CPAs who are disciplined by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued an interpretation that clarifies the way companies account for uncertainty in income taxes.

New guidance, stressing efficient application of effective internal control over financial reporting, was released this week by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

Following a judge's suggestion, 16 former KPMG partners facing charges over their role in selling questionable tax shelters are suing the Big Four firm for legal fees.

The Securities and Exchange Commission requested that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board delay issuing guidance related to backdating stock options.According to The Wall Street Journal, the PCAOB had planned to issue an alert to accounting firms about the front-burner topic, which would have advised auditors about grant issues they should examine in audits.

KPMG LLP announced that it has formed a U.S.-based India Tax Center of Excellence to assist and advise companies that have, or are planning, operations in India. The center will also provide tax services to India-based companies with investment interests in the United States.