IVAX RETAINS PWC: Ivax Diagnostics Inc., a Miami-based manufacturer and marketer of scientific instruments, medical diagnostic and autoimmune kits, has retained Big Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers as its independent accountant.PwC succeeds Ernst & Young as Ivax's auditor.

After months of lobbying from businesses, it's beginning to appear that there's been some progress made in getting the Securities and Exchange Commission to reconsider parts of a proposal requiring companies to disclose the earnings of executives.

The Heroes Earned Retirement Opportunities Act has passed through Congress and is expected to be signed into law by President Bush. The bill would allow excluded combat pay to be treated as compensation under IRA contribution rules.

More than 80 percent of financial planners who hold the CFP certification have a high level of career satisfaction, though the profession's 2005 reported median earnings of $232,995 revealed a noticeable drop-off from the previous year.

In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court said that public employees do not have blanket rights to file lawsuits as part of whistleblower protections outlined under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

President Bush has nominated the chairman and chief executive of investment banking firm Goldman Sachs, Henry M. Paulson Jr., as Treasury Secretary.

I couldn't believe the number of American Idol votes. The voters couldn't have been just those in their teens and twenties. Perhaps it isn't a coincidence that the votes were being cast as I was flying back from attending the AICPA Spring Council meeting in Salt Lake City.

Public companies working on national defense or national security issues can now get an exemption from the reporting requirements governed by the Securities and Exchange Commission from the director of national intelligence.

On the heels of yet another in-depth report, this one delivered by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the top executive at home mortgage behemoth Fannie Mae said that his is a changed company.

Fannie Mae will pay $400 million to put an end to the accounting woes that have dogged the home mortgage giant since 2004.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will propose rules for annual and special reporting of information and events by accounting firms that are registered with the board.

Four months after offering new incentives for companies to furnish their financial information in computer-readable interactive data format, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that another trio of firms has joined the fun.

The International Federation of Accountants has issued its 2005 annual report, highlighting the update of its code of ethics, as well as the formal establishment of the Public Interest Oversight Board.

President Bush has nominated Republican Kathleen Casey, currently serving as staff director for the Senate Banking Committee, to replace Cynthia Glassman at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The former chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission said that the accounting profession must stand strong in advocating for more transparent financial disclosure and serve as a model for the rest of the world

Less than six months into the job, t he International Accounting Standards Board chairman has stepped down to take the position of Italian finance minister.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board filed a motion to dismiss a constitutional challenge to its legality this week based on a number of procedural points.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced a series of actions to improve implementation of the Section 404 internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced a four-point plan to improve auditors' implementation of the internal control reporting provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Thomas J. Linsmeier, the chairman of the accounting department at Michigan State University, was named a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board this week.