British consulting group Lane Clark & Peacock said that the pension deficits for Britain's top 100 companies by market value totaled more than $66 billion as of July, and could affect the way businesses using the new International Financial Reporting Standards are run.

Grant Thornton LLP said that a Chicago judge has recommended that a case brought against the law firm regarding its bank auditing work be dismissed.

The Canadian Public Accountability Board released a second report on its inspections of accounting firms, finding that accounting firms need to enhance existing auditing practices.

Reinsurer MBIA Inc. recently said that it had received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission that it may face civil charges over past reinsurance transactions.

KPMG's 404 Institute, an open forum for accounting professionals, has a two-part Webcast series in their archives for registered users on SOX compliance technology.

The IRS hasn't focused on S corporation audits in 21 years, and needs to update its data so that it can tweak its audit machinery to select audits more effectively. Therefore, they plan to select 5,000 S corporations for random audits under the National Research Program.

Advisors who are planning for the rest of 2005 face changes that could derail even the best-made investor plans. Calm waters in both equity and fixed-income markets could face hurricane gales in the face of terrorist attacks, a continued low-return environment and implosions in overvalued sectors. As future projections call for more of the same, advisors stay wary.

Back in the 1960s, Arlo Guthrie arrived on the scene with a song that lasted about 40 minutes if every part was performed. The enduring refrain is, "You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant."

What criteria determines a good or bad credit risk?

A survivor annuity, either in the form of a qualified joint and survivor annuity, or QJSA, if the participant is alive on the starting date, or a qualified pre-retirement survivor annuity, or QPSA, if the participant dies before the starting date, must be provided to married plan participants and their spouses with respect to certain qualified plans.

The American Institute of CPAs has finalized several documents that should improve the auditing of private companies and the development of nonaudit reports and compilations.

The preparers of financial statements have long been grumbling about accounting standards, which they say are needlessly complex and painfully burdensome. The users of financial statements, on the other hand, have generally advocated detail and transparency.

A federal judge will allow the Securities and Exchange Commission to refile their lawsuit against HealthSouth Corp. founder Richard Scrushy.

The International Accounting Standards Board has issued a new international financial reporting standard titled, "Financial Instruments: Disclosures," as well as an amendment to its "Presentation of Financial Statements" discussing capital disclosures.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board adopted new ethics and independence rules for auditors that place clear limits on the ability of accounting firms to offer tax services to their audit clients.

The Securities and Exchange Commission settled charges of accounting violations by two former executives at First American Health Concepts Inc., a marketer of vision care plans.

The U.K.'s Accountancy Investigation and Discipline Board said that it is looking into the audit and advisor work that Deloitte performed for bankrupted car manufacturer MG Rover.

OpenPages, a provider of Sarbanes-Oxley software, unveiled SOX Express 3.1, their latest Web-based software for compliance with Sections 302 and 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has told Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. that it will likely recommend enforcement action for accounting errors originally disclosed two years ago.

The Uniform Accountancy Act committees of the American Institute of CPAs and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy issued an exposure draft of updated rules governing the profession.