The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday to consider adopting certain rules to implement expanded oversight and inspection for registered accounting firms’ audits of brokers and dealers.

LogixData released the SEC Analyzer, a new product to assist with compliance and disclosure with the SEC.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has stopped a pair of advertising executives who launched a campaign to buy Pabst Brewing Company by soliciting investors on Facebook and Twitter.

Check out the digital edition of the June 2011 issue of Accounting Today.

Check out the digital edition of the June 2011 issue of Accounting Today.

Two reports from the Maryland Association of CPAs and Grant Thornton paint different pictures of whether accountants favor a separate standard-setting board for private company accounting.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board could begin requiring public companies to rotate their auditing firms on a regular basis to reduce conflicts of interest.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has begun a new educational webcast series that will provide continuing professional education credit to those who participate in the live broadcasts

The U.S. Small Business Administration has introduced a smart phone app to help people who are interested in starting or growing a small business.

A majority of compliance executives in the U.S. and the U.K. say bribery and corruption remain part of doing business in some countries, although most companies have not abandoned operating in such countries, according to a new survey by KPMG.

AICPA SPOTLIGHTS LATEST M&A GUIDANCE

Norwalk, Conn.

Despite the fact that we are just barely through celebrating Memorial Day, I took a refresher look at the holiday calendar the other day and noticed that in 2011, July 4th falls on a Monday, which ensures a three-day weekend.

We were taken aback by an op-ed written by Bob Kueppers and D.J. Gannon that appeared in the April 2011 issue of Accounting Today ("The Journey to convergence," page 12). We're surprised they continue to tout vague generalities about the benefits of international standards and hopelessly cling to optimistic (but naive) interpretations of the Securities and Exchange Commission's announcements. They refer to the commission's "Work Plan" as supporting convergence, when it actually lays out impossible goals for proving that the costs of achieving convergence are less than the benefits.

POTENTIAL CHANGES

The California Board of Accountancy’s Accounting Education Committee and Ethics Curriculum Committee plan to hold a joint meeting to unveil their proposals for the 30 additional hours of education necessary for CPA licensure in California, beginning Jan. 1, 2014.

The Securities and Exchange Commission staff released its work plan Thursday for how International Financial Reporting Standards might be incorporated into the U.S. financial reporting system.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted to adopt rules to establish a whistleblower program that rewards individuals who provide the agency with high-quality tips that lead to successful enforcement actions.

Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Schapiro told an accounting group that “investors are not as confident as they could be” in accountants, and she plans to make some changes.

The American Institute of CPAs held its annual ritual this week of visiting lawmakers’ offices on Capitol Hill to press the case for tax simplification, a ban on tax patent strategies, changes in tax-filing due dates, and other legislative priorities.