Check out the digital edition of the February issue of Accounting Today.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has proposed guidance on how to apply the accounting standards when a hedging derivative is terminated for a government entity.

I once knew a slightly free-spirited ex-boxer turned street brawler who, despite his fearsome exploits against mortal men both in and out of the ring, once found himself in a seedy watering hole facing no less than seven angry men wielding baseball bats.

European Union Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier plans to introduce draft legislation in November to curb the increasing concentration of auditing work among the Big Four firms.

Representatives of the U.S. and Japanese accounting standards boards met in Connecticut this week to talk about their efforts to converge with international standards.

Check out the digital edition of the February issue of Accounting Today.

James Doty, the newly appointed chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, believes auditors need to be doing a better job of detecting suspicious patterns and practices at the companies they audit, and to do a better job of communicating their concerns.

Congressmen Brad Sherman, D-Calif., and Michael Conaway, R-Texas, have formed a Bipartisan Congressional CPA Caucus that they plan to co-chair.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a discussion paper to solicit input on how to improve, simplify, and converge the financial reporting requirements for hedging activities, as it foresees the possibility of increasing divergence from international standards.

The leaders of four of the largest international accounting and auditing firms told the European Commission on Wednesday that they are ready for more official intervention in the audit market to forestall another financial crisis and they support more competition in the market.

George Diacont, who has served as director of registration and inspection at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board since the board’s inception in 2003, plans to retire in early March.

The next decade will be a period of rapid change and continuous transformation for the accounting profession that will lend itself to greater opportunities for growth and productivity, according to a new report.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales is calling for a “big bang” approach to implementing a series of new International Financial Reporting Standards.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said Thursday that Steven Richards, the former assistant chief accountant in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement, will be joining the board as special adviser to the PCAOB’s new chairman, James R. Doty, at the end of March.

President Obama has launched a new initiative to fund small business entrepreneurs known as Startup America, which sounds like something that might better belong on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley than on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.

The Miller and Bahnson article "Duh-preciation: Why is this elephant still in the room?" (Accounting Today, Dec. 13-Jan. 10, 2011, page 17) is a great example of the damage sitting in an ivory tower without anything useful to do but play with your ankus does to one's brain cells.

GASB UPDATES 'BLENDED' ENTITIES STANDARDS

The Obama administration proposed permanently eliminating capital gains taxes on some types of small business investments held for over five years.

The Obama administration is expected to propose permanently eliminating capital gains taxes on some types of small business investments held for over five years.