New York-Securities and Exchange Commission Chief Accountant James Kroeker said that the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board should proceed with efforts to converge U.S. and international accounting standards, even though the SEC has not yet formally approved the proposed roadmap to International Financial Reporting Standards.

Brussels - If you want to know how financial regulation legislation and accountancy reforms are shaping up in the EU, you need to glance back to the start of the century.

To: Commissioners Schapiro, Aguilar, Casey, Paredes and Walter; Chief Accountant Kroeker

The U.S. accounting professionslowed down its preparation for adoption of international accounting standards over the last six months, according to a survey conducted by the American Institute of CPAs.

Japan’s Financial Services Authority has decided to permit voluntary domestic use of International Financial Reporting Standards, putting added pressure on the U.S. to follow suit.

The employment outlook in accounting and finance is expected to stabilize in the first quarter, according to a new survey of CFOs, although the hiring environment remains challenging for now.

The American Institute of CPAs joined with over a dozen other accounting organizations around the world to call for a single standard for climate change reporting.

James Leisenring, a member of the International Accounting Standards Board, told attendees at an accounting conference in New York to disregard the board’s recently issued standard for recognizing and measuring financial instruments, acknowledging that political pressures had forced the board to publish the standard.

The CFA Institute expressed its support for Financial Accounting Standards Board Chairman Robert Herz’s statements on the need to “decouple” accounting standard-setting from bank regulation.

The number of Securities and Exchange Commission settlements declined for the second consecutive fiscal year in 2009, with 626 defendants, compared to 673 in fiscal year 2008, according to a new report.

FASB Chairman Robert Herz and AICPA Accounting Standards Executive Committee Chairman Jay Hanson separately acknowledged that many assets and financial instruments do not need to be measured at fair value on the balance sheet.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chief Accountant James L. Kroeker told leaders of the accounting profession that independent auditors will be expected to consider the interests of the “investing public” — not just their audit clients — when performing their duties.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, with several justices appearing to take the plaintiffs’ side in the case.

The Trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, which oversees the International Accounting Standards Board, said they are seeking nominations to identify a successor to IASB Chairman Sir David Tweedie.

The Private Company Financial Reporting Committee met Thursday and Friday with the Financial Accounting Standards Board to hear about the progress of the latest projects affecting privately held and small businesses.

The White House convened a jobs summit in which President Obama heard from business and union leaders about various proposals for reducing unemployment, including tax incentives for job creation.

Leaders of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship have introduced legislation that would make permanent the $250,000 Section 179 expensing limits for small businesses created under the Recovery Act.

The BDO International network of accounting firms blamed difficult market conditions for a slight decrease in annual revenues in dollar terms, although the network actually came out ahead in terms of euros.

A new survey of nearly 1,000 small business owners across the U.S. found that over three-quarters of them have not taken advantage of new deferred-payment loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration, and more than half are not aware of the loans’ availability.

Officials from the Security and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board cautioned a group of auditors against placing too much reliance on specialists hired for their expertise in areas such as fair value measurement.