Looking forward to 2010, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is bracing for a surge in litigation from the targets of its enforcement staff, a series of new regulatory responsibilities triggered by the Madoff Ponzi scheme, and corner-cutting by accounting firms squeezed by the ongoing economic crisis.

For the first time, the Securities and Exchange Commission has distributed more than $2 billion in a single calendar year to injured investors as a result of SEC enforcement actions and proceedings.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Terra Nova Financial $400,000 for making more than $1 million in improper “soft dollar” payments to hedge fund clients for accounting expenses, estate planning fees and more questionable expenses.

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board has published a paper questioning how financial statements can provide more information about the long-term sustainability of current government programs.

CCH and Grant Thornton have teamed up to produce IFRS Tax Manager, an online guide to International Financial Reporting Standards, aimed at helping tax, audit and accounting professionals comply with tax accounting and reporting standards under IFRS.

XBRL US Labs has issued a call for research partners to expand the research and development projects it already has underway and named its first three research fellows.

A new survey of corporate accountants found that 46 percent said their company could do more to prepare for recovery and another 8 percent believe their company is poorly prepared for recovery.

The Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration convened a Small Business Financing Forum in which they discussed ways to expand credit to small business.

Wayne Carnall, the chief accountant in the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance, had some good advice to dispense to corporate accountants on keeping out of hot water with his department.

Financial Accounting Standards Board Chairman Bob Herz said the $64,000 question is, “Where are we going with IFRS?” as he described plans for FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board to work more closely on uniting U.S. GAAP with International Financial Reporting Standards.

Leaders of the American Institute of CPAs and the Center for Audit Quality registered strong objections to proposed legislation that would put banking regulators in control of U.S. accounting standards.

COMPANIES WANT SEC TO APPROVE IFRS ROADMAP

LONDON-The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants recommends in a new report that environmental regulators should work with international accounting standard-setters to develop a universal climate change reporting standard for organizations of all sizes.

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Securities and Exchange Commission has released a draft of a five-year strategic plan that calls for a single set of high-quality global accounting standards.

IASB NOT WAITING FOR U.S.

We don't know about the rest of you in the profession's rank and file, but we're feeling steamrollered over "convergence," a code word meaning hastily dumping the independent Financial Accounting Standards Board and embracing the vulnerable International Accounting Standards Board.

The conversion to International Financial Reporting Standards, coupled with the movement towards fair value accounting and Congress' need for revenue, could result in the repeal of the last-in/first-out, or LIFO, method of inventory accounting.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has beefed up the disclosure requirements for some types of fair value measurements.

The American Institute of CPAs has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Trade Commission challenging the applicability of the so-called “Red Flags Rule” to CPAs.