The banking and insurance industries have been playing arbitrage with the various accounting standards produced by U.S. and international standard-setters.

An organization representing major life and property/casualty insurance and reinsurance companies has criticized a new measurement approach for insurance contracts recommended by the staff of the International Accounting Standards Board.

IMGCAP(1)]On September 4, the President took another important step toward a more open and transparent government by announcing a new policy to voluntarily disclose White House visitor access records.

[IMGCAP(1)] Adam Wolf isthe type of guy you’d want to bring along to a networking event or have as aguest at a dinner party. He’s got a plethora of stories to tell, is a fast (andsmooth) talker, and naturally knows how to bring people who would benefit fromeach other together.

Eighty-nine percent of financial executives view mandatory conversion to International Financial Reporting Standards to be either highly likely or somewhat likely in the U.S., according to a new survey by Deloitte.

SEC officials testifying at a Senate Banking Committee hearing pledged to do more to investigate Ponzi schemes.

The American Bankers Association has written to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke asking them to raise accounting issues at the upcoming G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh in order to curb efforts by standard-setters to expand mark-to-market accounting to loans and debt instruments.

The International Accounting Standards Board’s oversight body has proposed a series of changes aimed at providing better governance of the standard-setter, including renaming the organization the International Financial Reporting Standards Board.

The Center for Audit Quality has created a free online Guide to International Financial Standards to educate people about the uncertain state of the IFRS roadmap.

If you haven’t heard of the social bookmarking site, Delicious, you may be living in a cave.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has published implementation guidance on accounting for uncertainty in income taxes and disclosure amendments for nonpublic entities.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has introduced an online training course to help more small businesses get federal contracts.

Accounting firm Crowe Horwath is responding to the wave of companies filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with a set of services to help them navigate the reorganization process.

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board member Charles Niemeier said he plans to leave the board in the near future.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is distributing more than $35 million to over 98,000 investors who were harmed by accounting fraud at Cardinal Health.

The Financial Planning Association is urging SEC Chair Mary Schapiro to clarify and restrict the scope of authority of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority related to financial planning services.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a set of proposed changes to fair value measurement rules that would require companies to provide more information about illiquid assets.

IMGCAP(1)] As I spend time with CPA firms and learn about their approaches to developing their talent, exceptional programs rise to the top. One program that comes to mind is WIN@CG, Clifton Gunderson’s women’s initiative. This award-winning, results-oriented platform is worthy of emulation.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, an influential group of international banking regulators, has released a set of guiding principles to help the International Accounting Standards Board set new standards for financial instruments to deal with the aftermath of the financial crisis.

The major federal banking regulatory agencies are asking for comments on a proposed rule for banks’ minimal capital requirements, stemming from two accounting standards that would change how banks will account next year for many items they currently keep off their balance sheets.