Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., has proposed a $150 billion Emergency Stabilization Fund to help small businesses, universities, students and municipalities cope with the credit crisis, with the money coming from the $700 billion financial bailout package.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said it has started work on a study of mark-to-market accounting authorized by the financial rescue bill that was approved last week.

Participants in a Securities and Exchange Commission roundtable discussed how the credit crisis would affect the SEC's plans for an improved financial disclosure system.

The Internal Revenue Service issued a notice late last week that allows U.S. corporations to get more tax-free loans from their foreign subsidiaries.

The financial rescue plan approved by Congress last week included many extensions of expiring tax credits and deductions that helped it win passage in the House, but it also left out some tax issues that will surely be bones of contention for the next Congress.

American workers have lost as much as $2 trillion in their pensions and retirement savings in the past 15 months, witnesses told a hearing of the House Education and Labor Committee.

The Treasury Department's Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession has released its final report outlining recommendations on how to improve the sustainability of the audit profession, including a dissenting statement from one of its members.

The Internal Revenue Service issued a notice aimed at calming fears that it would act against insurance-dedicated money market funds that take advantage of a new temporary guarantee program.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board has released an audit practice alert to help auditors deal with the controversial issue of fair value accounting estimates.

The passage of the financial rescue plan by Congress last week depended in part on the insertion of a provision on reevaluating the fair value accounting standards, which could come back to bite the same lobbyists who urged its inclusion.

In "The Graduate," A family friend utters one word, "Plastics," to Dustin Hoffman at his graduation party. Let’s fast forward some thirty–plus years later and understand that Benjamin Braddock, Dustin’s character, is now a Baby Boomer, and let’s make a healthy substitute for the word “plastic” and update that conversation to: “I just want to say one word to you ... just one word." says Mr. McGuire "Yes, sir."--Ben "Are you listening?"--Mr.McGuire "Yes, sir. I am."--Ben "Sugar-free."--Mr. McGuire Let me explain the reasoning for the change. In the exhibit area at the last annual conference of the Association for Accounting Marketing in San Diego, I stopped by a booth to talk to a representative of a business development company that has and continues to impress me. I had met the individual before, so we struck up an easy-going conversation of how the conference was going for each of us. As I left, he reached to give me a tin of mints with the company’s name printed on it. I refused it I told him the tin, unlike an offer of a piece of candy, was a great idea, as every time you take the tin out of your pocket for a mint, you are reminded about the company. He beamed as I spoke and explained that he came up with the idea of imprinted tins, and then convinced his CEO to approve the expenditure even though it cost considerably more than simply having out a bowl of sour balls. I suggested that his company’s next order should include tins of sugar-free mints, explaining that his company’s target was primarily the managing partners of firms (those that would approve using his company), and like me are probably Baby-Boomers, many of whom aren’t supposed to eat sugar as they are diabetic or pre-diabetic. If you want to see my theory in action, come to Atlantic City with me the next time I go. The busiest casinos are those that have a substantial sugar-free dessert section at their buffets and offer many sugar-free dessert choices at their restaurants, thereby appealing to and drawing those with the most disposable income and wealth, the same Baby Boomers. Column dedication: To GH.

With the credit markets tightening, a majority of the 688 CFOs and senior comptrollers surveyed by Grant Thornton see the cost of credit increasing for their companies, and the availability of credit decreasing.

The International Accounting Standards Board said it is taking steps in conjunction with the U.S.'s Financial Accounting Standards Board to address the crisis in the credit markets.

I believe there are some important points that should be addressed in response to the author's perspective of the life settlement industry ("Be your own life settlement broker," Accounting Today, Aug. 4-17, 2008, page 16).A provider's No. 1 objective is to have the least amount of competition possible on any policy that they're reviewing, so they can pay the least amount for that policy. The provider is representing the institutional buyer, and their responsibility is to protect that fund's rate of return on its portfolio.

SURVEY: EMPLOYEES WORK HARDER WITH STOCK PLANSSome 76 percent of employees participating in a Fidelity Investments survey indicated that they work harder for a company that offers employee stock purchase programs and employer-sponsored stock plans.

New Jersey made the bottom of the list in a ranking of business-friendly state tax systems, while Wyoming ranked as the most friendly.

McGladrey & Pullen's Jacksonville, Fla., office has been chosen to provide audit services for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority.

A case currently on appeal to the Supreme Court could affect the tax-exempt status of thousands of nonprofit health maintenance organizations.Vision Service Plan, the largest not-for-profit vision benefits and services company, was initially granted a tax exemption in 1960 as a social welfare organization under Section 501(c)(4).

What's "dumping?"Depends on whom you ask. It could be an intentional policy, or it could just be a matter of how manufacturers cost their products.

With literally millions of Baby Boomers moving rapidly toward retirement, the demand for retirement income planning is slated to grow dramatically, says the Financial Planning Association in a new study sponsored by Transamerica. The study, 2008 FPA Financial Planner Attitudes and Perceptions about Retirement Income Planning, concludes that the demand for retirement income planning, retirement income products, and services, is increasing quite a lot, driven by what the FPA says is a greater understanding on the part of Americans relating to the important differences between the two broad phases of retirement: the accumulation or preparation phase and the distribution or income phase. According to the Diversified Services Group, which conducted the study along with the FPAS and Transamerica, this trend is likely to continue as Baby Boomers get older and want to learn more about retirement issues and solutions. Actually, financial planners say that they expect retirement income planning to be a key foundation of both their short- and long-term business growth. In fact, some 25 percent of advisers surveyed report that more than 50 percent of their new clients and assets will come from IRA rollover activities alone over the next year. Moreover, the planners surveyed say that 50 percent of their clients will retire over the next five years. For financial planners, this study shows an urgent need for them to become experts in retirement income planning as well as the need for them to examine their practices and how their revenue, revenue mix, and profitability could change as their clients retire. “The findings in this report point out that there is a significant spike in consumers’ appetites for help in retirement income planning, and advisers who become the subject matter experts in this area are the ones who will continue to find success as the market shifts due to demographics and the changing reality of what retirees' need to do in their retirement years,” concludes Will Prest, chief marketing officer of Transamerica Retirement Management, Inc. The study, the third annual study of its kind, is available for purchase by FPA institutional members for $7,500. Nonmembers can purchase the study for $10,000. To learn more about this study, send an e-mail to ResearchCenter@FPAnet.org.