Regulatory actions and programs

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have issued proposed regulations clarifying the treatment of expenditures incurred in selling, acquiring, producing or improving tangible assets.

Lost in the hotly debated issues surrounding the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 are the unforeseen consequences impacting the accounting profession itself. Foremost among these is the creation of an inhibited marketplace that primarily benefits the Big Four accounting firms at the expense of their smaller, regional and often more flexible counterparts.Largely because of SOX, the Big Four now collectively audit 80 percent of all U.S. public companies. Under Sarbanes-Oxley, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board was established and set out to define and enforce a set of rules covering standards for all auditors of public companies.

OPENTV RETAINS GRANT THORNTON: OpenTV Corp., a San Francisco-based developer of software used by cable and satellite TV operators to offer their subscribers interactive content and services, named Grant Thornton as its new independent accountant. Grant replaces Big Four firm KPMG.In a federal filing, OpenTV said that there were no disagreements with KPMG during the fiscal years ended Dec. 31, 2004 and 2005, and through June 29, 2006, on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedures.

After filling the top slot at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board by naming Mark W. Olson as chairman in June, Securities and Exchange Commission chair Christopher Cox filled another gaping vacancy in July - the position of SEC chief accountant.Late last month, Cox named former Ernst & Young partner and California banking regulator Conrad W. Hewitt as the nation's top accountant, a post that had been empty for nearly 10 months since the departure of Don Nicholaisen.

In response to widespread criticism of the cost and burden of implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, on internal controls, the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission has issued comprehensive guidance and principles that should help smaller companies comply.In a July Webcast that introduced the new guidance, COSO chairman Larry Rittenberg emphasized that it does not specify prescriptive solutions to internal control problems.

Taking a big step toward erecting a stronger foundation beneath the world's accounting standards, the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board recently issued a joint document suggesting a more clearly defined objective of financial reporting, and more clearly delineated qualitative characteristics of decision-useful financial information.The preliminary views document, the result of Phase A of the boards' conceptual framework project, eliminates small but crucial differences in the basic building blocks of the accounting principles promulgated by the boards. Decisions at this fundamental level will ripple through accounting principles established over the course of decades, and could necessitate amendments to current standards.

DePaul University's College of Commerce has launched the Center for Global Accountancy Education, Benchmarking and Research Center, which will work to improve financial accounting in the developing world by policing three specific areas: international auditing standards, financial reporting and accounting education.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Diego Tomás Ruiz, a long-time business executive with Spanish-language media group Univision Communications Inc., will serve as its new executive director.

A number of prominent economists and finance experts have lent their names to a call to repeal a stock option-reform measure adopted last year by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The former chief executive of Comverse Technology Inc., who was charged last week with conspiracy related to backdating stock options, is now being regarded as a fugitive by the federal government.

Depending on what report you read, and how the statistics get manipulated, the Internal Revenue Service gets a grade somewhere between tremendous and embarrassing for its work auditing the returns of wealthy taxpayers.

Erik R. Sirri, an economist with expertise in the structure of securities markets, has been named the new director of market regulation at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced plans to create its own Web tools to allow investors and analysts to manipulate interactive data to analyze mutual fund and corporate information.

Have you ever monitored the progress of a large municipal construction project and noted how many times the completion deadline is pushed back?

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged former Endocare Inc. chief executive Paul Mikus and chief financial officer John V. Cracchiolo with accounting fraud.

A trio of professional groups have joined forces to launch a research project to explore user perceptions of financial statement audits and auditor reports.

Pay to corporate directors grew at a slower rate in 2005, compared to the previous year, according to a study by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

As expected, the Securities and Exchange Commission will likely grant smaller public companies and most foreign private issuers an extension on having to comply with the internal controls provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Fannie Mae said that it believes its internal accounting review is finally over, and that its anticipated restatement will be much less than its previous $2.4 billion estimates.

The Securities and Exchange Commission won't challenge a federal appeals court ruling overturning independence rules for hedge fund directors.