Regulatory actions and programs

Financial Accounting Standards Board chair Leslie Seidman gave a cautious thumbs-up to the so-called “condorsement” approach to incorporation of International Financial Reporting Standards in the U.S., while defending FASB’s authority over private company accounting standards.

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy has launched a new Web site, CPAverify.org, that provides a central database of state licensee information about CPAs practicing across the U.S.

The Internal Revenue Service is facing challenges keeping ahead of financial services companies that create sophisticated financial derivatives and offer them as a way to evade tax liabilities.

The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to hold its inaugural roundtable in the Financial Reporting Series on “Measurement Uncertainty in Financial Reporting.”

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board published previously nonpublic portions of its inspection report from 2008 of Deloitte & Touche LLP after the firm failed to address problems with its audit procedures after a 2007 report.

As someone who works within a 3-wood from New York's financial markets, I found myself wandering over during a lunch hour to see for myself the five weeks and counting spectacle of the Occupy Wall Street protestors.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced Thursday that it had permanently barred a Denver-based audit partner and permanently revoked the registration of a registered public accounting firm because the audit partner had participated in audits while subject to a previous bar.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has reached an agreement with Japanese regulators that will allow the two countries to carry out joint inspections of auditing firms in Japan and the U.S.

A new report from a task force led by the International Federation of Accountants urges greater acceptance of globally accepted high-quality international standards for financial reporting, auditing, valuation and actuarial services and other regulations, to restore the proper functioning of the financial markets.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued an alert to make auditors more aware of the risks they face when auditing companies with operations in emerging markets such as China.

The Financial Accounting Foundation’s board of trustees released a proposed plan Tuesday calling for the establishment of a new council that would be able to identify, propose and vote on improvements to U.S. accounting standards specifically for private companies, but the changes would still be subject to ratification by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

A total of 33 state CPA societies representing over 275,000 CPAs have written letters so far to the Financial Accounting Foundation or passed resolutions urging the FAF to create a new accounting standard-setting board for privately held companies, according to the American Institute of CPAs.

The New York State Society of CPAs has written a comment letter opposing changes in the format of audit reports.

The Private Company Financial Reporting Committee discussed proposed accounting standards for revenue recognition, leasing and investment properties during a meeting with members of the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

The federal government has secured commitments from 13 banks to increase their lending to small businesses by $20 billion over the next three years.

IMGCAP(1)]This year the SSAE 16 assessment standard will replace the SAS 70 audit standard.

A trustee working group at the Financial Accounting Foundation plans to release its proposals in the next few weeks for changing the structure and process of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s oversight of standards for private companies and nonprofits.

More than three-quarters of corporate board members in a new survey said their main concern with the SEC’s new whistleblower rewards is the negative impact of an increase in false allegations.