Regulatory actions and programs

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board voted Tuesday to adopt rules to implement provisions of last year’s financial reform bill to begin inspecting auditors of securities brokers and dealers.

XBRL software, services and data provider Edgar Online has introduced Xcelerate XBRL Taxonomy Services for U.S. GAAP, a consultancy advisory service that helps firms meet the XBRL filing requirements of the Security and Exchange Commission.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday to consider adopting certain rules to implement expanded oversight and inspection for registered accounting firms’ audits of brokers and dealers.

LogixData released the SEC Analyzer, a new product to assist with compliance and disclosure with the SEC.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has stopped a pair of advertising executives who launched a campaign to buy Pabst Brewing Company by soliciting investors on Facebook and Twitter.

Two reports from the Maryland Association of CPAs and Grant Thornton paint different pictures of whether accountants favor a separate standard-setting board for private company accounting.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board could begin requiring public companies to rotate their auditing firms on a regular basis to reduce conflicts of interest.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has introduced a smart phone app to help people who are interested in starting or growing a small business.

A majority of compliance executives in the U.S. and the U.K. say bribery and corruption remain part of doing business in some countries, although most companies have not abandoned operating in such countries, according to a new survey by KPMG.

Despite the fact that we are just barely through celebrating Memorial Day, I took a refresher look at the holiday calendar the other day and noticed that in 2011, July 4th falls on a Monday, which ensures a three-day weekend.

We were taken aback by an op-ed written by Bob Kueppers and D.J. Gannon that appeared in the April 2011 issue of Accounting Today ("The Journey to convergence," page 12). We're surprised they continue to tout vague generalities about the benefits of international standards and hopelessly cling to optimistic (but naive) interpretations of the Securities and Exchange Commission's announcements. They refer to the commission's "Work Plan" as supporting convergence, when it actually lays out impossible goals for proving that the costs of achieving convergence are less than the benefits.

The California Board of Accountancy’s Accounting Education Committee and Ethics Curriculum Committee plan to hold a joint meeting to unveil their proposals for the 30 additional hours of education necessary for CPA licensure in California, beginning Jan. 1, 2014.

The Securities and Exchange Commission staff released its work plan Thursday for how International Financial Reporting Standards might be incorporated into the U.S. financial reporting system.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted to adopt rules to establish a whistleblower program that rewards individuals who provide the agency with high-quality tips that lead to successful enforcement actions.

Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Schapiro told an accounting group that “investors are not as confident as they could be” in accountants, and she plans to make some changes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has accepted a settlement offer from an accounting executive at an energy company who falsely claimed to be a CPA.

American Institute of CPAs president and CEO Barry Melancon derided the recent efforts of the Financial Accounting Standards Board to preserve its authority over private company accounting standards, saying, “Sometimes dynasties need to be broken.”

Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has written to White House officials questioning why big banks are benefiting from a Small Business Lending Fund that was supposed to be used to help finance small businesses.

Not all of the state legislation drawing attention from accountants this year involves taxes (see States Enact Flurry of Tax Changes). Indeed, some of the most closely watched bills hit even closer to home for the profession.

Ez-XBRL Solutions, a global provider of XBRL data conversion services and analytics platforms, released on Tuesday an enhanced version of its Ez-XBRL Validator product, which provides a range of validations for U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filers.