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Sue the auditors
Former Chancellor Nigel Lawson and 'semi-house trained polecat' Lord Tebbit have both suggested that the auditors of failed banks might be sued by the government. If they did so the auditors would...
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Some serious arguments against fair value accounting
The title link is to a very thoughtful and authoritative set of arguments against fair value accounting by a previous chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. William Isaac argues, cogently,...
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Credit crunch humour
Here is a piece of internet humour about the credit crunch, I'd attribute it if I knew the author. For the moment credit it to 'anon'.The Credit Crunch ExplainedAt last! An explanation I...
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Financial Oligarchs
Writing in the FT, Martin Woolf asks whether 'America is the new Russia'. The power of the financial sector to influence government and attract subsidies from the public purse is corrosive. Graphs of...
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Accountants plead for protection
In possibly the least unexpected news item of the year, Accountancy Age reports that the Big 4 are seeking immunity from law suits arising from the credit crunch. Perhaps they should have thought a bit...
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The unacceptable face of capitalism reborn?
The title link is to a report that hedge funds are buying poor quality corporate debt in order to take over ("loan to own") or liquidate ("loan to bust") the issuing companies. Edward Heath dubbed some...
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The trouble with markets
Roger Martin argues (see title link) that linking managers rewards to share prices (eg with options) gives them an incentive to manage the 'expectations' market rather than the real market for...
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Another term, another financial crisis
The world seems to be a more stable place than it was a few months ago. The stock market has had a record run in the last quarter, house prices are stabilising, even the pound has stopped falling...
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Monitoring Board
In January 2009, the IASB formed a 'monitoring board' composed of representatives of international regulators. Said board has been fairly quiet but has just said that standards should be 'reliable,...
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Fair Value and Accounting Politics
The title link is to an article in the FT about the European reaction to the IASB's proposals on fair value accounting. The IASB proposes to reform the unsatisfactory IAS39, which classifies financial...
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New financial instruments standard
The IASB has just published a new standard as part of its project to update IAS 39 on the measurement of financial instruments. Accountancy Age (see title link) refers to this as a 'fair value'...
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A useful website
The title link is to the World Gap Info website that provides access to news, commentary and the full text of International Standards without the need to register and login at www.iasb.org.uk.
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A clash of philosophies?
The EU has deferred accepting the IASB's new standard on financial instruments (IFRS 9). According an article in the FT (see title link) this is because some EU countries (principally Germany, France...
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Bob Monks lecture
My thanks to the corporate governance blog for drawing my attention to this lecture by Governance Guru Bob Monks on the past, present and future of governance. There is an accompanying paper...
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Politicisation of Accounting Standards
The article in the title reports the Association of British Insurers bemoaning the EU's refusal to endorse IFRS 9 'Financial Instruments'. ABI spokesperson, Paul Vipond, regrets the 'politicisation' of...
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Mintzberg on Bonuses
In an article in the Wall Street Journal (click on title link), management guru, Henry Mintzberg, questions whether directors' bonuses are necessary at all. A very timely question, in my opinion. There...
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Success in Doctoral Studies
At a recent research forum the following success index for PhD studies was proposed:PhD Success FormulaS= (HW + 3M + NR/4)xC/A___________________(1 + FM + FB/10 + S)Where: HW= Hours worked on thesisM =...
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Layers of the onion
The Lehman collapse has been blamed as the crucial event in the credit crunch but now it is revealed that aggressive accounting had been hiding problems for some time. The device that it is alleged was...
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More on Lehman's
Our growth in understanding what went on at Lehman's proceeds apace. Despite the criticism of financial transactions that occurred in London, it seems the accounting that is at issue occurred in the...
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A new financial statement? Or an old one?
David Tweedie has apparently confirmed that the IASB is considering including a 'regulators'' page in financial statements so that people concerned with financial institutions can be given the...
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