New Government Oversight For GAAP
Via WebCPA: Two members of the House Financial Services Committee have introduced a bill that would establish a new Federal Accounting Oversight Board and probably loosen mark-to-market accounting standards. Ed Perlmutter, D-Col., and Frank Lucas, R-Okla., introduced H.R. 1349, which would create a new Federal Accounting Oversight Board to oversee the application of generally accepted .. read more
Raising the FDIC Deposit Insurance Limit
The WSJ is reporting that the new plan being worked on will include raising the deposit insurance limit to $250,000 from the current $100,000. WASHINGTON — Congress and the Bush administration are hashing out an agreement to raise the level of consumers’ bank deposits guaranteed by the government, an idea they hope might bring enough .. read more
SEC Statement on Fair Value Accounting
The SEC has released a statement on fair value or mark to market accounting: SEC Office of the Chief Accountant and FASB Staff Clarifications on Fair Value Accounting FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2008-234 Washington, D.C., Sept. 30, 2008 — The current environment has made questions surrounding the determination of fair value particularly challenging for preparers, auditors, .. read more
Why Was the Market Up Today?
The stock market recovered 485 points of yesterday’s selloff. Why? I think it was because of the SEC annoucement regarding mark to market accounting, but it could also be anticipation that Congress will eventually pass something. Frankly, I don’t know and I don’t think it makes any difference. Whatever is done or not done, the .. read more
More on the SEC and Mark to Market
Via Bloomberg: Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting Standards Board may issue additional guidance on fair-value accounting rules, people familiar with the matter said. The SEC may say companies can rely more on assumptions such as expected cash flows in assessing how much assets are worth, said .. read more
More on Mark to Market
The bill that failed yesterday had a provision that allowed the SEC to suspent mark to market accounting rules. This story from MarketWatch has details: SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) – Congress is looking at playing with mark-to-market accounting rules as part of the now-stalled $700 billion-dollar bailout plan for the U.S. financial system. A provision in .. read more
Suspend Mark to Market
Brian Wesbury’s latest commentary offers an alternative to the $700 billion Mother of All Bailouts. It’s simple and I think would be effective – suspend mark to market accounting for some period to allow financial institutions to work out the bad loans on their own: … a simple, decentralized system of forgiving mark-to-market accounting temporarily, .. read more
September Market Report – Government to the Rescue
Note: This update is longer than usual. I feel it is important for everyone to understand how the problems facing our economy developed and what steps are being taken to correct them. The details of the latest government rescue effort are not completely available yet, so it is hard to predict the outcome, but it .. read more
