'Big' Was Diamond CEO's Style [WSJ]
When Diamond Foods Inc. bought Pop Secret from General Mills Inc. in 2008, Chief Executive Michael J. Mendes called several hundred employees together at the nut company's offices in rural Stockton, Calif., and laid out his vision for Diamond as they munched popcorn. "Size matters," Mr. Mendes said, according to workers who were present at the meeting. Mr. Mendes, who was dismissed as CEO Tuesday in the wake of accounting irregularities at the company, thought big throughout his 20 years at what was once a low-key walnut growers' cooperative.
Global accounting reform ups pressure on U.S. to sign up [Reuters]
Plans by the accounting body responsible for global standards to make itself more answerable to the public will put pressure on the United States to sign up or risk losing influence. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has drawn up the standards, which are used by listed companies in over 100 countries, including the European Union. So far the United States has delayed its decision to sign up, under pressure from companies and Congress who say they do not want to cede regulatory sovereignty to a London-based body. But Thursday's publication by the IASB's Trustees and Monitoring Board of plans to make themselves more open and accountable in their second decade may push the United States to think again, given the far-reaching impact that accounting rules have on financial markets and investors. G20 leaders want a single set of global accounting standards to improve transparency for investors and regulators, starting with "convergence" or alignment of IASB and U.S. rules. A source involved in drawing up the Monitoring Board blueprint said the intention was to put pressure on the United States to say quickly and clearly when it will adopt IASB rules.
IASB pushes for uniform accounting rules [FT]
Accounting inconsistencies are to be targeted more aggressively by a rule-making body that helped bring order to shambolic Greek debt writedowns last year. A new strategy for the International Accounting Standards Board envisages that it will become more active in trying to ensure that companies apply its rules in a uniform fashion around the world. The shift would lead to more interventions, such as the IASB’s response to the sovereign debt crisis last August, when Hans Hoogervorst, its chairman, argued that some banks and insurers needed to take deeper losses on Greek government bonds. However, Mr Hoogervorst says the IASB will not go so far as to pronounce on whether financial institutions should start recording losses on debt issued by other vulnerable eurozone states, such as Italy. “We are not a rating agency,” the former Dutch finance minister told the Financial Times.
$45m fraud accountant gets minimum 7 years [SMH]
Rajina Rita Subramaniam splurged the money on lavish products, including jewellery which she never wore, and numerous expensive properties, all of which remained vacant except for one, for which she did not charge rent. […]"When these boxes were searched, police found large quantities of jewellery, fountain pens, champagne, crystal and Michael Jackson memorabilia," the judge said. "Much of the jewellery was still in boxes that had not been opened."
Former Deloitte Global CEO James Quigley Appointed to the IFRS Foundation [Deloitte]
Quigs: "I am honored to be invited to serve as an IFRS Foundation Trustee. The support for International Financial Reporting Standards depends in part on the rigorous due process applied in their development, and the Trustees play a significant role in ensuring that the IASB's due process is applied diligently. I look forward to working with Michel Prada and my fellow Trustees in what I expect will be a challenging period for the organization. I share the hope of many that the United States and Japan advance the incorporation of IFRS into their respective financial reporting requirements."
People Who Haven't Switched To E-Filing Taxes Are A Dying Breed [SAI]
A slow death.
A slow death.
