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Accounting News Roundup: Big Beer; Not Everyone Wants More Audit Committee Disclosure; First Job Syndrome | 09.16.15

AB InBev Approaches SABMiller in Record Industry Combination [Bloomberg]
If the deal were to close, together the world's two largest brewers would control "about half" of the industry's profits.

Push to Boost Audit Committee Disclosures Encounters Skeptics [CFOJ]
Among them: the CFO of First Financial Bankshares, ConocoPhillips' controller, Comcast's Chief Accounting Officer, the National Association of Corporate Directors and the American Bankers Association.

IRS Raises Red Flag on Real-Estate Spinoffs [WSJ]
An IRS official's explaination of how companies are satisfying the "active trade or business" requirement for this transactions is perfect: "The IRS said in its guidance Monday that it is concerned these qualifying businesses may be too small when compared with the size of the real estate. The guidance echoes comments in May from IRS official Isaac Zimbalist, who likened the practice to companies dropping hot-dog stands into a bucket of investment assets or cash then trying to spin off the entire business tax-free."

Quit and avoid the blight of first job syndrome [FT]
Most of you won't have to worry about FJS, but just in case:

It’s where a person starts behaving like a beaten down puppy with the only employer they’ve ever known. Loyal to a fault, the syndrome’s sufferers are shy to ask for what they want and easily discouraged from further action if they don’t get it. A lack of confidence causes them to believe that no one else will have them or value them as much as their current employer. And, in some cases, they think it will be just as bad wherever they go, partly because everywhere else seems like a foreign country that may or may not even exist. They can at times be as delusional as restaurateurs who think that jam jars are the next wineglass.

This sounds closely related to the Big 4 Stockholm Syndrome that we've mentioned over the years. Don't be afraid, quit with gusto!

Meanwhile, on a campus near you:

Bear selfies force a Colorado park to close [CNET]
"We've actually seen people using selfie sticks to try and get as close to the bears as possible, sometimes within 10 feet of wild bears."

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