Facebook Deal Spurs Inquiry [WSJ]
The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun examining whether disclosure rules for privately held firms need to be rewritten as a result of recent deals allowing investors to buy shares in Internet companies such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., according to people familiar with the situation. The review is at an early stage, these people cautioned, and SEC officials looking at the recent deals haven’t concluded that any of them run afoul of the 47-year-old rules governing private companies. The rules require firms with 500 or more shareholders of record in a given type of stock to publicly disclose certain financial information. The requirement is designed to protect investors from risking money on companies that say little about their operations and performance.
Fed May Keep Easing at `Full Throttle’ Until Jobless Rate Falls [Bloomberg]
Federal Reserve officials signaled they’ll probably push ahead with unprecedented stimulus until the recovery strengthens and many of the 15 million unemployed Americans find work. The jobless rate hasn’t fallen below 9.4 percent since May 2009 and will probably average that figure this year, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists. Unemployment probably declined to 9.7 percent last month from 9.8 percent in November, according to the average estimate of a Bloomberg poll prior to a Labor Department employment report on Jan. 7.
Former AIG employee sues PwC, board over audits [Reuters]
A former employee of American International Group has filed a lawsuit claiming that PricewaterhouseCoopers was negligent in its audits of AIG and that the board of the bailed-out insurer failed to pursue a claim against the accountants. The suit, filed in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday by Wanda Mimms, was brought as a derivative action on behalf of the AIG Incentive Savings Plan. PwC and AIG’s board are named as defendants.
Deloitte a Leader Among SAP ERP Implementation Service Providers in North America [PR Newswire]
You can ask Marin County about it.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters: Calling a Bean, a Bean [White Collar Fraud]
Counting beans. Well! That’s a whole other matter entirely.
No Accountability: Goldman Sachs Wants You To Invest In Facebook [Forbes]
Francine McKenna’s latest, “Facebook wants the public’s money – and their trust – with none of the disclosure and none of the regulatory scrutiny of a public company. Goldman Sachs strategy to raise $1.5 billion for Facebook from ‘sophisticated investors’ and invest another $450 million of their own money is an example of wanton disregard for accountability to the securities markets. But it’s more a function of Facebook’s ‘have your cake and eat it too’ attitude towards the markets than any subterfuge on Goldman’s part. The investment bank and Facebook’s lawyers get paid to make their client happy.”
Roger Milliken Died on Dec. 30, Beat Estate Tax on $1 Billion Fortune by 48 Hours [TaxProf Blog]
Close call!
Cantor hopes Obama moves forward on tax reform [OTM/The Hill]
It only took Eric Cantor three years to get on the hope train.
Tax Vox’s Fearless Predictions for 2011 [TaxVox]
You can probably sum it up with: lots of talk.
Accounting, Computer Science Among Most Desirable Majors [HuffPo]
FYI.
