S.E.C. Gets Plea: Force Companies to Disclose Donations [NYT]
A loose coalition of Democratic elected officials, shareholder activists and pension funds has flooded the Securities and Exchange Commission with calls to require publicly traded corporations to disclose to shareholders all of their political donations, a move that could transform the growing world of secret campaign spending. S.E.C. officials have indicated that they could propose a new disclosure rule by the end of April, setting up a major battle with business groups that oppose the proposal and are preparing for a fierce counterattack if the agency’s staff moves ahead. Two S.E.C. commissioners have taken the unusual step of weighing in already, with Daniel Gallagher, a Republican, saying in a speech that the commission had been “led astray” by “politically charged issues.”
Tax reform gets jolt of momentum from Baucus retirement announcement [The Hill]
Lobbyists and Republican senators are more optimistic about the prospects for tax reform now that retiring Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is eyeing it for his legacy. Baucus said Tuesday that his unexpected decision to forgo reelection in a conservative state would allow him to pour his efforts into a broad overhaul of the tax code — a goal he shares with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.). “I’ll have a lot more time and energy to do it since I don’t have to campaign,” said Baucus, who is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
Is this KPMG's Arthur Andersen moment? [CBS]
The author is referring to HBOS, with a little nod to l'affaire London, but still the answer is "no."
Aprill: The Deductibility of Contributions to The One Fund Boston [TaxProf]
FYI.
Let's Stop with the Revenue Neutrality [Tax Analysts]
David Brunori: "Revenue neutrality is, of course, a political construct that has been at the heart of every tax reform proposal at every level of government in modern times. And, it is the reason tax reform never happens. Tax reform is messy. It results in big winners and losers. The losers don’t like to, well, lose, so they fight like heck. But trying to make significant changes to the tax laws under the guise of retaining the same levels of revenue is ridiculous. You can pursue efficiency, fairness, or pro growth tax reform that increases or decreases revenue."
How To Shatter The Public Accounting Glass Ceiling [Forbes]
Peter Reilly: "Why haven’t 100 or 200 women senior managers, directors, principals and income partners with 10 to 20 years experience not just walked out and started a firm ? It would be a power house and the culture it created would transform the industry."
New FASB chairman Golden describes priorities [JofA]
RG: “We are close to issuing a very important, converged solution on revenue recognition, which I have been working on for a number of years and I believe will be a good success, and will improve financial reporting for companies across the world."
Hundreds of service workers strike in Chicago [MSNBC]
Comparing a rough hourly wage of a public accounting employee to a McDonald's employee may be tipping in the latters favor again.
The Bill Gates Handshake: Offensive, or Just Weird? A Photo Investigation [AW]
WGIII's 'rude gesture' of keeping his left hand in while shaking with his right has a lot of South Koreans worked up.
