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ANR: Groupon Disclosures > JPMorgan Disclosures; Cursing and Your Career; A Lease Accounting Breakthrough | 05.25.12

JPMorgan Makes Groupon’s Disclosures Look Good [Bloomberg]
With the benefit of hindsight, anyone can see there must have been something amiss with the way JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) put together some of the disclosures for its first-quarter earnings release on April 13. The press release contained inaccurate data about the market risks at the bank’s chief investment office, which was the source of the mysterious $2 billion trading loss that JPMorgan divulged this month. Here’s the odd part: To believe JPMorgan, there was nothing wrong with the company’s disclosure procedures at the end of the first quarter, or at least not anything worth mentioning. In a report JPMorgan filed with regulators May 10, the bank’s management concluded that as of March 31 — only 13 days before the earnings release with the erroneous numbers — the company’s “disclosure controls and procedures were effective.”

Despite Doubts, Lehman Charges Still Possible [DealBook]
Lehman and its executives are hardly home free. People close to the matter cautioned that the memo was months old, had been updated since and did not necessarily reflect how more senior agency officials viewed the case. The full contents of the memo are unclear. While the enforcement staff may be done digging into the case, having interviewed witnesses and poured over the firm’s internal documents and public filings, the agency’s top officials are still analyzing a potential case. After further review, the agency could still file an enforcement action.

A Curse Upon Your Career [WSJ]
Generally, cursing at work can damn your career. Managers who cuss appear unprofessional and out of control, executive coaches and recruiters say. But that's not always the case. Deployed at the right moment and in the right setting, a well-chosen curse word can motivate a team, dissolve tension or win over an audience. "Companies increasingly prefer authentic leaders,'' says Jeffrey Cohn, a CEO succession-planning expert. "Using colorful language can play to your advantage—as long as you also demonstrate empathy and good business judgment.'' Consider Michael Dubin, founder of e-commerce startup Dollar Shave Club. He stars in an online video where he boasts its razor blades "are "F—ing great.'' Still, he bleeped part of that motto.

Lease Accounting Breakthrough Could Come in June [CFOJ]
U.S. and international accounting rule makers finally may be ready next month to resolve a debate over corporate lease accounting, that would bring $2 trillion worth of lease obligations onto corporate balance sheets. Members of the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board said Thursday they were ready to vote on a method for how new lease accounting rules will impact corporate earnings in June, which means a new draft of the rules could be finished by the end of this year.
 
AICPA Supports FAF's Creation of Private Company Council [AWEB]
On May 23, today the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) announced its decision to make process and structural improvements by creating the Private Company Council (PCC). The PPC is based upon the body proposed last October by the FAF to set differences in U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ( GAAP), where appropriate, for privately held companies. "With the news announced today by the FAF, we recognize and appreciate that the FAF has taken solid steps in the right direction regarding the Private Company Council. The AICPA is encouraged by this approach and awaits more of the details of the FAF decision.  We look forward to continuing to work together to effect meaningful changes in U.S. GAAP for private companies and the users of their financial statements," said Barry C. Melancon, CPA, CGMA, president and CEO of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).
 
Mao Sugiyama Cooks, Serves Own Genitals At Banquet In Tokyo [HP]
Just days after Sugiyama's 22nd birthday, the artist underwent elective genital-removal surgery, divvied up the severed penis shaft, testicles, and scrotal skin between five people, and garnished it with button mushrooms and Italian parsley. On April 13, five of six diners who signed up for the $250-a-plate feast, sat down to dinner. The sixth person was a no-show.
 
Here's What Happened When This Guy Tried To Pay A $114,000 Student Loan In Cash [BI]
You probably won't do it this way.

 

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