Category: Review Comments

• Finally, something we can agree on [A Whole Lotta Nothing]
• California To Stop Issuing IOUs As Budget Stabilizes – FTW Arnie. [NPR]
• PwC, do you have some Colonial Bank sins to confess? [JDA]
• UBS tax deal forged in sweat-drenched talks: source Morons should’ve known the a/c was going to get turned off. Chocolate probably melted too. [Reuters]
• Rick Pitino Not Coming to Samford Law – Nope. He’s being extorted by a woman who he paid $3k to have an abortion. [ATL]

• Fed Suggests Economy Is Stabilizing – “U.S. Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday left official interest rates near zero but suggested the economy is on more stable ground, more confirmation that the severe recession is either already over or will be very soon.” Does anyone know if this really means anything? Are we stabilizing in crappiness? [WSJ]
• Save This Store – A case for big bonuses. [Floyd Norris/NYT]
• Colonial: No 2Q report due to irregularities – FTW guys. [AP via Miami Herald]
• Simplifed Reporting: Forgotten in the Crisis? – An advisory group gave the SEC a 170 page report to recommend how to simplify accounting rules. Anyone see a problem here? [CFO]
• Presented Without Comment: Ragnar Danneskjöld Lives? Damn Swedes. [DB]
• Rivkah, an Israeli woman, paid $32K to fly her dog, Orchuk, in business class from Paris to Tel Aviv – ‘He is my child, not a dog. And he deserves the best.’ Appears reasonable. [NYDN]

• Bankruptcy Filing Near for Taylor Bean – “The motion, submitted in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, was filed on Aug. 6, one day after the privately owned Ocala, Fla., company ceased its lending operation and dismissed most of its work force.” No surprise, but that sucks guys. Try to keep truckin. [WSJ]
• Benmosche Said to Start AIG Tenure With Croatian Trip “plans to spend part of his first month leading the insurer in Croatia on vacation, according to two people familiar with the situation.” The guy’s got stones, that’s for sure. [Bloomberg]
• IRS Impostors Burglarize House “The IRS impersonators made off with a weed trimmer, chain saw, jewelry and a utility trailer.” [Web CPA via TaxProf Blog]
• The Sweet Sixteen: A List of Audits I Need in my Life [Accounting Nation]

• Bank of America Will Pay $55 Million to Settle Claims – In other news, Angelo Mozilo still appears that he has, at least partially, descended from Oompa Loompas [Bloomberg]
• U.S. recession seen ending in third quarter – Hold your breath in 3…2…1…[Reuters]
• Huron Shareholders Sue over Accounting Scandal – Yes, P. Dubya is named. [Web CPA]
• Swiss Cabinet Discusses UBS’s Legal Woes – It’s pretty clear that IRS is just going to nag the living crap out of the Swiss Government until they give the Service all the bloody names. [WSJ]
• OMG I HATE MY JOB!! Facebook bitching about work will get you insta-fired. – Best to stick to the trite statements about your weekend plans, hating Mondays, how nice/crappy the weather is, etc. [Adland]

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• Enforcement push gives SEC image boost Let it be known that we still think very lowly of the SEC. [FT.com]
• Ethics Panel Clears Dodd in Countrywide Refinancing If only Chris Dodd had that Angelo Mozilo glow there might have been more of an obvious connection. [Bloomberg]
• A Defense of Bank of America’s Chief FTW Ken Lewis! [DealBook]
• Former Rabbi Charged in $35M Tax Fraud Scheme 3,300 tax returns using the names of prison inmates. [Web CPA via TaxProf Blog]
• D.C. Circuit Slams IRS, Opens Door to Billions of Dollars Telephone Excise Tax Refunds [TaxProf Blog]

• North Korea Wanted Only Bill Clinton for Mission to Free Women – And Bill Clinton wanted the mission to free women. Worked out great. [Bloomberg]
• Senate Votes 68-31 to Confirm Sotomayor – Senator Stuart Smalley Al Franken presided over the vote, which Bill O’Reilly will hate, which we, in turn, will love. [ATL]
• AIG’s Hank Greenberg Pays $15 Million to End SEC Suit [Bloomberg]
• Unemployed Man Getting Really Good At Unemployment Not surprisingly, it’s pretty easy. [The Onion]

• Who Will Defend R. Allen Stanford? – There’s always…hmmm, anyone? [DealBook]
• Judge Orders Sale of Creation Science Theme Park to Pay Evangelist’s Tax Debts Agnostic judge probably. [TaxProf Blog]
• The alleged grifter who duped corporate giants – The fairer sex, taking it to the man. [Fortune]
• A Battle of Goliaths: Michael Bloomberg and His Gun Control Group Take on the NRA – At least this is a fair match. [Washington Post]
• Huron’s ex-CEO cashed out $8.3 million since last July But it wasn’t about the money. [Greg Burns/Chicago Tribune]
• IRS Commissioner Joins alliantgroup [Press Release]
• Bernard Madoff and the Solo Auditor Red Flag [Ross D. Fuerman]
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• Kim Pardons Journalists – Arkansas moxie does it again. We never doubted it for a second. [WSJ]
• SEC accuses GE of accounting fraud – Cue a smug but probably still unsatisfied Bill O’Reilly. [FT Alphaville]
• PayPal Users Hit by Global Service Outage – How will anyone pay for the Lehman schwag? [WSJ]
• SEC set to target flash trading – “The US Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing to clamp down on lightning-fast “flash” trades made on electronic trading systems amid growing concerns that the practice puts some investors at a disadvantage.” And disadvantages are not the American way. [FT.com]

• Ruth Madoff Can’t Spend $100 Without Telling Trustee – Don’t forget to call before buying that Metrocard Ruthie. [Bloomberg]
• Investor Ross: ‘Washington Is The New Wall Street’ – Blasphemy. [NPR]
• BofA settles Merrill bonus case with SEC for $33 million – Classic case of not admitting or denying charges, just throwing money at the problem. End of story. [Reuters]
• A.I.G. Appoints a New Chief Executive – The self-loathing is contagious today. [DealBook]
• Antidepressant Use in U.S. Doubled Over Decade to 10% in 2005 – Depressing news. Where the hell is our Prozac? [Bloomberg]

• House Votes to Extend ‘Clunkers’ Program – We just printed more money. It’s fine. [WSJ]
• U.S. House Passes Bill Allowing Ban on Incentive Pay None of that printed money will be going to bankers. [Bloomberg]
• Court Orders Shorter Sentence For Ex-Qwest CEO – Might have been worth it had there been some adultery involved. [NPR]
• Nothing like a little shameless PR… – Deloitte providing accounting services, pro bono [Accounting Nation]

• N.Y. Attorney General Details Bonuses At Bailed-Out Banks – Cue populist outrage [NPR]
• Subpoenas Issued to Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, U.S. Senator Says – YES! Political theatre to ensue [Bloomberg]
• CNBC Viewership Down 28% – DB has some ideas on how to get a boost (maybe literally) [Zero Hedge]
• Exxon Reports Lowest Profit Since 2003 – “earnings of $3.95 billion” Meh. [WSJ]
• Glenfiddich 50-Year $16,000 Whisky Tempts Investors – Who loves scotch? [Bloomberg]

• Trustee Sues Ruth Madoff for More Than $44 Million – You knew it was coming Ruth. Forget living in Manhattan. [WSJ]
• Fed Says Most Districts Report Slower Pace Decline – TRANSLATION: Things suck less than previously [Bloomberg]
• No More Bank Deals for Wilbur Ross? – WTG SheBair [DealBook]
• Obama expects GM, Chrysler to repay loans – Don’t hold your breath BO [Reuters]
• FASB Chief to speak on fair value – SNOOZE [Accountancy Age]
• Lights Go Out in New Delhi as Billionaire Ambani Brothers Feud – Two feuding billionaires, living with their Mom. The house is probably large enough to house every Indian citizen but still…AWESOME. [Bloomberg]