Category: Review Comments

• Are Most CEOs ‘Wusses’? – Discuss your favorite. [WSJ]
• Panzner on Goldman Sachs’ “Smart” Money – Thanks to the folks over Goldman Sachs 666 for the plug on AG’s two-part interview of Michael Panzner [Goldman Sachs 666]
• Coke in US family doctors alliance – Since it’s the soft drink they’re talking about it’s even weirder. [FT]
• FASB Gets Practical on a Fair Value Problem – “FASB’s Accounting Standards Update 2009-12 amends ASC 820-10 Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures to clear up uncertainty about how to measure fair value of investments in certain entities that calculate net asset value per share. The guidance is intended to shore up diversity in how investors estimate the fair value of alternative investments such as hedge funds, private equity and venture capital funds, real estate funds, offshore fund vehicles, and funds of funds.” [Compliance Week]

• U.S. bill exempts firms from derivatives rules – Barney Frank. On it. [Reuters]
• For Whom Do The 47% Who Pay No Income Tax Vote? – One guess. [TaxProf Blog]
• The social media guru – Headphones. NSFW if you like to crank the volume. Or just risk it. Whatever. [AccMan]
• The AICPA is Drinking Ben Bernanke’s Kool Aid – C’mon the recession is basically over people. Name change! [JDA]
• Phishing attack targets Hotmail – Commence panic. [BBC]
• Bernanke Pressures Big Banks, But Are More Bailouts Coming? – Sure, why not? [NPR]

• The New CPA Exam, Layoffs, and the Top Twitter Feeds in Accounting – Get caught up. [FINS]
• Trustee Sues Four Madoff Relatives, Seeking $199 Million – For stupidity, mind you. [NYT]
• Jobs Vanish – Government numbers? Wrong? [Floyd Norris/NYT]
• Deadline for Small Co. 404 Audit Reports: June 15 – Why not? [CFO]
• The Fed Fighter: DealBook’s Ron Paul Interview – Fight all you want Doc. [DealBook]
• Anheuser-Busch InBev Nears Parks Deal – Whales to be let go? [WSJ]

• Woods Becomes First Athlete to Earn $1 Billion, Forbes Says – Does that mean he can upgrade from a Buick? [Bloomberg]
• Global Convergence of Accounting Standards? In Whose Lifetime? – Jim Peterson’s take on the cat herding that is accounting rule convergence. [Re: Balance]
• Survey: Investors Want Enforcement, Not New Regulators – Oh? We thought vengeance was what they were looking for. [Compliance Week]
• Guess the Ken Lewis beard – Again, we picture the ZZ Top for KL. [FT Alphaville]
• Auditor-Small Issuer Controls Spats Seen – “Will smaller companies get along with their auditors when their internal controls get reviewed for the first time?” In short: No. [CFO]

• Fired! It had to happen – Accountants giving you a hard time about your software? Fire ’em. [AccMan]
• GM to Wind Down Saturn Brand, Dealerships on Penske Decision – “GM described the collapse as ‘disappointing.’ People familiar with the situation said the closing of the sale was due to be announced as soon as Thursday, and Penske had already distributed new franchise agreements to dealers.” [WSJ]
• US pay czar Feinberg expecting heat for rulings – Let’s not jump to conclusions, bank CEOs might be totally on board for someone telling them what they get to earn. [Reuters]
• DOJ Asks Court to Bar CPA from Preparing Returns – DOJ honing in on IRS turf? [Web CPA]

• Hong Kong Police Raid Ernst & Young Office in Akai Audit Probe – Seems that they were to arrest individuals taking home office supplies for personal use. [Bloomberg]
• SEC told to aggressively assess tips after Madoff – As opposed to passively assessing them, which has been standard operating procedure at the Commission for years. [Reuters]
• Tax Court: CPA’s Google Search Does Not Constitute Reasonable Cause to Avoid Penalty – The Internet does not trump the IRC. [TaxProf Blog]
• Senate Committee Rejects Public Option for Health Overhaul – You’re either thrilled or completely pissed. [WSJ]
• Reznick Group Launches New SAS 70 Website – For you serious types. [Press Release]
• Stanford fails in bid to access insurance – Unfortunately for Stan, there’s no exchange rate for Lucky Strikes. [FT]

• Last day for our poll on the Year Ahead and be sure to submit your captions for the Emmys.
• Allen Stanford Can Take A Punch – Probably a small disagreement over some Lucky Strikes. [DB]
• Ex-Enron Broadband Co-CEO Sentenced for Wire Fraud – Does this mean that Enron on the stage will have to do a re-write before coming to the States? [Bloomberg]
• Treasury Department to Examine ACORN’s Compliance With Tax Laws – Surely this isn’t as bad as it sounds. [TaxProf Blog]
• SEC Charges Detroit-Area Stock Broker Who Lured Elderly into $250 Million Ponzi Scheme – Fundamentally disrespecting the elderly. In Detroit no less. This is some special kind of Ponzi Scum. [SEC.gov]
• Axa chief attacks accounting rules switch – Says accounting rules are ‘too important to be left to accountants’. Right. Because insurance companies and governments have such kick ass track records on the subject. [FT]

• Don’t forget to submit your captions and vote in the ‘Year Ahead’ poll
• Area Man Has One Month To Prove Why Bank Of America Owes Him 1,784 Billion, Trillion Dollars – Is this the ‘American Taxpayer’ we keep hearing about? [DB]
• BofA Formally Answers SEC Complaint – Deny ’til you die. [WSJ]
• AT&T Asks FCC to Investigate Google Voice – Ma Bell a snitch? [WSJ]
• Crowe Horwath Expands in Brazil and China [Web CPA]

• IRS Extends Grace Period On Small Business Penalties – “The IRS announced in July it would suspend efforts to collect those penalties through Sept. 30, in order to give Congress time to pass legislation shielding business owners from some of the penalties.” [WSJ]
• Twitter Lines Up New Financing – Get it over with. Follow us. [WSJ]
• “Wait! I Was Just Getting Started…” – A Response From Professor Kelly Pope – Of DePaul University in Chicago [RTA]
• 2010 State Business Tax Climate Index (Seventh Edition) – Some Dakota is #1, Dick Cheney Land is #2; CA #48; New York #49; New Jersey #50. [The Tax Foundation]
• Twitter, the new Reuters witness – Whatever works. [FT Alphaville]
• How Safe Is Your College? [The Daily Beast]

• Audit by Ernst & Young says RSK MiG worth only 3.5 cents – Someone remind us why the Cold War such a big deal? [Russia Times via Alert 5]
• Celebrity Tax News: Floyd Mayweather, Jim Thorpe – Floyd paid over $5 mil, Thorpe’s looking at two years. Nice work fellas. Hire an accountant you dolts. [TaxProf Blog]
• Under The Right Conditions, Imagine How Masterfully This Guy Could Massacre A Food Eating Challenge – Hizzoner can put the wieners away but is a calories counter. No word on any refunding. [DB]
• Palin Addresses Asian Investors – What “investors” are listening to her? Let’s pretend that this didn’t really happen. Great. [WSJ]
• How to Answer an SEC Comment Letter – Submit your suggestions in the comments. Cap it at three words you chatty Cathys. No more, no less. [CFO]

• SEC warns swaps may evade White House reform – It’s not like they were totally responsible for the crisis. [Reuters]
• Minnesota Ends Tax Reciprocity with Wisconsin – WI can’t pay MN fast enough so IT’S OVER. [Web CPA]
• FDIC May Ask Banks to Prepay Fees – You may have noticed there’s a bit of a problem. So SheBair is probably going to do this but thanks for asking. [WSJ]
• Freddie Names Kari as CFO – You didn’t want that job anyway. [WSJ]
• Wall Street Firms Fined Over Bad IPO Information – $420k. Meh. [AP via NYT]

• BofA fails to meet congressional deadline – In a move that is either ballsy or just plan stupid, KL and his merry band of mates decided that the deadline wasn’t a real deadline. [Reuters]
• Did Wells Fargo’s Auditors Miss Repurchase Risk? (WFC) – Our contributor, Francine McKenna’s, take on WFC and KPMG and the parallels to New Century. [Clusterstock]
• Congressional Report Says A.I.G. Has Stabilized – Whether or not they pay back the gazillion dollars they owe the Treasury is another matter entirely. [NYT]
• High-Yield Bond Buying Starting to Get ‘Ridiculous’ – That’s more like it. [Bloomberg]