Economic hit from Japan quake seen up to $200 billion [Reuters]
Japan’s devastating earthquake and deepening nuclear crisis could result in losses of up to $200 billion for the world’s third largest economy but the global impact remains hard to gauge five days after a massive tsunami battered the northeast coast. As Japanese officials scrambled to avert a catastrophic meltdown at a nuclear plant 240 km (150 miles) north of the capital Tokyo, economists took stock of the damage to buildings, production and consumer activity.

Two Obsolete Models: Global Financial Reporting and Audit — And Pimping Spam Viagra With AOL’s Rogue E-Mail [Re:Balance]
[F]or the last twenty-five years, nothing but in-bred regulatory inertia and supine user acquiescence have propped up the standard auditor’s report on a financial reporting model that is no less obsolete than that of AOL.

US audit reform debate not as raucous as in UK? [Accountancy Age]
Francine McKenna looks at the U.K.’s attempts at reforming the audit biz versus the U.S.’s attempt to…well, never mind.

Morale at SEC Remains High Despite Obstacles [FINS]
Morale at the SEC is high despite a frozen budget and staunch Republican opposition to increasing funds, according to deputy director of enforcement Lorin Reisner. “Morale is high because we continue to bring important enforcement actions,” he said. “We have empowered our staff with greater responsibility, more tools and more streamlined decision-making.”

IRS pays Enron whistleblower $1.1 million [WaPo]
Before Enron was publicly exposed as a financial house of cards, a whistleblower tipped the Internal Revenue Service that the company was using abusive tax shelters to generate fictitious income, a law firm representing the informant said Tuesday. Now, more than a decade later, the IRS has paid that whistleblower a $1.1 million reward, the law firm said.

Top 50 Companies for Executive Women 2011 [AOL]
Accenture #2; KPMG #25.

In Lehman’s Demise, a Dwindling Chance of Charges [DealBook]
Can it be that the largest bankruptcy ever will simply pass into history with no one held accountable for the losses inflicted on investors and the market?

Afghan Contract for Deloitte Suspended [WSJ]
The U.S. government has suspended Deloitte Consulting LLP’s contract to advise Afghanistan’s central bank ahead of the release Wednesday of an investigation into the regulator’s failure to stem corruption at the country’s largest private lender. An investigation by the inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development, which issued the contract to Deloitte, is expected to be highly critical of the firm’s failure to flag corruption at Kabul Bank, saddled with losses estimated to be as high as $900 million.

Futures Tumble After Nikkei Plunges [WSJ]
In Japan, the Nikkei Stock Average plunged 11%, sparking broad declines in Asian and European markets. Germany’s DAX 30 index was particularly hard hit, down 4.2%in intraday trading. Against this backdrop, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 232 points to 11694 about 90 minutes before the opening bell. They had fallen as low as 11611.

IRS Boosted Auditing of Richest Taxpayers, Almost Doubling Rate Last Year [BloombergKraft CFO to leave in mid-2011 [BBW]
Chief Financial Officer Timothy McLevish is leaving the company in mid-2011 to “pursue opportunities in general management.”

Is Happiness Overrated? [WSJ]
[R]esearchers say happiness as people usually think of it—the experience of pleasure or positive feelings—is far less important to physical health than the type of well-being that comes from engaging in meaningful activity. Researchers refer to this latter state as “eudaimonic well-being.” Happiness research, a field known as “positive psychology,” is exploding. Some of the newest evidence suggests that people who focus on living with a sense of purpose as they age are more likely to remain cognitively intact, have better mental health and even live longer than people who focus on achieving feelings of happiness.

Why the New 1099 Rules Aren’t That Bad for Small Businesses [You’re the Boss/NYT]
THE HORROR!

China Agritech, Inc. Dismisses Ernst & Young Hua Ming As Auditor [PR Newswire]
The dismissal of Ernst & Young Hua Ming was made after thorough consideration by the Audit Committee, and the Board of Directors of the Company. The decision to dismiss the auditor was the result of Ernst & Young (China) Advisory Limited Beijing Branch Office entering into a SOX 404 service agreement including performing the test of the Company’s internal controls from 2008 to 2010. Recently, the public and the management team have raised doubts about this service agreement’s impact on Ernst & Young Hua Ming’s independence to act as the Company’s auditor.

Professional gamblers gain with tax ruling [LVRJ]
A January ruling by the U.S. Tax Court changed a portion of a half-century-old opinion that equated expenses related to a gambling trip with gambling losses — they were deductible only to the extent of their winnings. The court now believes the expenses to reach a casino or racetrack, and other expenses associated with the activity of gambling, can be written off.

Taking Stock of India’s New Accounting Standards [WSJ]
The Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs recently notified that it had converged 35 Indian accounting standards with international guidelines. This is an important first step in bringing International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to India, and making Indian companies’ financial statements comparable to that of their global peers. However, several deviations of the proposed Indian standards from international practices have raised concerns among investors.