• Businesses Learn To Make Do With Fewer Workers – Sound familiar to anyone? [NPR]
• Judge raps $33m bank bonus fine – “A US judge has refused to approve a $33m (£19m) fine that Bank of America agreed to pay to settle charges that it misled investors about bonuses.” [BBC]
• SEC Asks to Self Fund to Allow for Better Enforcement – OH, that was the problem. [naked capitalsm]
• AIG Breakup Is Fee Bonanza – Bankers, lawyers, accountants. Everybody’s happy. Oh wait. Taxpayers. [WSJ]
• Madoff Victims Said to Start Getting Tax Refunds – Anger will only subside briefly. [DealBook]
Related Posts
Preliminary Analytics | 10.13.09
• Business Fends Off Tax Hit – “Lurking behind the tax debate was the administration’s need for new sources of revenue to fund its increased spending. Jason Furman, a White House economic adviser, made that point clear at the end of a session with a dozen or so lobbyists in March. Catherine Schultz, head of tax policy at the National Foreign Trade Council, who was at the meeting, says Mr. Furman basically told the group: ‘We need the money.'” – So, that’s a bit of a problem. [WSJ]
• CIT Says Chief Executive Peek to Resign, Effective Year End – The board knew something was up when Peek showed up to work yesterday with a Fu Manchu. [Bloomberg]
• Schwarzenegger Signs Bill Creating Harvey Milk Day – Good job Arnie but state employees still have to work and will now receive OT. IOU’s should work. [NPR]
• AIG to sell Taiwan insurance unit for $2.15 billion – “The sale of Nan Shan Life on Tuesday was another step in AIG’s effort to repay U.S. taxpayers after the government injected $80 billion into the company, but the insurer faces two more sales processes in Asia and others across the globe.” We lost count on what they’ve paid back but we’re guessing they owe somewhere in the nabe of a shitload. [Reuters]
• So Much Auditor Litigation Makes For Strange Bedfellows – Uncle Dangle has some interesting problems re: Merrill Lynch and BoA that they would prefer just went away. [RTA]
Preliminary Analytics | 12.18.09
• Stalling on Sarbox – “The regulatory-reform bill passed by the House last week suggests that lawmakers will either exempt smaller companies from getting internal-controls audits or put off the decision for yet another year.” Hell, it’s only been seven years. What’s one more? [CFO]
• Agencies in a Brawl for Control Over Banks – “Connecticut Democrat Christopher Dodd, the Senate Banking Committee chairman, has proposed revoking almost all of [FDIC Chair Sheila] Bair’s powers to supervise banks, as part of a sweeping financial-regulation bill now under consideration in the Senate.” [WSJ]
• Blue Ribbon Panel On Private Company Accounting Standards Formed – Blue Ribbon Panels always mean that something is about to get serious. Right? [FEI Financial Reporting Blog]
• Should Gay Couples Pay the Same Taxes as Straights? – Even if a state allows gay couples to marry, they aren’t recognized on the federal level and that causes problems, “[M]any businesses now provide spousal benefits to gay couples, the value of the non-employee’s benefits is taxable for unmarried couples, but tax free for those who are married.” [Tax Vox]
Preliminary Analytics | 11.05.09
• Back on Top, Yankees Add a 27th Title – Economic recovery is secure. Now who’s paying for the parade? [NYT]
• Senate approves jobless, housing aid – The crazies in the House are up next. [Reuters]
• When Will the S.E.C. Ever Admit They Made a Mistake? – Joe Nocera understands who were talking about, right? [Joe Nocera/NYT]
• A smooth IASB and an impairment change – “Corporate disclosures are about to get even longer if the International Accounting Standards Board gets its way.” [FT Alphaville]
• Sarbanes-Oxley Exemption Passes Congressional Committee – “[N]ot only exempt[s] small businesses (with less than $75 million market cap), but would require the SEC, together with the GAO, to conduct a study directed at reducing the burden of Sarbox 404b on companies with market cap between $75 million and $250 million.” [FEI Financial Reporting Blog]