Review Comments | 06.23.09

• Rajaratnam Changes His Defense Counsel – Raj is going to the bullpen early. [DealBook]

• Tannin ‘Blow Up’ E-Mail Won’t Be Seen by Fraud Jury – “U.S. District Judge Frederic Block in Brooklyn, New York, ruled that the government’s search warrant filed in July with Google Inc. to obtain access to the e-mail was overly broad and ‘did not comply with the Warrants Clause of the Fourth Amendment.'” [Bloomberg]

• McDonald’s closes in Iceland as currency collapse takes a bite out of Big Mac profits – Just doesn’t seem right. [AP via CT]

• Senate Health Bill Includes Public Option – …Annnnd there goes the filibuster. [WSJ]

• IRS Unit to Target High-Income Tax Evaders – The Global High Wealth Industry group will be your official government carriers of pitchforks and torches. [WSJ]

• Madoff Investor Said to Have Drowned [NYT]

• Sir Allen Is Down – And his CFO/Number-maker-upper pleaded guilty. Not what you would call a good day. [DB]
• Swiss Negotiator for UBS Says IRS May Seek More Data – Not satisfied by a measly 5,000 someodd names, the IRS is going back for more. MORE. MORE. [Bloomberg]
• Boeing hopes to fly 787 by year-end – Ten says it doesn’t happen. Takers? [Chicago Tribune]
• US ‘problem’ bank list hits 15-year high – Plenty of time to break more historical marks. [FT]
• IFRS could well fail in the US [AccMan]

• IRS Hails ‘Historic’ Response To Amnesty For Offshore Bank Accounts – Scare tactics work. [NPR]
• SEC in talks with IRS about preserving tax breaks for LIFO – Wouldn’t be so good for the likes of ExxonMobil if the breaks went away. A study says it would increase XOM’s tax liability by $9 billion. Lobby much? [CFOZone]
• Sheep Dogs and Stewardship — Why Groom the Next Generation? – “The demands on the recruiting directors of the banks and law firms and accountants are not different. They manage their personnel pipelines because, as a senior Big Four partner put it in a moment of candor, ‘the only reason we hire new staff is so we can re-stock our need for managers.'” [Re:Balance]
• Bill Belichick, Moneyball Savant? – Pats fans, turns out Belichick knows what he’s doing. [TaxProf Blog]
• The Football Plays We Don’t See – No, he really does. [Tax Update Blog]
• President Obama Establishes Interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force – No less than 23 government agencies, offices, and departments will be involved. How’s that for a dense bureaucracy? [SEC.gov]
• Don’t forget to vote in our two polls from today: Non-profits/Govts and ditiching the bad boss for less scratch. Plus today is the last day to submit a caption for the water closet audit room.