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SEC to Try and Get Less Bureaucratic, Miss Less Fraud

Posted on by Caleb Newquist

140px-United_States_Securities_and_Exchange_Commission.pngDeciding that it was about time they got their shit together, the SEC announced today that it is reorganizing its enforcement division. The reorganization will eliminate supervisory positions in order to reduce bureaucracy and help speed up response to potential fraud.
Before the proposed changes, the Commission had been utilizing the opposite approach.
A few details because we know you’re craving them:

The overhaul unveiled this week dissolves the division’s lowest and largest tier of supervisors, the branch managers who oversee small teams of attorneys, the people said. Some may become front-line investigators; others may be elevated to assistant directors. Assistants, who currently supervise about 18 people each, would instead oversee only six. A plan to create specialist teams, using a similar management structure, is still being refined, [sources] said.

We’ll also note that the new Enforcement Director, Robert Khuzami, said the new “specialist teams” will help detect “patterns” more easily. Khuzami also noted that this brilliant plan was being kicked around before the whole Madoff thing, thankyouverymuch.
SEC Said to Reorganize Enforcement Unit, Trim Management Ranks [Bloomberg]

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Is David Paterson Trying to Pander to CPAs?

DavidPaterson.jpgGood news haters of all thing red tape! There is a pesky little fee in New York that goes into effect on December 31 that will require all tax preparers to pay $100 and register with the state tax department.
In case you haven’t heard, Paterson and the rest of the crew up in Albany have a bit of budget shortfall on their hands and need every dime they can get. Well! Your trusty New York State Society of CPAs has lobbied their asses off and gotten you out of this particular case of government meddling:

A bill signed into law by New York State Governor David Paterson provides an exemption from the state’s new tax preparer registration requirements for CPAs, including those who hail from outside the state.
…
The New York State Society of CPAs had advocated for an exemption for all CPAs from the registration requirements and had earlier succeeded in getting CPAs who were licensed in the state from being subject to the requirements.

Those state society fees do get you something! Call them up and thank them. And thank the Guv, while you’re at it.
New York Exempts CPAs from Preparer Registration [Web CPA]

If You Know What’s Good for You, Stand Up Right Now

If your employer is of a shrewd nature and didn’t spring for Herman Millers, you need to get off your asses right now! Find out why, after the jump.

And yes, Gmail appears to be down.

Accounting Rulemakers Already Talking Plan B on Fair Value

Thumbnail image for tweedie.jpgSounds like Bob Herz and Sir David Tweedie are phoning it in with regards to fair value rules.
Herz and Tweedie and their respective accounting wonks met in Norwalk, CT on Monday and they’re all but admitting that there’s no chance that they’ll get on the same page:

At a joint meeting in Norwalk, Connecticut on Monday, members of the London-based International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) sparred over whether fair value, or “mark-to-market,” accounting rules should be expanded to a broader array of financial assets, such as loans and deposits.
In a move opposed by the banking industry, the FASB has proposed that all financial instruments be valued at market levels, while the IASB has proposed to have those assets valued at “amortized cost,” which would mostly provide information about expected cash flows.
“If FASB and IASB can’t agree on mixed model or full fair value model … the next best thing is something to move between the two,” Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the IASB, said on Monday…”By the end of 2010… if we can’t get it together, we should be appreciably together,” Tweedie said.

Plan B is already in full effect! Instead of one fair value rule, the two standard setters will provide a “presentation for fair value for more financial assets on corporate balance sheets so that investors would be able to quickly reconcile numbers in U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).”
Some board members are worried that this approach may be too confusing, however. Confusing financial statements? That’s only a problem for average investors. No biggie.
Oh, well. We know 2010 is coming up fast and those politicians get impatient when the bank lobbyists are threatening to cut off the money. Thanks for trying guys. You did your best.
Accounting boards try to reconcile fair value views [Reuters/Emily Chasan]