E&Y pays out almost £3m following Equitable verdict [Accountancy Age]
“E&Y successfully contested a claim they were not objective in their audit of the firm. However the JDS finding that the 1999 Financial Statements from Equitable did not show a true and fair view, still stand. The firm extended ‘our sympathies’ to policyholders of Equitable Life, who have been impacted by the near-collapse of the company.” Is expressing sympathy a new strategy for E&Y?

FASB Exposure Draft Alarms Bank CFOs [CFO]
What kind of alarm you ask? So alarming that a lobbyist spoke out against it with statements like, ‘aw-dropping’ and ‘You don’t want that craziness in your financial statements.’ That’s the words of the American Bankers Association’s Senior VP of Tax and Accounting who was hospitalized with cardiac trouble.

CFOs were a little less sound-bitey, but still aren’t jumping for joy over the proposal, telling CFO “I don’t see how that improves transparency” and “[FASB] they will end up with is a situation where there is a ton of judgment involved.”

Field narrows in race for top Deloitte job [Times Online]
The Times Online is having fun speculating about the new Deloitte CEO in the UK, now that Vince Niblett, “The early favourite” has been appointed as the head of audit there. It’s a three horse race according to the Times, with David Sproul, head of tax, and Martin Eadon, a senior audit partner also rumored to be taking the head spot after John Connolly retires next year.

TaxProf Blog Crosses 10 Million Visitor Mark [TaxProf Blog]
And counting…congrats Paul!

Friday tip: embrace your annoying accountant [AccMan]
“In order to be a successful accountant you do not need to be ‘born dull.’ But you do need to be born annoying.”