FASB Chairman Herz, ex-PwC, Unexpectedly Retires. Seidman, ex-E&Y, Is Acting

Lisa Chapman, Big4.com

25 August 2010

(blog) We saw it yesterday buzzing around in the news, and also confirmed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) that its current chairman Robert Herz is retiring on his own accord almost two years before the end of his term, much to the surprise of the industry, the Board and the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF). Robert H. Herz was appointed FASB chairman on July 1, 2002, and was reappointed to a second term effective July 1, 2007 for a 5 year term. Previously, he was a senior partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers...

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SEC Reaffirms IFRS Commitment, But Pushes Adoption Out To 2015

The SEC just released a statement on IFRS which shows its supportive position and reaffirms its belief in that a single set of high-quality globally accepted accounting standards would benefit U.S investors, thus actively encouraging the convergence of U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Also, the SEC directed a committee led by Chief Accountant, James Kroeker (ex KPMG partner) to prepare a Work Plan, to figure out all the implications of the use of IFRS by U.S. companies, taking into account current state and eventual completion of various "convergence projects" between U.S. and international accounting standards-setters....

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SEC’s Strategic Plan Seen to Support IFRS Transition and PCAOB

The Securities and Exchange Commission just released its 2010-2015 Strategic Plan with some broad objectives to focus on securities compliance fostering and enforcement. The US SEC has been under considerable attack since it missed one of the world’s largest $60 billion Ponzi schemes operated by Bernard Madoff. Apparently, there were five particular instances over the years where the SEC could have caught Madoff had they pursued either their own processes or followed through on tips provided to them. Refocusing on enforcement is clearly goal number one...

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Big Four Firms Provide Excellent Resources On IFRS Conversion

Many of our readers in the professional accounting, reporting, tax and corporate finance fields are already familiar with the impending adoption of IFRS rules in the US and many countries all over the world. We thought we would write a bit about the current situation and how it is being handled at the Big Four accounting firms, given that it is going to be a critical issue for them in terms of public auditing, financial statement reporting as public company clients either converge GAAP to IFRS or convert fully to IFRS in the next few years and require hand-holding, guidance and advice from the Big Four firms...

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Mark-to-Market Accounting Moves to Center Stage

FAS 157, the FASB rule which determines how financial institutions evaluate the value of their financial assets on their balance sheets has been brewing as a hot topic for a while and today moved to center stage based on a meeting of the Financial Standards Accounting Board which relaxed some of the guidelines on how this rule can be applied in the illiquid credit markets that we are now operating in now...

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