You’ll remember the mtm debate a few months ago. The bankers argued that mtm was forcing them to take writedowns that depleted their capital, which prevented them from making loans. The economists believed that we needed to get credit flowing again to help the economy recover. That makes sense to me.
It made sense to Congress, [...]
Good article from Floyd Norris. The disingenuousness of the ABA spokesperson is a little creepy but not surprising. William Donaldson and Arthur Levitt got it right.
The vote drew condemnation from an organization called the Investors Working Group, and the two former S.E.C. chairman who lead it — William H. Donaldson, appointed by the second President Bush, [...]
Was the 250 point market rally yesterday really tied to the FASB changes to mtm? Some thoughts here. Only the bankers think this is a smart thing to do.
Today the FASB modified its rules on “mark-to-market” accounting, two weeks after a hearing in Washington. The stock market climbed on the news, but this is nothing to celebrate.
In focusing on the details of a single accounting rule, both Congress and the accounting profession are missing a broader, more fundamental question. Namely, what role should financial [...]
Floyd Norris’ comments here (I like this guy). Investor groups are not happy.
But the [changes] have produced a strong reaction from some investors, with one investor group complaining that the changes would “effectively gut the transparent application of fair value measurement.” The group also says changes would delay the recovery of the banking system.
“Investors,” wrote [...]
I’ve heard that some organizations are getting out their technical folks to talk mtm accounting. I think this is great, and I think we as a profession should be doing this from now until the next hearing. If I was the FASB or AICPA communications director (do they even have one?) I’d roll out my [...]