January 2008 - Posts
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The government's tallying of Indian trust money may well be the most ambitious accounting project in U.S. history. It's also the most controversial. Deep underneath an industrial
park in Lenexa, Kansas — not far from
Shawnee Mission Lake...
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A new study shows that companies may pay the price for the "animal spirits" of their CFOs. CFOs might be worried about the economy, but when it comes to themselves, they are generally an optimistic bunch. John Maynard Keynes once wrote, "Individual...
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The value of subprime mortgages securitized in 2006 is set to plummet. The soundness of first-lien subprime residential mortgages securitized in 2006 has deteriorated considerably in the past three months, Moody's Investors Service warned. "Currently...
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Internet slowdowns in the Far East and Middle East could hurt companies that outsource call centers, customer service, general back-office tasks, and finance functions. Massive Internet outages caused havoc to India's flourishing outsourcing industry...
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The regulator has been paying close attention to filings that use the international standards, though some critics in Europe contend they don't cut it. The Securities and Exchange Commission's November 2007 decision to drop the requirement for...
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Fearing systemic risk in the bond market, Pershing Square's activist hedge fund manager William Ackman demands detailed data about MBIA's financial health. William Ackman, the activist manager of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management,...
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With the economy shrouded in gloom, The Fed has a new economic script. No one could accuse America's policymakers of standing pat as the economy flirts with recession. Congress is close to passing a fiscal-stimulus package worth just over 1 percent...
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A public spat has broken out in the private market for credit-default swaps. How much damage could unstable credit derivatives do to the financial system? An enormous amount, reckons Bill Gross, a well-known American fund manager, who puts the potential...
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India may be your first guess, but even Indian vendors are sending operations offshore. Here's a ranking of the top 50 offshoring destinations. The list may surprise you. While India remains a offshore outsourcing juggernaut, the country's vendors...
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With the big game just days away, federal agents arrest two in the Phoenix area with $140,000 worth of phony NFL and other sports merchandise. Law-enforcement officials confiscated more than $140,000 worth of phony sports-related clothing and memorabilia...
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The stream of companies switching from Big Four auditors to smaller firms slowed by 40 percent in 2007. In a recent 8-K, Catapult Communications demonstrated that it ditching a Big Four accounting firm for a smaller auditor can mean big cost savings....
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An accounting clerk gets 11 years for looting her employer of $1.1 million to pay for gambling (and just plain bling). A former accounting clerk was sentenced to 11 years in prison for stealing more than $1 million from her Illinois employer. The ex-clerk...
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The massive government project to account for billions owed to Indian landholders will never be completed, a federal judge opines. A federal judge harsh criticized the Interior Department for delays in its accounting for billions of dollars owed to Indian...
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Alliance Data Systems sues Blackstone, saying the private equity firm has no good reason for backing out of its planned acquisition of Alliance. Yet another jilted company is suing its private equity suitor after being left at the altar. Alliance Data...
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The tax benefits of the new economic stimulus proposal come with a big caveat; but the gains still may be worth the short-term boost. The proposed economic stimulus package, which is now in the hands of the Senate, has attracted a lot of attention because...
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Four employees are held to blame for botching the accounting of transactions between an overseas subsidiary and a U.S. unit. Pall Corp. has fired four employees it had placed on administrative leave after completing an inquiry into previously announced...
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News that the feds are probing 14 companies involved in mortgage securitization was applauded today by presidential candidate Hilary Clinton, but went unmentioned by the Treasury Secretary. News that the FBI has launched criminal investigations of 14...
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Last year's gains have been wiped out by a rough start to 2008. It looks like Christina Wood knew what she was doing. The senior investment officer of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers), America's biggest pension...
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After a 75-basis-point cut on Jan. 22, the rate is dropped again, this time by 50 basis points. Here is the Fed's statement. Following its 75-basis-point cut in the federal funds target rate on Jan. 22, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday afternoon announced...
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Moving beyond the mere outsourcing of transaction processing, some companies are actually offshoring investigations of accounting errors. In finance and accouting--and beyond--offshoring is following in the footsteps of the increasing globalization of...
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Want out of your office lease? It may be easier than you think. With an economic downturn looming, more companies are likely to be stuck with excess office space this year. The good news: experts say that conditions are more favorable than ever to break...
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Starting Feb. 28, mergers and acquisitions will have to be valued higher in order to need approval under Hart-Scott-Rodino. The Federal Trade Commission has raised the thresholds for how large a proposed merger or acquisition must be to require approval...
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Patriots? Giants? Either way, rating agencies like the way the National Football League plays its game. When field goal kicker Lawrence Tynes split the uprights with a 47-yard, overtime field goal to propel the New York Giants over the Green Bay Packers...
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Rising prices contribute to top executives' pessimism about the U.S. economy, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Industrial manufacturers are feeling downbeat. In a recent survey of senior executives in manufacturing, just 29 percent said they're...
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Nearly all finance executives' confidence in the economy has plummeted, reports FEI. Chief financial officers have become more pessimistic about the economy, according to a new survey. Financial Executives International and Baruch College's Zicklin...
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