February 2009
Thomas Ray Leaves PCAOB March 6
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Chief Auditor and Director of Professional Standards Thomas Ray will leave the audit oversight agency March 6, the PCAOB announced today in a press release. He will return to the private sector.
Ray joined the PCAOB as deputy chief auditor in 2003 shortly after the board commenced operations. He was appointed the PCAOB cheif auditor in 2006.
Tax-Shelter Crackdown on Swiss Bank Accounts
President Obama’s budget plan calls for cracking down on offshore tax shelters to help raise revenue for a new program of increased benefits for the middle and lower class. The battle over tax shelters has already begun, as the government is pressuring foreign banks to lift privacy rules.
Fresh off a U.S. victory in which UBS agreed to make a $780 million settlement payment to the U.S. for a cross-border business that enabled hundreds of Americans to create fraudulent tax shelters, the U.S. is now going after 53,817 UBS secret Swiss bank accounts associated with suspected tax evasion. A Justice Department lawsuit filed recently in a Miami federal court alleges that U.S. customers failed to report and pay U.S. taxes on income earned in those accounts, which held about $14.8 billion in assets during the middle of this decade.
Risky Business: U.S. Gov't to Control 36% of Citigroup
The government found a way to pull Citigroup back from the brink without handing over any more taxpayer money -- at least for now. The Treasury Department announced this morning that it will convert up to $25 billion of its preferred stock holdings in Citigroup to common stock in a move that would give the government a 36 percent share of the embattled bank.
One problem: no one wants to own Citigroup right now. Especially since it just announced it will record $10 billion in write-downs, boosting the year's net loss to $27.7 billion. Accordingly, Citi shares plunged 30 percent in pre-market trading on the Treasury's news.
Demand for CPAs Remains Strong, But Payments Falter
As the state of the economy continues to worsen, some area firms have found they need to institute a variety of measures in order to ensure prompt payment for services rendered.
These changes come amid growing concerns, expressed by some Society members, that the current financial downturn will eventually affect the ability of some clients to pay them on time and in full.
For some CPAs, including Westchester Chapter member George O. Sanossian, it already has.
Regulatory Reform: Yes We Can?
President Barack Obama is planning to state the obvious tonight, according to the Associated Press, calling for "strong financial sector regulation and oversight to restore accountability and trust in financial markets."
Obama, in a meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and lawmakers today, reportedly cited specific principles he wanted the legislation to achieve, including accountability for executives, consumer protections, and a regulatory plan that covers "a broad series of financial transactions that have escaped regulation in the past."
It may be a brave, new world out there, but this isn't a new idea.
It's not even a new idea for our new president -- he said the same thing just after he stepped into office.
A New Requirement For Auditors of Broker-Dealers
It's registration time for auditors of nonpublic broker-dealers.
Until recently, by order of the Securities and Exchange Commission, registration with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board was not a requirement. But now, the expiration of the SEC order means financial statements of nonpublic broker-dealers for fiscal years ending after Dec. 31, 2008 must be certified by a registered public accounting firm.
New York Accountancy Reform and You
Accountancy reform has officially come to New York state.
The new law, signed by Gov. David A. Paterson on Jan. 27, makes sweeping changes to the state's regulations for the accounting profession, including bringing a larger number of CPAs under the state's regulatory structure and requiring CPAs working in industry to complete continuing professional education courses.
Trustee: Bernie Didn't Buy Stocks
What was Bernie Madoff's investment firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC buying with investor cash for the past 13 years? Not securities!
Are BoA and Citigroup Next to Fall?
Shares of Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. plummeted for the sixth straight day on Friday, hammered by increasing fears that the U.S. government could take the control of the banks, wiping out shareholders, according to Reuters.
The banks have reportedly received $90 billion in TARP funds between them but have shown few signs of stabilizing.
Bank of America shares were reportedly down 6.6 percent to $3.66 in premarket trading, their lowest level since 1984, while Citigroup fell 12.3 percent to $2.20, their lowest price since 1991.
All signs that these two banks may suffer a Bear Stearns kind of fate.
Job Tip #3: Batten Down the Hatches!
Work is no place for wallflowers. You should strive to be visible and proactive at your current job, according to Bruce Friedman, associate director of recruiting at KPMG LLP. Friedman and other presenters shared tips for making yourself indispensable at your current job, along with strategies for finding a new one, at a recent NYSSCPA Banking Committee event.