Wall Street

Corporate ASBO's? Nah – throw them in jail

March 26, 2009 General

Simon Sweetman was one of the first people with whom I recorded a podcast. As an ex-tax Inspector he’s well versed in the wrinkles that people try and pull in their efforts to avoid tax. This week he’s positively spitting teeth with the provocatively titled: Let’s shoot all the bankers over on AccountingWeb. Given the [...]

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2008: glad that one's (nearly) done

December 28, 2008 General

Ten days without a post. That’s the longest I’ve taken time out in the three plus years this blog’s been going. It’s given me time to reflect on 2008, the best and yet worst of years for many  people I know. Looking back, I found my 2008 wishlist, almost none of which came true though [...]

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What the heck?

December 15, 2008 General

My ZDNet colleague Jason Perlow has a post that illustrates all that is wrong with Wall Street: If Wall Street weren’t neck deep in economic doggy doo, and that several of our financial institutions hadn’t just failed and weren’t spending 700 billion dollars of taxpayer bailout funds — of which nearly 350 billion has already [...]

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Follow the money

November 7, 2008 General

This last week, along with everyone I know, I’ve been watching with interest as political events unfold in the US. Unlike others, I am far from convinced there will be any real change in the bankrupt policies that impact every one of us, regardless of geographical location. Here’s why. Earlier in the week, Sam Winsier [...]

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Why you should be watching the US elections

October 8, 2008 General

I’ve spent a lot of time the last couple of weeks following events in the US and in particular the US elections. Normally this would be of no interest to me but the Internet allows me the opportunity to gain a ringside seat to the debates going on right now. This is augmented by a [...]

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Just when you thought it couldn't get crazier

October 1, 2008 General

Courtesy of the Washington Post which amply demonstrates a solid lack of understanding about ‘value’ in accounting comes this pearl. The SEC and FASB are allegedly modifying the ‘mark to market‘ rules to allow distressed banks to take into account ‘other factors’ when reviewing their toxic assets. WashPo says this: An odd-sounding accounting phrase at [...]

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Brian echoes my (and others) sentiments

September 29, 2008 General

This from Brian Sommer, my co-author of a report about SAP Business ByDesign and former senior director of Andersen Consulting‘s (now Accenture’s) global Software Intelligence unit Accounting firms just don’t get it. Their industry has become ever more irrelevant because of their inability to provide timely insights into business deals and operations. Every accountancy with [...]

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