Commentary & Opinion

March 17, 2010 The Swaps That Swallowed Your Town

Source:Gretchen Morgenson, NY Times

AS more details surface about how derivatives helped Greece and perhaps other countries mask their debt loads, let’s not forget that the wonders of these complex products aren’t on display only overseas. Across our very own...

March 15, 2010 The Last Temptation of Lehman Brothers

Source:RightPundits.com

Across the pond, in jolly old England, government investigators have determined that Lehman Brothers practiced an “irresponsible business model”. Oh really? They just figured that out, huh? Only took them 18 months! That’s what I...

March 15, 2010 Dealing With Fraud by Denial

Source:Floyd Norris, NY Times

Years after Charles Ponzi was imprisoned for a fraud that cost victims millions of dollars in 1920, the state of Massachusetts determined it had recovered all the assets it could, and began to distribute them to victims, who...

March 5, 2010 A Game of Resisting the I.R.S.

Source:Floyd Norris, NY Times

If ever there was an area of taxation that needed simplification, it is the American corporate income tax. Companies end up filing tax returns containing thousands, or even tens of thousands, of pages.

March 3, 2010 ANSWERING THE QUESTION: IS ESG IS HERE TO STAY?

Source:Richard Barr – Featured Commentator

In a word, yes. However, to offer some encouraging support to the argument pro and con, a company simply named “Mercer” has assessed the state of the field of academic research into environmental, social, and corporate...[more]

March 1, 2010 In Tax Law, an Overdue Overhaul a Step, With Miles to Go

Source:Floyd Norris, NY Times

What is the most outrageous section of American tax law “People get a deduction for punitive damages paid in a lawsuit,” was the response from Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, the top Republican on the Budget Committee. “I...

February 26, 2010 CEO Pay and the SEC: The Power of Shame

Source:BusinessWeek

Many people can recite the first half of Louis D. Brandeis' quote about the cleansing qualities of disclosure—"Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants...." Few bother with the rest of the sentence, in which Brandeis...

February 26, 2010 Can’t-Shoot-Straight SEC Gets This Call Right: David Reilly

Source:BusinessWeek

Every now and then the much-maligned Securities and Exchange Commission gets it right. That was the case this week when it adroitly tapped the brakes on a drive to require U.S. publicly traded companies to adopt international...

February 24, 2010 The US bank crisis continues

Source:Business Spectator.com.au

If a country’s economic health depends on having a sound financial system, then it’s truly worrying to see that the number of US banks on the brink of collapse is continuing to rise.

February 23, 2010 Who's Minding Risk?

Source:CFO

Monday-morning quarterbacks pinned the blame for the financial crisis largely on excessive risk taking, particularly at large financial institutions. Subsequent calls for regulatory reform have increasingly included nonfinancial...

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