Ed. note: AG here, kids. Colin is once again shirking his duties for a couple days to go ride around exotic farmers' markets on his bicycle in Calcutta or something so you and I will be spending today and Monday together in one another's warm embrace. Get excited now, it's going to be a long day. As always, I'll do my best to keep you entertained or at least distracted but if you spot something newsworthy I haven't had a chance to get to while I'm running the show or just want to talk about how much you can't stand your lazy colleagues who leave you holding the bag all the time, email me or find me on Twitter and let's trash Colin together. Happy Friday, my dear little capital market servants, my paltry investments thank you for your service as always.
Tweedie contradicts Haldane’s stance on accounting rules [Accountancy Age]
The architecht behind the creation of IFRS has dismissed claims that accounting rules are at fault for failings in the way banks provision for loan losses. Writing in ICAS' member publication, institute chairman and former head of the IASB Sir David Tweedie said he "totally disagreed" with the view that "global accounting rules prevent banks adequately provisioning for future loan losses". Tweedie's comments contradict Andrew Haldane, the executive director for financial stability at the Bank of England, who wrote in the Financial Times last month that global accounting rules "contributed to an overvaluation of legacy assets, as they prevent banks adequately provisioning. International efforts to rectify this are at risk of stalling."
Detectives say accounting manager Michael Cougill embezzles over $500K from company [WTSP]
An accounting manager faces embezzlement charges after investigators say he stole more than $500,000 from a local air conditioning and electric company. Pasco County detectives say while Michael Cougill was the accounting manager at Schmitt, Inc., an air conditioning and electric company, he embezzled money for his own personal use.
IRS eases tax bite for Americans hurt by hurricane [Reuters]
Taxpayers in 11 states slammed by Sandy have something to look forward to as they recover from the storm damage: relief from the Internal Revenue Service. The massive storm, which killed at least 93 people by Thursday afternoon, has been declared a "qualified disaster" by President Barack Obama. Workers who receive storm-related compensation from their employers will not face a tax liability. These payments can include a range of expenses, including funeral costs, which are not already covered by insurance. The tax relief extends to certain payments from charities, state programs and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Woman Charged for Trying to Deposit a Dead Person's IRS Check [Riverfront Times]
On Tuesday, 44-year-old Patrina Rochelle Taylor of St. Louis County walked a credit union in Creve Coeur. She tried to deposit an IRS tax refund check worth about $7,500 into her own account, the feds say. The check was made out to an "Ann Hoang," according to the criminal affidavit. Taylor pulled out a driver's license that presented herself as Ann Hoang. But it was quickly determined this driver's license was phony. Furthermore, it was also quickly determined from the IRS database that the real Ann Hoang was dead.
'Blackout' imposed as George W. Bush speaks at Cayman Islands investment conference [MSNBC]
Sponsors of the conference include KPMG. 'Nuff said.
Accounting firm Boatsman Gillmore to merge with Wagner Noble & Co. [Charlotte Business Journal]
This potentially changes EVERYTHING! Er, if by "everything" we mean the letterhead and email signatures.
Cash-strapped UK government spends $16,000 on a dead snake [Reuters]
Guido Fawkes investigates. This has to be a joke. "It is quite a bit of money, but he is a very big snake," said a spokesman for the Foreign Office, according to Reuters. "We will not be constricted, nor will we scale back, in our dedication to preserve this historic national treasure." OMG I get it, LOL!
