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May 2, 2013 |  BY Ken Tysiac |  Article

The first questioner SEC Chief Accountant Paul Beswick faced Thursday said the Egyptians built the pyramids more quickly than the SEC has decided on IFRS. Beswick, speaking at the 12th annual Baruch College financial reporting conference in New York City, did not seem amused. “I’ll be waiting for your comment letter that details exactly how we should do it,” Beswick said.

April 10, 2013 |  BY Ken Tysiac |  Article

The SEC on Wednesday adopted rules jointly with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that require broker-dealers, mutual funds, investment advisers, and certain other entities regulated by the SEC to adopt programs to prevent identity theft. SEC Chairman Mary Jo White, who was sworn in Wednesday, cast a vote in a unanimous decision by the SEC commissioners to adopt the rule, known as Regulation S-ID.

April 8, 2013 |  BY Ken Tysiac |  Article

The Senate on Monday confirmed the nomination of Mary Jo White as chairman of the SEC. White, a former prosecutor who was the first woman to hold the venerated position of U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, brings a pedigree that could raise the SEC’s reputation for enforcement.

April 2, 2013 |  BY Ken Tysiac |  Article

U.S. public companies can use social media to make company announcements as long as they inform investors of the channels they will use to distribute the information, according to a new pronouncement by the SEC.

December 21, 2012 |  BY Ken Tysiac |  Article

Paul Beswick recently confessed that he enjoys reading about the evolution of accounting standards throughout history. Now Beswick has a chance to make his own historical mark as chief accountant of the SEC. On Friday, the SEC announced that Beswick, who had been serving as acting chief accountant since James Kroeker’s departure for the private sector in July, will retain the post.

December 12, 2012 |  BY Ken Tysiac |  Article

There is no mistaking the effect that a new regulation regarding conflict minerals will have on manufacturers and their suppliers. Tracing the commonly used minerals of tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold through intricate global supply chain networks will be no easy task. “This is one of the most complex compliance projects we’ve ever seen,” Steve Starbuck, Ernst & Young’s leader in the Americas for climate change and sustainability services, said during a recent webcast.

December 4, 2012 |  BY Ken Tysiac |  Article

Deciding what to include in the management discussion and analysis (MD&A) section of a company’s financial report seldom is an easy task. Although the SEC issued guidance regarding MD&A, a fair amount of judgment is required. Obeying MD&A guidance is a case of complying with the spirit of a rule rather than following a checklist, Katherine Gill-Charest, CPA, said Monday during a session at the AICPA Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments in Washington.

December 3, 2012 |  BY Ken Tysiac |  Article

The SEC plans to study the issue of what information should be required in the financial reporting package outside the financial statements—an examination aimed at providing investors the right information in the right places while preventing overlap in demands on preparers. “We intend to initially focus on whether the issue should be further explored, including, for example, whether there are any perceived gaps in the disclosures today, and what are the critical decision points regarding this issue of the dividing line between what should appear in the financial statements versus the broader reporting package,” Paul Beswick,

November 26, 2012 |  BY Ken Tysiac |  Article

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, who has led the agency’s response to the financial crisis, announced Monday that she will step down Dec. 14. President Barack Obama designated Elisse Walter, a current SEC commissioner, as chairman upon Schapiro’s departure. Walter can serve without Senate approval through December 2013 because the Senate confirmed her when she was named a commissioner.

November 15, 2012 |  BY Ken Tysiac |  Article

Roughly 3,000 tips on alleged wrongdoing were passed on to the SEC in the first full fiscal year of a new whistleblower program. Tips came from all 50 states and 49 countries, according to an annual report on the program for the fiscal year that ended in September.