Bank Accounting & Finance articles from December 2005

Bank Accounting & Finance archives from December 2005

SOA attestation: what are the initial costs for banks? For banks in the sample, the average increase in audit fees from 2003 to 2004 was 100 percent.(Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002)
December 1, 2005... When Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ("SOA"), its intention was to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures made pursuant to the securities laws." (1) The internal control provisions of...

Accounting for derivatives at Fannie Mae: a cautionary catalogue of accounting errors.
December 1, 2005... Once again, the headlines read New Fannie Mae Violations Surface.1 These new findings only add to the accounting and management problems at Fannie Mae. While the misapplications of accounting standards at Fannie Mae appear to be many, the most...

Financial product patents: an update: changes in the competitive uses of patents have important implications for financial businesses.
December 1, 2005... The February 2003 issue of BANK ACCOUNTING & FINANCE described the emergence of patents in the financial community. (1) In the ensuing two and a half years, while much has happened, unfortunately, little has changed. Little has changed...

Basel II and Basel IA: new capital rules on track, but still a long trip ahead; full implementation of Basel IA has been deferred to 2012.(Capital Requirements)
December 1, 2005... The last week of September and the first week of October saw three significant regulatory developments for a wide swath of the U.S. banking industry. The federal banking regulators pushed back full implementation of Basel II by an additional...

Auditing anti-money-laundering compliance: insufficient transaction testing, inadequate testing of automated monitoring systems and deficient follow-up are typical shortcomings.(Regulatory Outlook)
December 1, 2005... The release in June 2005 of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council's (FFIEC) Bank Secrecy Act Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual (available at www.ffiec.gov/bsa_aml_infobase) has ensured that the current spotlight on...

SEC proposes to further differentiate reporting for large and small issuers; under proposed rules, the largest companies would have 60 days to file annual reports.(United States. Securities and Exchange Commission)
December 1, 2005... The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to modify the periodic report filing deadlines required by rules under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and made changes to its accelerated filer definitions...

Integrating risk management and compliance: SOA and Basel II compliance, approached simultaneously, can create business benefits.(Compliance)
December 1, 2005... The financial services world is governed by many rules and regulations: the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ("SOA") for U.S. publicly listed financial institutions, Basel II and others. Most banks today have multiple initiatives in place to...

Keys to achieving technology optimization: a framework for aligning IT and strategy.(Community Banking)
December 1, 2005... The information technology (IT) function at community financial institutions is becoming complex as the technology function found at much larger institutions. Regulatory pressures, customer and competitive demands, broken vendor promises and...

S&Ls--a little-known past, an uncertain future: from obscure past to uncertain future: a look at an industry that played a crucial role in shaping American society.
December 1, 2005... Historian David L. Mason believes that the savings and loan business has received little respect. Whether called building and loan associations, savings and loan associations or simply thrifts, these institutions have played an important role...