TheCorporateCounsel.net

Now that such disclosures are foremost on everyone’s minds, we are updating – on a daily basis! – our list of the latest disclosures filed by companies that have disclosed that they have identified material weaknesses and/or significant deficiencies. This list resides in our “Internal Controls” Practice Area.

And we are happy to announce that David Lynn, Chief Counsel of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance has just been added to our next webcast: “Demystifying Internal Controls Disclosures.”

FASB Under Fire on the Hill

According to the January 4th issue of the Congressional Record (at pg. H35), language has been included at Congressman Oxley’s request that changes the jurisdiction over the FASB from the Commerce Committee to the House Financial Services Committee.

For decades, the Commerce Committee has had oversight responsibility for the FASB and generally has been supportive of the FASB. On the other hand, the House Financial Services Committee’s leadership has led the Congressional efforts to block the FASB rule on expensing options – and in the past, also opposed other FASB efforts, such as fair value accounting for derivatives.

A few years back, when Rep. Billy Tauzin was named chair of the Commerce Committee, there was a memorandum of understanding between him and Rep. Oxley that transferred jurisdiction of the SEC from the Commerce Committee to the Financial Services Committee. However, at that time it was agreed that Tauzin would maintain jurisdiction over the FASB. However, with Tauzin leaving the House, Oxley once again pressed for – and now has received jurisdiction over the FASB.

By the way, those of you interested enough to read the Congressional Record will only see this obscure statement: “9. Jurisdictional Issues. Based on discussions with the relevant committees, the further mutual understandings contained in the final two paragraphs of the “Memorandum of Understanding Between Energy and Commerce Committee and Financial Services Committee” dated January 30, 2001, shall no longer provide jurisdictional guidance.”

“Conference Notes” Practice Area

As part of the New Year’s cleansing of TheCorporateCounsel.net, we have created a “Conference Notes” Practice Area – with recent additions including the ABA’s Fall Meeting (from Perkins Coie) and the AICPA National Conference (from Davis Polk).

Note that the clean-up of our home page didn’t result in the removal of any content. Some of it has just been moved to more logical spaces (such as the “Rule 144 Q&A Forum” being moved to the toolbar) – and we created some new items, like the “Hot Topics Box.”