TheCorporateCounsel.net

March 1, 2006

FASB and IASB Issue MOU on Converging Accounting Standards

On Monday, the FASB and IASB issued a memorandum of understanding in which they laid out a detailed work plan to narrow differences between their standards – with a goal of substantially completing this process in eleven specified areas by 2008 (and take a hard look at ten other areas).

For those following this important development closely, you know that the SEC’s willingness to downsize its requirement that non-US issuers fully reconcile their financials when registering securities in the US is conditioned on this convergence effort. Reconciliation is unpopular in the European Union – but convergence hasn’t been widely popular either as there are concerns that it could lead to the creation of overly theoretical accounting standards. Learn more in our “Globalization of Accounting Standards” Practice Area.

How to Find a Company’s CGQ

Occasionally I get asked how someone can check a company’s corporate governance rating, as assigned by ISS (ie. the “CGQ”). You can obtain a company’s CGQ by going to Yahoo Finance, entering the company’s stock symbol in the “Get Quotes” search tool – and then hit “company profile” on the bottom right side of the page.

Then, you will see the CGQ on the right side under a “Corporate Governance” header. Two separate ratings are generated for each company; one compared with other companies in the same index and within the company’s industry group. Oddly, I don’t believe you can obtain these ratings on ISS’ own site. Learn more about how CGQ ratings are compiled in our “Governance Ratings” Practice Area.

ISS’ New “Corporate Governance” Blog

ISS has launched a new “Corporate Governance Blog” and it looks quite promising. I wonder what the average shelf life of a blogger is these days. It seems that many blogs start off with a bang amid much enthusiasm – and then they trail off within a few months.

Much like the typical New Year’s resolution (here is a history lesson on why we even bother to make those resolutions every year). How you doing on your resolutions? Did you hoard a box of Tamiflu like you promised yourself?