Week in review: 28 Oct - 1 Nov
This will certainly be a week SEC chairman Harvey Pitt will want to forget in a hurry. Closer to home, momentum continued to grow for social reporting.
On Monday the week got off to a bad start for embattled SEC chairman Harvey Pitt as he faced calls for his resignation from the chief architect of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, following the appointment of William Webster as head of the new accountancy oversight board.
There was good news for social reporting as prime minister Tony Blair threw his weight behind moves to encourage companies to be more socially responsible.
Tuesday, in an attempt to play down fears of further tax hikes, the Treasury said Gordon Brown could borrow a further £70bn and still meet his ‘golden rule’.
And the creation of global accounting standards looked a little closer after the US-based Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board agreed to co-operate on convergence.
On Wednesday a backbench MP broadened the debate on ‘green reporting’ by proposing a new watchdog to oversee environmental disclosure ahead of the Queen’s speech next month, while fans of Leicester City FC found out they would have to wait a further two weeks before they get to hear any more news about the future of their football club
Thursday saw Accountancy Age put FD integrity under the spotlight again as one in three finance directors admitted to bias over their own company accounts.
Technology company Lucent benefited from an astonishing $1bn (£600m) tax rebate from the US government.
Friday saw the week end much as it had begun for SEC chairman Harvey Pitt, as he faced a battle to hold onto his position after an inquiry was launched into the appointment of William Webster as head of the body’s accountancy oversight committee, while the noose tightened around ex-Enron FD Andrew Fastow as he faced 78 charges of fraud in relation to the collapse of the once-might energy giant.