David M. Katz, CFO.com | US
February 28, 2007

Accounting Transparency ???

Before Congress jumps on the band wagon to begin legislating accounting principals - especially as related to "Use of Plain English" and "Transparency of Reporting" - perhaps it might be well served to first take a look at some of its own creations. Take your choice - Internal Revenue Code, Medicare / Medicaid Laws and Regulations, Labor Laws, even Annual Budget Appropriations passed by elected officials would be fair game. Few things in our culture are more opaque and devoid of "Plain English".

The complexity exhibited in modern financial reporting is merely reflective of complexities in the myriad of laws and regulations facing business in the current environment. It may be popular political sentiment to be portrayed as protecting the investing consumer from market risk, through clarity in the financial reporting process. In reality, however, risks facing the average investor in today's market are more akin to those facing "consumers" with other forms of legalized gambling. The investing public would be better served if Congress moved to counteract Administration attempts to reduce SEC Oversight and to eliminate gains made through Sarbanes - Oxley in the Financial Reporting Process.

Posted by Gerald Berger | Feb 28, 2007 2:05 PM ET