Arthur Levitt: FASB Caved in to Banks and Political Pressure

Arthur Levitt, former chair of the SEC doesn't like the FASB/IASB changes to mark to merket rules. Some of his comments:

The FASB's proposal goes against what we know investors prefer: Stronger rules for the reporting of changes in the values of investments in income statements. Under the proposed rule, no matter how toxic the investment, whether it's a penny stock or the bonds of a government ward such as AIG, companies can choose to largely ignore the fundamental reasons behind the investments' decline. All that companies have to do is say they don't intend to sell those investments until their value rebounds.

Such a subjective judgment is bound to decrease investor confidence in reported income.

In a strange twist of fate, the FASB's proposals may create even greater opportunities for short sellers who are adept at digging into numbers that do not tell the whole story.

The real scandal here is not the decision by the FASB, rather it is how the independence of regulators and standard-setters is being threatened. This isn't just about the income statements of banks. It's about further eroding investor confidence, precisely at a moment when investors are practically screaming for more protection.

In seeking to protect its independence, the FASB has surrendered some of it in the bargain.

Independence from public pressure has a value, and when you give some of it away, you've lost something that takes years to rebuild.

The rule change agreed to by the FASB on Tuesday followed only one public meeting on this topic, and the board is giving investors just two weeks to comment, with a final vote the next day. This is a rush job.

The FASB should rethink its approach to these rules.

Above all, the Securities and Exchange Commission should take a firm stand on the side of investors and vigorously resist all political efforts to reduce the independence of financial rule-making agencies and boards.

Investors once believed that U.S. markets were sufficiently protected from political pressure and manipulation by a system of interlocking independent agencies and rule-making bodies -- some government-run, some not. That system is being dismantled, piece by piece, by political jawboning and rushed rule rewrites. Now, investors find themselves with fewer protections and weakened.

Full article here.