The Fed, The Economy, Accounting and Regulation - Changing Landscape for a New Century
June 24, 2009
US Groups Face Regulatory Revamp | www.ft.com
Banks, Insurance companies, Investment bankers, Hedge funds - they are all up against the wall facing new regulatory pressures. The Alan Greenspan era is over. Alan Greenspan was supposed to have a magic wand with which nothing went wrong. Its like Napoleon asking for a few lucky generals - Greenspan was one such in the financial world of today. Bernanke obviously is not. In this analysis I look at some of the aspects of the changing regulatory landscape.
Accounting and Financial Risk in the Background of Declining Credit Availabilty
June 16, 2009
Liquidity, Crime Woes Shake Up Chief Risk Officers | www.cfo.com
The current situation of non availability of credit is leading to a position where Chief Risk Officers and CFO's will have a difficult time in funds management, meeting profitability targets and running a business. Funds constraints will make it difficult to extend credit to customers when financial institutions and creditors are making credit vanish. Such a situation may also lead to conditions where accounts may be stage managed simply to keep creditors at bay. In this analysis I look at the peculiar conditions which I expect to come to play in the coming years and suggest that better control systems need to be in place not just in organizations but also in the wide spread global capital village.
Cost of Capital - The Formula Which No Longer Makes Sense In A Changing World
May 27, 2009
A Losing Formula | www.cfo.com
The financial world is changing and undergoing metamorphosis. Companies like GM and Chrysler are insolvent. Stock indices gyrate for no reason. Financial giants regularly go bust these days - so it seems. In this scenario what we have is a situation where the basic formulae for computing the cost of capital and such basics as beta and delta are becoming misleading. It is just not possible to calculate the systematic risk attached to a market or the unsystematic risk of a security. In this analysis I look at where this confusion is heading and how we may soon see a sea change in the way in which financial costs based on accounting statements are calculated.
The Economy and Credit Cards - Games Banks Play
May 19, 2009
Credit Card Industry Aims to Profit From Sterling Payers | www.nytimes.com
The referred article speaks of the banks - with their backs against the wall - thinking of evolving new rules for the good customers. The concept seems to be to create new rules so that bank earnings increase at the cost of the customer. To my mind this will only make the sterling customer disappear. Also from an accounting point of view it will create unnecessary complications. In this analysis I look at these two aspects.
Forensic Accounting - Fraud - A Perspective
May 18, 2009
In House Fraud Cases Surge | www.ft.com
The referred article speaks of the increased levels of fraud by insiders in organizations across countries - especially those that are hit by recession. In this analysis I take a look at how this will impact forensic accounting and indepth audits. The role of the accountant and auditor will gain emphasis and management will have to take increased care to safeguard assets - the stewardship function.
Internal Audit - The Changing Face and Stimulus
May 15, 2009
Internal Auditors: Mission Unaccomplished? | www.cfo.com
The face and scope of internal audit is changing. With time processes have always taken precedence over actual verification - except when a major fraud was discovered. The referred article speaks of the change now that the newness of Sarbannes Oxley is over and business is back to normal - atleast in terms of reduced major frauds. The article is however misleading because it relies to an excessive extent on statistics presented in a verbose form (which misleads) as compared to a tabular format (which is easier to read). In my analysis below I look at how and why internal audit is becoming increasingly relevant and all aspects are equally important.
The Price of Financial Innovation - Pitfalls in the Road
April 30, 2009
Fed Chief Warns Against Stifling New Ideas | www.ft.com
The price of financial innovation can be like the ends of a pendulum. I would compare it to say research in medicine - except that there are no clinical trials for financial products. Just as thalidomide created major deaths/deformaties relating to the birth of children in the 1960's so CDO's without adequate testing have created mayhem in the first years of this century. I draw the parallel between thalidomide and CDO's because in both cases there was said to be great innovation without adequate backup research and testing. Bernanke in the referred article speaks of the good of financial innovation. I agree - but then clinical and proper testing of financial products is equally necessary for financial products. This is the emphasis of my analysis below.
Accounting - The Congruence - The Stumbles - A Look At Accounting Standards Development
April 23, 2009
CFO's on IFRS: Forget About It | www.cfo.com
The present economic downturn has now got pundits and others saying that Accounting Standards are going to stumble - their will be no congruence on convergence of accounting standards. I would compare the present debate to that which took place when efforts were being made to salvage the gold standard in the first half of the last century. Then the intent was to keep the gold standard intact - it failed. The effort today is to keep national accounting standards in compartments - deny the concept of fair value - and generally keep accounting so complex that it is as difficult to understand as all the languages of the world - spoken simultaneously. In this analysis I look at why the development of accounting standards is going to continue and not going to be effected by the unnecessary arguments being floated in this context.
The Hedge Fund Conundrum - Gold - Risk vs. Safety and Return
March 19, 2009
Hedge Funds Turn To Gold | www.ft.com
Hedge funds are in a quandary. Their sine qua non for existence is the noticeably high returns that are expected to consistently deliver compared to the rest of the market. This obviously means that their investments have a higher beta compared to the market. These same funds are now trying to shift to bullion where gold is considered a safe investment. The problem here is however that anything that is safe will obviously give stable but not extraordinary returns. We can therefore expect a dichotomy in the aims of hedge funds which will reflect on their performance. These are the aspects I attempt to analyze below.
Investments, Hedge Funds and the Future Outlook
March 16, 2009
Hedge Funds to Cut 20,000 Jobs in 2009 | economictimes.indiatimes.com
The hedge fund outlook is changing fast and the glory of the past is giving way to the gloom of the present. In an era of disappearing jobs and declining economies the money available for hedge investments is on a downswing. In this emerging situation I look at where this new trend may lead to.
Sovereign and financial crises: Europe and the U.S.
January 18, 2012
How much longer can the Japanese Yen be a "haven currency"?
December 13, 2011
Not all bank tech vendors are equal
December 12, 2011
Eksportfinans downgrade surprises investors
December 5, 2011