Financial Crisis News Center

Use this page to follow the headlines surrounding the current recession, potential tax reform and forthcoming financial regulatory reform.

Quick Links

• Tax Reform
• Regulatory Reform
• Fair Value
• More OSCPA Recession Resources
• The Emergency Economic Stabilization Bill of 2008
• More Financial Crisis Resources

Continuing news coverage…

• Confidence growing, but job growth remains slow
  Eighty-two percent of executives interviewed expressed confidence in their companies’ prospects for growth in the second quarter of 2010, according to a new Employment Report from Robert Half.
  
  
• Senate Democrats unveil plan to extend unemployment
  Senate Democrats introduced a $150 billion plan yesterday to reinstate unemployment benefits that expired in February in a continuing effort this year to boost the nation’s struggling economy.
  
  
• CPAs remain pessimistic on economic outlook
  Remain concerned about jobs
  Among CPAs in business and industry, only 25% are optimistic about the nation’s economy according to a quarterly business survey from the AICPA and the University of North Carolina’s Kenan Flagler Business School.
  
  
• Senators collaborate to move financial regulation reform legislation
  The financial regulation reform legislation had seemingly hit an impasse in the U.S. Senate as the two parties were unable to reach agreement. Breaking party lines, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., have decided to work together on the controversial legislation.
  
  
• CPA financial planners find loss of confidence in stock market, greater risk aversion
  More than half of high net-worth Americans still lack faith in the stock market, according to an AICPA survey of CPA financial planners.
  
  
• Federal task force targets bankers at fault for financial crisis
  A new interagency task force created by President Obama in November is focusing on financial fraud and targeting bankers whose actions contributed to the financial crisis for possible prosecution.
  
  
• President creates new task force to fight financial fraud
  President Barack Obama issued an executive order creating a new task force that seeks more cooperation among federal, state and local government officials, to investigate and prosecute cases in an effort to combat financial fraud.

Financial Regulatory Reform

• Dodd plans to unveil his own financial regulation reform package
  Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., plans to release his own financial regulation reform package on Monday – legislation that does not represent a bipartisan compromise.
  
  
• FASB’s independence at stake in debate over financial regulatory reform
  The SEC’s oversight of FASB and the independent standard-setting process appears to be back on the table in the U.S. Senate as the two parties attempt to reach a compromise over financial regulatory reform.
  
  
• Senators seek compromise on financial regulation reform legislation
  Dodd, Corker working across party lines
  A bipartisan effort is under way to break the impasse in the U.S. Senate on financial regulation reform legislation.  Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., are crossing party lines to work together on a compromise to the controversial legislation.
  
  
• House passes sweeping regulatory reform package
  In sweeping financial regulatory reform legislation passed in the U.S. House on Friday, CPA services remain largely exempt from oversight of the proposed new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
  
  
• AICPA, SEC & FEI unite in support of FASB’s independence
  The AICPA strongly opposes new legislation that places oversight of FASB under a new agency being created to oversee systemic risk and could ultimately “undermine the independent accounting standard process as currently carried out by the FASB.”
  
  
• OSCPA joins opponents of proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency
  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reinforced its opposition to H.R. 3126, which proposes creating a new agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA).

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

(a.k.a., Stimulus Act)

• Podcast – Stimulus bill: the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009
• CCH ARRA Quick Facts
• CCH ARRA Tax Briefing
• AICPA Summary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Bill of 2008

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Bill of 2008 is a historic financial markets rescue bill that contains more than 100 tax provisions and over $150 billion in separate tax breaks. The provisions range from special capital gain rules on certain securities to a one-year extension on the AMT patch.

More resources and news regarding Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

• Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (final text)
• Receive discounts on CCH Stabilization Act books and resources
• CCH overview of major tax provisions in Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
• CCH White Paper: The Economic Bailout: An Analysis of the Economic Emergency Stabilization Act
  

More financial crisis resources

OSCPA Career Center and Employment Toolbox Job hunting resources in the economic crisis Post your resume for free, browse the job postings and gather valuable insight and guidance as you conduct your job search.

• Career Coaching from OSCPA 
• Per Diem Job Board provides opportunities for members out of work or in transition
• Emergency Economic Stabilization Bill of 2008 
• AICPA Economic Crisis Resource Center
• CCH Financial Crisis News Center

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