The EU is aggressively pursuing Google as a monopolist. At what point would Google supposedly book a contingent liability? Will the markets react at that point, or will they have already reacted?
How or why does it matter, if it does at all, that capital leases result in front-loading expenses for lessees? Explain how the front-loading occurs.
Hoogervorst is exasperated at the latest delay in the efforts to converge accounting for financial instruments with the FASB. Is his exasperation justified in your opinion? Or, is the delay justified because it shows Seidman wanting to incorporate constituents’ concerns over a difficult accounting issue? Does this particular “spat” affect your opinion about convergence in general?
Are corporations people? Is the “human asset” recognized as an asset on the balance sheet? Should it be? If so, how would you measure its value?
How would making the CFO report directly to the board’s audit committee (rather than to the CEO) improve corporate governance? How would it hurt? Should the idea be pursued or not?
Microstrategy may have been the first of the dot.com bubbles to pop when the accounting controversy became public in 2000. The CEO (Saylor) lost over $6 billion that day. Now Microstrategy is back. Most firms after such controversies and SEC investigations don’t seem to recover. Why do you think Saylor has been able to do so?
Why are firms hoarding cash? If you were CFO, would you be doing the same? What would be factors in your decision?
These 10 brands predicted to disappear in 2013 should have leading indicators of this happening in their financial statements. What would be examples of these indicators?
Should directors be liable for bad corporate decisions? Should they have their director compensation tied to firm performance? Whose interest do directors represent, shareholders or managers? Should managers be prevented from serving on their own board of directors?
Over the past three years, how much stock has Coach repurchased? Why does this not show up as treasury stock in Coach’s balance sheet?
Can you replicate Microsoft’s $6.2 charge? Is the charge a leading or a lagging indicator for the marketplace?
Why would Morgan Stanley want the former chairman of the FASB to be on its board of directors when it already has the former chief accountant for the SEC? (To see the proxy describing current board members, paste this link into your browser and then do this word search: “Chief Accountant”: http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/895421/000119312512151028/d303252ddef14a.htm#tx303252_16)
Do you have what it takes to be (or to become) a “good financial analyst”? Does this type of work resonate with you?
Try to connect the dots: how does using a two year average AA bond rating as the discount rate and requiring full funding of defined benefit pension plans protect the PBGC and hurt corporations? Should the rating window be extended to 25 years? Should the funding requirements be lowered to 80%?
At the front of Tiffany’s 10-K (for fiscal 2011), TIF states “The TIFFANY & CO. brand (the “Brand”) is the single most important asset of Tiffany . . . ” However, TIF does not list its Brand on its balance sheet. Why not?
There will soon be a job opening at the SEC. Are you interested? What qualifications do you think are needed to be the Chief Accountant? Do you think it is a good idea for the Chief Accountant to have been a partner at one of the Big 4 accounting firms? What conflicts, if any, might arise?
Why does the stock price typically drop for the acquiring firm when an acquisition is announced, especially when the acquisition is undertaken to “add value”? In your opinion, is Walgreens acquisition of Alliance a good move for Walgreens? Why or why not?
In your opinion, should auditors face criminal liability (not just civil)? What are the potential negative consequences of the proposed law in Hong Kong?
