News out of the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA) confirms that 2010 was a very good year indeed for real estate investment trusts (REITs) in Asian markets, with market capitalizations rebounding to over $US156 billion at the end of … Read more
Leave a CommentFebruary 2011
As if financial reporting rules were not already sufficiently technical, the U.S. SEC is making up new lingo to sell the idea of having a single accounting language in the U.S. Currently, the average analyst and investor make do with … Read more
2 CommentsOne of the least-controversial parts of Dodd-Frank was its call for a new Office of Credit Ratings at the SEC. Among other things, this new office would implement D-F’s provisions for oversight of credit rating agencies — known as Nationally … Read more
5 CommentsThe philosophy behind the creation of the CFA Institute CD&A Template (PDF) was simple: a succinct, plain-English summary of a company’s executive compensation practices to give shareowners all the information they need to make an informed decision on executive compensation … Read more
Leave a CommentIt was an especially late night at work for former portfolio manager Donald Longueuil — one that lasted into the wee hours of the morning of 20 November 2010, according to U.S. prosecutors. According to their criminal complaint against Longueuil, … Read more
Leave a CommentWe can only grimace at the plight of regulators such as the U.S. SEC featured in Barron’s columnist Jim McTague’s recent article “Don’t Count on the SEC,” in which he laments Congress’ failure to adequately fund the SEC. According to … Read more
Leave a CommentPreviously in this space, we highlighted the fact that Wall Street and Bond Street — and any other street where finance fat cats live and work — may soon face new “rules of the road” when it comes to executive … Read more
2 CommentsOne of the most worrisome items to emerge from the 2008 financial market wreckage was the realization that Lehman Brothers had deliberately used accounting gimmicks to hide tens of billions of dollars of leverage from investors, counterparties, and regulators. Through … Read more
Leave a CommentThis week I am in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for a couple of important reasons. First, this was the official inauguration of our new office serving Latin and South America. We enjoyed a wonderful evening with a large member contingent from … Read more
Leave a CommentTraditional exchange markets in Europe have been buffeted in recent years by regulatory changes and new advances in trading technology. Market fragmentation has been the result, in which trading concentrated on traditional exchanges has given way to a new landscape … Read more
4 Comments