Accounting seems so dreary but what if broken rules allow banks to show false profits, overstate capital and hide losses? What if the banks have paid bonuses out of unrealised gains? The Bill I introduced in March 2011 deals with just those problems. All the details are here. I learnt […]
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Bank’s risk management affected by IFRS accounting
Since I introduced a measure criticising IFRS accounting and requiring banks to prepare accounts to UK standards, there have been a stream of developments backing up my criticisms. The problem extends as far as Korea. Via bruegel.org: Korean firms’ business activities, such as risk management and foreign investment, have been […]
Read MoreTwo simple steps to transform the culture of banking and to forestall the next outrage
It’s time to privatise commercial risk in banking and insist on prudent accounts. Government should: Eliminate moral hazard from the financial system by implementing this measure to make bank directors strictly liable without limit and to treat as capital both directors’ personal bonds and, for five years, the bonus pool. Introduce […]
Read MoreBanks: gaming the rules to generate illusory profits
As I prepared an article on how banks generate illusory profits and artificial levels of capital by gaming the rules, I rediscovered this limerick in Gordon Kerr’s related paper, The Law of Opposites: There was a young man from Darjeeling Who got on a bus marked “To Ealing” The sign […]
Read MoreIFRS accounting appears to allow Barclays to double stated profit
It has been brought to my attention by PIRC that Barclays are leaving £2 billion of bonuses out of their accounts within IFRS rules. Taken together with another flaw in IFRS, it appears that Barclay’s true profit is about half that allowed under the rules. Via the PIRC site: Barclays is still […]
Read MoreThree flaws in the Financial Services Bill
Under the heading, Osborne looks to limit damage of ‘credit busts’, the FT gives a neat summary of the Chancellor’s plans. In particular: He said the FPC would also look out for dangerous linkages in the financial system and identify exotic new instruments that might undermine stability. It would be […]
Read MoreLord Lawson condems the present accounting regime for banks
In the Irish Times: ON JANUARY 1st 2005 the European Union imposed accounting rules on Irish banks containing a significant but simple flaw that had an impact on the fatal decision by the Irish government in 2008 to give Irish banks a blanket guarantee. via Bad loans were legally hidden […]
Read MoreHow banks unjustly inflate profits, boost capital and pay unearned bonuses
Yesterday in Parliament, I chaired an event with Gordon Kerr, launching his report The Law of Opposites, which is covered in the Guardian today: Banks use accounting loopholes to inflate their profits and bolster staff bonuses, according to a report published on Wednesday that calls for changes to the international […]
Read MoreWe won’t achieve financial stability under IFRS
I spoke by Skype link to the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum this afternoon on a panel about the International Financial Reporting Standard and its faults. The LAPFF has just published a report which critiques the Standard as a key contributor to the financial crisis. I first met IFRS in […]
Read MoreBank warns lenders over bad loans – FT.com
As I have been saying about IFRS: The FPC said it was most concerned that banks had not set aside adequate provisions for this potential new crop of troubled loans. “If provisioning is inadequate, banks’ reported profits and levels of capital may provide a misleading picture of their financial health,” […]
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