alw 0 #1 October 1, 2008 and SEC. 133. STUDY ON MARK-TO-MARKET ACCOUNTING Essentially the bill will allow the Administration via the SEC the authority to suspend Mark to Market Accounting. This clause does two things, it speeds the process because it removes any doubt that SEC has the authority. (They were exploring whether or not they could do it without legislation legally) Second, it makes it a suspension acknowledging that perhaps the original legislation (SOX) is flawed. So it may be revised at a later date and before it is re-instated. Basically Mark to Market has the potential to make a company's balance sheet look worse than it actually is by undervaluing real assets. Sabanes is thought by many in business and accounting to be a tournequit for a paper cut. Enacted to provide oversight for accountiing methods that resulted in the Enron scandall and others. Whatever your view on Sarbanes, this will cause a review that will hopefully improve the regulations. The net result here is to provice some balance sheet relief to companies holding bad paper on viable real property. It should have the same effect as pumping money into the system (at least that is the hope) --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites