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To: BirdDog who wrote (45827)	1/4/2002 5:32:13 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

How does one hedge for $142 Billion in loan defaults? Sounds to me like the unspoken here is it will have little effect because Pro forma allows them to pretend it was a one time event, so it doesn't count against earnings. Unfortunately, these banks are not receiving interest payments...... millions of dollars per month....... this money can no longer be put to work.......... most likely these loans will be restructured &/or written off.......... all those losses mean there is less capital to put to work........ How can they say there is no effect???????????????????????

To: BirdDog who wrote (45827)	1/4/2002 6:32:22 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

US accountants press SEC on company disclosure By Deepa Babington NEW YORK, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The world's premier accounting firms have urged the top U.S. securities cop to require companies to reveal more information on complex financing deals like the ones that got energy trading giant Enron Corp. and its auditors into hot water. The Big 5 U.S. accounting firms and a trade group asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday to direct companies to provide detailed information about deals whose debt and assets are not reflected on their balance sheets. Millions of dollars of losses from such deals forced Enron to restate several years of earnings last fall. Companies should disclose any strings attached to these deals including cash, long-term debt and lease obligations, the accounting firms said. The recommendation, contained in a letter to the SEC released on Friday, is part of a public relations offensive accountants have launched. The profession suffered a black eye when auditors failed to spot problems that led to the collapse of energy trading giant and Wall Street darling Enron(NYSE:ENE - news). The accounting firms also suggested that events that could affect a company's liquidity and capital resources should be disclosed to investors. Those include lease provisions and debt agreements that in turn could trigger credit rating downgrades. Enron's planned merger with smaller rival Dynegy (NYSE:DYN - news) fell apart soon after debt rating agencies downgraded its debt to junk status. Ultimately, the company was forced to seek protection from creditors under Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early December. Enron's quick fall from No. 7 on the Fortune 500 list of big U.S. corporations into bankruptcy court in December shone a spotlight on the role of independent accountants who collect hefty fees to oversee the books of companies. Andersen, the No. 5 accounting firm which audited Enron, was immediately attacked by lawmakers and analysts. But many blasted the entire profession, noting Enron was just the latest in a string of recent high-profile accounting debacles including now-bankrupt appliance maker Sunbeam Corp.(OTC BB:SOCNQ.OB - news) and garbage hauler Waste Management Inc.(NYSE:WMI - news). Several also asked whether the fat consulting fees companies earn from the firms they audit impaired their independence. Accountants, acknowledging that their credibility had been hurt, vowed to bring changes to the system. A key accounting body, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), said in early December it would propose new auditing rules, including one on detecting fraud. Last month, the Big Five -- KPMG, Andersen, Deloitte & Touche, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young -- promised to work with the SEC to modernize the financial reporting system and improve disclosure. The letter released on Friday came from them and the AICPA. The accounting firms also sought more information from companies on related parties in a transaction, including the purpose of any arrangement between the parties and how the price of a deal was set. ``While many registrants provide high quality, transparent disclosures, many other public companies boilerplate or very high-level disclosures that provide little or no meaningful information,'' the accounting firms wrote in their letter to the SEC. Investors and analysts who read Enron's cryptic footnotes about its off-balance sheet deals buried in regulatory filings accuse the energy trader of such incomprehensible disclosure. Andersen was also widely criticized for not doing more to explain those deals to investors in Enron's financial statements. Among other suggestions, the accountants proposed that companies give more information on their energy and weather trading activities -- which Enron actively engaged in -- and how they are valued. biz.yahoo.com