Accounting tricks under investigation by SEC
(BBC): The US financial regulator has launched an investigation into accounting tricks by Wall Street firms designed to mask heavy losses. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has written to financial firms to see how widespread the use of accounting tools such as Repo 105 is. A recent report accused collapsed bank Lehman Brothers of using this device to hide the true extent of its losses. Earlier this month, a report by a court-appointed examiner criticised Lehman Brothers for using Repo 105 to give the impression that the bank was reducing its levels of debt, when in reality it was not.
Category: Business
