Editorial Staff

The Internal Revenue Service’s Office of Chief Counsel should improve the timeliness of the private letter rulings it issues and reduce the number of rulings issued, recommended a new government report.

Financial Accounting Standards Board technical director Russell G. Golden has been appointed a member of the board, filling one of three vacancies on the newly expanded panel.

The Senate approved legislation on Thursday that would provide $12 billion in tax breaks to small businesses, along with a $30 billion lending fund.

Institutional broker dealer MF Global Holdings has hired Greg Shonhorn for its fixed- income group in New York effective Sept. 7.

Global volume in derivatives, however, is up 8.4%.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged two former senior accounting professionals at headphone maker Koss Corp. with accounting fraud, books-and-records violations, and related misconduct arising from the embezzlement of more than $30 million from the company.

The CEO and founder of SocialTwist shares five ways for executives to use social media for promotions and marketing.

The payment represents the single largest cash payment AIG has made to the credit facility, and is the largest reduction in the credit facility's principal balance since AIG placed AIA and ALICO into Special Purpose Vehicles last December.

The Investment Company Institute reported Wednesday that $5.96 billion were added to mutual funds in the week ended August 11. But U.S. equity funds continued to lose ground for a fifth straight week.

BNP Paribas said Tuesday it has named Edward Speal head of global equities and commodity derivatives Americas, Lionel Crassier head of equities Americas, and Dan Cozine head of Structured Finance Americas. In addition Chris Innes has joined as head of equity flow and financing sales for the Americas.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch global research hired Michelle Meyer on the developed markets economics research team as senior U.S. economist.

Pessimists outweighed optimists on the prospects for the U.S. economy by a two-to-one margin among CPAs serving as C-suite executives, according to a new survey.

Life Insurance Corp. of India is in talks with at least two banks to set up the service.

Congressman Richard Neal, D-Mass., has introduced legislation that would allow companies to set up automatic payroll deposit Individual Retirement Accounts, or Auto IRAs, for workers who do not have access to employer-provided qualified pension plans.

The founder and principal manager of a bogus foreign exchange fund that effectively operated like a Ponzi scheme has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison on tax charges.

U.S. executives are expressing stronger optimism for improved business activity over the next 12 months compared to their European counterparts, according to a new poll by KPMG.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has accepted settlement offers from three former officers of New Century Financial Corp., the subprime lender that was one of the first to collapse at the start of the subprime mortgage crisis.

Nomura Holdings' earnings plunged 80% in its fiscal first-quarter as difficult conditions in financial markets caused its clients to trade less and postpone a number of deals. Japan’s largest brokerage said Friday its net income fell to $26.7 million yen for the April-June period from 11.42 billion yen a year earlier.

Rising tuition fees and the uncertain state of the economy are causing more people to put their own retirement savings ahead of their children’s college education.

KPMG LLP has acquired the supply chain advisory services practice of Grant Thornton LLP in order to expand its restructuring capabilities.