Have you ever noticed how stock prices move before announcements are made? Insiders cannot resist telling a secret. I suspect that 99% of the time they will not get caught. Occasionally, they system will produce a high profile prosecution to satisfy the American people and promote the view that the regulators and lawmakers must be doing a good job of protecting our interests.
The following article provides us with the "rest of the story":
FASB may delay off-balance sheet accounting change
Mon Jul 28, 2008 7:19pm EDT
By Emily Chasan
NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) – The Financial Accounting Standards Board, under pressure from lawmakers, will reconsider its timeline for a controversial rule change that may force banks to bring trillions of dollars in off-balance sheet assets onto their books at its Wednesday meeting.
FASB, which sets U.S. accounting rules, will reconsider the rule’s effective date and transition provisions, according to a schedule posted on its website.
"Additionally, the Board will consider transitional disclosures and the timing of both projects," FASB said on its website.
FASB voted in April to revamp two accounting standards known as FAS 140 and FIN 46R, to eliminate a concept known as the "qualifying special-purpose entity," or QSPE, that banks use to keep assets like mortgage-backed securities and special investment vehicles off their balance sheets.
more… http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINN2849132320080728?rpc=44
What does this tell us? If the average person intentionally fails to report substantial liabilities when applying for a loan from a bank or mortgage institution, it is fraud. When a financial institution fails to report substantially greater liabilities on their balance sheet, lawmakers try to compromise the reporting rules to the benefit of the financial institutions. We’ve been bamboozled!