Bank Balances Shift With Rule Changes - washingtonpost.com

If you remember back in April, FASB decided firms did not need to mark their assets to market. Well it obviously allowed firms to report higher earnings than they otherwise would have. But now it seems that FASB might be having a change of heart.

Bank Balances Shift With Rule Changes - washingtonpost.com:

"...found that 45 financial firms reported higher first-quarter earnings because of the change. The total benefit exceeded $3 billion. Some large firms, including Prudential Financial and Bank of New York Mellon, were able to report profits rather than losses.

But accounting rulemakers are considering further changes that could drain the blood right back out of the industry, potentially forcing banks to acknowledge paper losses even larger than the new windfall of paper gains."

and later:

"The Financial Crisis Advisory Group, an expert panel commissioned by the accounting board to advise its decisions, said in a report last week that its members were "increasingly concerned about the excessive pressure placed on the two Boards" FASB and its international counterpart, the International Accounting Standards Board, "to make rapid, piecemeal, uncoordinated and prescribed changes to standards.""

Easy come, easy go. ANd if you are looking for my opinion, FASB should bring back mark to market accounting ASAP.