All good things must end. This blog is done.

The Accounting Observer's blog is doing a much better job than this blog as far as reporting interesting items.

"...the agreement is about survivability." The NY Times tries to explain why KPMG sold out some of its partners by admitting to "unlawful conduct" regarding tax shelters.

Related story here.

Independence in Appearance. NY Times

Public documents show that the chief financial officer and head of compliance for the Bayou Group was also a principal in an accounting firm that audited the hedge funds' books.

Daniel E. Marino was the No. 2 man at Bayou, a hedge fund company founded in 1996 by Samuel Israel III that appeared to have $411 million in assets at the end of last year. Mr. Marino is also listed as a registered agent at Richmond-Fairfield Associates, the accounting firm that signed off on the Bayou funds' financial statements in 2004 and earlier. Such a dual role could cast doubt on the accuracy of Bayou's financial statements.

It's the Coverup. CFO.com reports that the PCAOB has taken its first action against a CPA firm since the PCAOB was created in 2003.

At issue was a violation of the auditor independence rules of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and as part of the inspection, the regulator's Division of Registration and Inspections directed a request for information and documents to the firm. The board found that in responding to the request, Edward Morris and two partners — Alan J. Goldberger and William A. Postelnik — were aware that the firm had prepared the financial statements of two of its public company audit clients, actions that run contrary to the auditor independence requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley.

Was is Worth it? The Economist wonders whether the benefits of Sarbanes-Oxley exceed its costs.

Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve, spoke up in defence of the statute this week. It was faint praise. He said he was surprised that a law which had been passed so rapidly had worked as well as it has less of an endorsement than it first seemed, since laws dealing with issues as complex as these and passed as rapidly as was Sarbanes-Oxley can normally be expected to fail abjectly.

Par-value still has meaning. Delta Airlines is reducing the par value on its common stock.

Shareholders also approved a Delta proposal doubling to 900 million the number of shares of common stock it is authorized to issue and reducing the par value of the common stock from $1.50 to 1 cent. The airline, which is incorporated in Delaware, believes the proposal gives it greater flexibility in using common stock for various corporate purposes because Delaware law permits a company to issue shares only if it receives value equal to at least the par value for the shares.

Comeback of the 30-year Bond. This article says that the Federal government is considering issuing new 30-year bonds---something it hasn't done since 2001.