Free Republic

Accountancy rules broken ‘irretrievably’ By Jennifer Hughes in London Published: April 9 2008 22:30 | Last updated: April 9 2008 22:30 Rules regarding how banks account for off-balance sheet interests are “irretrievably broken”, a senior group of international rulemakers has warned. The rules, which have allowed trillions in assets to escape close scrutiny, have come under attack in the wake of the credit crisis as banks have been forced to disclose huge losses on these holdings. But a report by a high-level group of accountants has warned that completion of the current overhaul of the rules would not be possible...

An informant who provided German authorities with data from a Liechtenstein bank that sparked a massive tax fraud probe has said his life is threatened, two news magazines are to report Monday. "You are putting my life in danger," Heinrich Kieber wrote to German intelligence services, according to German weekly Focus in an article released in advance of publication over the weekend. The informant has blamed the intelligence services for not keeping his identity secret and asked them to provide him with a new identity so that he can relocate to South America. His request has been refused, Focus reported....