IT'S TIME TO REFORM THE FASB

That's the acronym for the Financial Accounting Standards Board. It makes the "rules" for corporate thieves to use to hide the true state of their companies from the public. Many Wall Street firms have used these "rules" and that's why the SEC is beginning to ask 19 of them all for more information.

A great example is Lehman Brothers:

Accounting tricks investigated by SEC
BBC
Page last updated at 09:24 GMT, Tuesday, 30 March 2010 10:24 UK

Earlier this month, a report by a court-appointed examiner criticised Lehman Brothers for using Repo 105 to give the impression that the bank was reducing its levels of debt, when in reality it was not.

It accused Lehman's of removing temporarily $50bn (£33bn) of assets from its balance sheet in 2008 alone.

Repo 105 is a legal accounting device that involves shifting around assets to reduce the size of a company's balance sheet, and effectively give the appearance that debts have been cut.