Under the proposed new rules, there are no bright lines. Lessors can classify a lease transaction as either a Performance Obligation or a Partial Derecognition lease. These two products perform very differently on the balance sheet, in a way similar to the different performance of Operating leases and Direct Finance leases. Keep in mind also that the huge bulk of equipment finance transactions are smaller "cookie-cutter" deals — the amount of profit associated with them precludes the possibility of having an accountant make a classification ruling on each deal individually. The classification process must be automated. IT Systems must be able to accommodate classification rules automatically.

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The Dodd-Frank Act directs the Sentencing Commission to amend the Sentencing Guidelines for certain fraud offenses, just as SOX did ten years ago. Those SOX amendments led to sentences greater than under the original Guidelines Manual, and a similar result will likely follow from Dodd-Frank.

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There is heightened scrutiny and a new regulatory regime around pay-to-play issues and public pension fund investments throughout the country.

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The DOJ exercises virtually unlimited discretion in deciding who gets charged in FCPA cases and, for all practical purposes, in deciding the amount of the financial penalty imposed against corporate violators. But sentencing of individual defendants is ultimately a matter of judicial, not prosecutorial, discretion.

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Speed, smart speed, still wins in competition. Unfortunately, I find too many company executives are not heeding this reality when it comes to the changes in financial accounting for leases.

This article summarizes the new accounting model for lessees and addresses the impact the new model may have on financial and other covenants typically found in financing agreements, where the lessee is the borrower.

Who's doing what; who's going where.

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Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.