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| Neri Bukspan |
Standard & Poor's is planning to hire an accountant for its financial institutions division. The hire comes as part of the rating agency's push across its credit group as a whole to further include accounting rules and regulations in its analysis of companies. Neri Bukspan, chief accountant, said the initiative dates back to Enron's demise in 2001. "There's been a clear trend of more complex accounting issues and the rate of change in accounting standards has been faster," he said.
Bukspan and others say the Financial Accounting Standards Board has picked up the pace in implementing new accounting guidelines, which makes scrutiny more of a focus that it was. "There's clearly more due diligence around financial reporting," he noted.
The new hire would work in the financial institutions division, which encompasses government-sponsored enterprises, banks, broker-dealers and specialty finance companies. S&P is in discussions with a lead candidate for the role and negotiations will likely be finalized within the next two weeks, according to Marc Eiger, spokesman. Reporting lines have not yet been determined, he said.