Posts Tagged ‘financial regulation’

Lolz! SEC Says WTF to Groupon Accounting Language

Friday, July 29th, 2011

social-media.jpg
(image credit: webtreats)

You know how (old) people are always saying that “texting and Facebook are the end of the world because kids can’t write anymore and say ‘u’ instead of ‘you,’ blah blah blah?” (like, omg, it’s nbd…)

Well, the SEC is now taking issue with the way Groupon and other start-ups are reporting their finances. Groupon, which is preparing for its IPO (i.e. selling shares of itself to the general public), is using some new – and misleading, according to a lot of financial experts and regulators – terminology to talk about how much money they are worth.

Other web and social media start-ups have done this sort of thing in the past – like talking about “eyeballs” (the number of people who view a website) instead of dollars to demonstrate a company’s value. However, some are saying Groupon is going too far, and others are saying stuff like “eyeballs” should never have been put next to traditional financial metrics in the first place.

So, do you think this is just an example of old finance not really getting the new way stuff works, or are Groupon and Zynga trying to punk us?

Financial Regulation Shifts The Focus Of Wall Street’s Leaders

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

It’s a new world on Wall Street and banks are looking for leaders who can handle the unfamiliar territory.

  • The new financial regulation measures deter banks from trading simply for their own benefit and push them to focus on riskier investments that directly serve customers.
  • As a result, choosing the head of an investment bank can no longer be based solely upon a person’s level of financial success and leadership skills.
  • Chief executives of banks must also be astute risk managers who can handle varying business lines.

Facts & Figures

  • Citi is scaling back trading and expanding advisory business.