GLG News by Valuation Specialists

The rating agencies -- including Moodys -- have long been under scrutiny relative to their "computer glitches."  We are learning that these are not so much "glitches" as they are conflicts of interest between the rating agencies and the clients they rate.  The exorbitant fees paid by the clients...

How can an SEC Commissioner who is obviously not familiar with Fair Value estimates call for changing the existing guidance? The value of something is zero if that is what you can buy and sell it for.    

Claiming a "mixed attribute" accounting model provides a better picture of a company's business and earnings engine, bank trade groups blast full fair value. The bank trade groups argue that periodic updating to fair value would lessen the predictive value of future cash flows.  They also...

Provides a brief, non-technical critique of an academic paper developed to promote and legitimize long/short style asset management.  The article reviews attempts to replicate successful Hedge Fund strategies and resistance to the exorbitant fees typically charged, part payable regardless of actual...

Sandwiched between US financial powerhouses and Middle Eastern SWF's, the EU is threatening additional financial regulation unless greater transparency is achieved.  Greater attention is being paid as the US subprime lending crisis effects many European investors(institutions and municipalities)...

Though neither party warms to the arrangement, Middle East oil exporters and the US are intertwined in a relationship which has grown in size and strength over the past several decades. Despite our protestations and endless goal setting, oil imports climbed as a share of consumption since the 'war'...

Is the fear of sovereign-wealth funds justified? Are sovereign funds being used for nefarious objectives? Can the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission regulate sovereign funds? 

Can the SEC protect investors without regulation? 

Recently, the SEC eliminated the GAAP reconciliation requirement as part of Form 20-F for foreign issuers.  Almost simulaneiously, the Commssion issued a Concept Release that would allow U.S. issuers to drop GAAP and use Interantional Financial Reporting Standards.  The implications of these...

Institutional investors must ask hedge funds how they are assessing counterparty risk and what that means in terms of collateral management.