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  3. In public, bankers have been blaming themselves for their troubles. Behind the scenes, they have been taking aim at someone else

In public, bankers have been blaming themselves for their troubles. Behind the scenes, they have been taking aim at someone else

admin2012-05-28  39
问题     In public, bankers have been blaming themselves for their troubles. Behind the scenes, they have been taking aim at someone else: the accounting standard-setters. Their rules, moan the banks, have forced them to report enormous losses, and it’s just not fair. These rules say they must value some assets at the price a third party would pay, not the price managers and regulators would like them to fetch.
    Unfortunately, banks’ lobbying now seems to be working. The details may be unknowable, but the independence of standard-setters, essential to the proper functioning of capital markets, is being compromised. And, unless banks carry toxic assets at prices that attract buyers, reviving the banking system will be difficult.
    On April 2nd, after a bruising encounter with Congress, America’s Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) rushed through rule changes. These gave banks more freedom to use models to value illiquid assets and more flexibility in recognising losses on long-term assets in their income statements. Bob Herz, the FASB’s chairman, openly condemned those who "question our motives". Yet bank shares rose and the changes enhance what one lobbying group politely calls "the use of judgment by management".
    European ministers instantly demanded that the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) do likewise. The IASB says it does not want to act without overall planning, but the pressure to fold when it completes its reconstruction of rules later this year is strong. On April 1st Charlie McCreevy, a European commissioner, warned the IASB that it did "not live in a political vacuum" but "in the real world" and that Europe could yet develop different rules.
    It was banks that were on the wrong planet, with accounts that vastly overvalued assets. Today they argue that market prices overstate losses, because they largely reflect the temporary illiquidity of markets, not the likely extent of bad debts. The truth will not be known for years. But banks’ shares trade below their book value, suggesting that investors are sceptical. And dead markets partly reflect the paralysis of banks which will not sell assets for fear of booking losses, yet are reluctant to buy all those supposed bargains.
    To get the system working again, losses must be recognised and dealt with. America’s new plan to buy up toxic assets will not work unless banks mark assets to levels which buyers find attractive. Successful markets require independent and even combative standard-setters. The FASB and IASB have been exactly that, cleaning up rules on stock options and pensions, for example, against hostility from special interests. But by giving in to critics now they are inviting pressure to make more concessions.
The author’s attitude towards standard-setters is one of______.
选项 A、satisfaction.
B、skepticism.
C、sympathy
D、objectiveness
答案C
解析 末段第三句提到“成功的市场要求独立且更具挑战性的标准设立者”；该段末句又提到“…由于对批评者的让步，他们(即美国会计准则委员会和国际会计准则委员会，也就是standard-setters)将面临更多迫使他们让步的压力”。再联系第二段前两句：“不幸的是，银行的游说似乎起了作用…标准设立者的独立性开始妥协”以及首段前两句不难看出，作者对标准的制定者是赞同的，同时，面对银行家的咄咄逼人的态势，以及标准的制定者所面临的压力，作者又对他们是同情的，故答案为[C]。
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