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EU States Vote Stock Options Must Be Booked As Expenses-2
The European Parliament now has one month to give its final approval. "It's
highly unlikely they'll stand in the way of the law passing now," said the E.U.
official.
The measure will apply to about 8,000 European companies, the E.U. said. Many
of these mounted a strong lobbying effort to block the rule, urging the E.U.
executive commission to delay the measure until it is implemented in the U.S.
The U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board ruled last week that U.S.
companies will have to book stock options as expenses, but not until June 15,
2005.
"We certainly object to a system being implemented in Europe at a time when
the U.S. has not agreed to implement the same measure," said Alain Joly,
Chairman of the European Association for Listed Companies. "This will put
Europeans companies at strong competitive disadvantage compared to U.S.
companies. What we want is a level playing field."
They warn a law to treat stock options as an expense could significantly
slice into their profits. Europe's technology and telecommunications sector -
where options are given most regularly as incentives to employees - stands to
lose most.
The stock-options rule will tag on to a series of new accounting rules that
start across the E.U. Jan. 1, 2005. E.U. governments, banks, insurers and
accounting regulators have repeatedly clashed over these new rules which are
meant to prevent financial scandals and bring European accounting in line with
U.S. standards.
However, the problem with stock options came as a surprise. E.U. officials
have long touted Europe's determination to cost stock options as a major
advantage over the U.S.. They argue booking options as expenses will enhance
transparency and boost investor confidence.
In the U.S., where technology stocks play a big role in the economy, stock
options are politically charged. Tech companies fear a big hit to their profits
when they are forced to write down share-based payments
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Wall St Steps Up Push For Bush Private Social Sec Plan-NYT
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- After working behind the scenes with Bush
administration officials, there are signs Wall Street is becoming more
aggressive in pushing for President George W. Bush's plan to funnel hundreds of
billions of dollars of future Social Security funds into privately held
investment accounts, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
A loose assemblage of trade associations, business coalitions and
conservative research centers have begun trying to raise money from business
interests and to marshal support on Capitol Hill, while also seeking to deflect
criticism that Wall Street is behind the move simply to reap rich rewards for
administering the accounts, the newspaper said.
The Times said the first salvo was launched by the Securities Industry
Association, which recently issued a research report arguing that the private
accounts would not be a financial bonanza for Wall Street. It calculated that
firms would collect at least $39 billion in fees, and perhaps considerably
more, from managing such accounts over the next 75 years. But the group noted
that the fees charged would be significantly below the fees that investment
firms receive these days from low-cost mutual funds.
The Investment Company Institute, the lobbying arm for the mutual fund
industry, recently hired as its communications director F. Gregory Ahern, a
former executive at State Street Corporation in Boston who was involved in that
firm's aggressive lobbying effort for private accounts during the late 1990's.
The Alliance for Worker Retirement Security, a business coalition advocating
private accounts, has begun meeting with Congressional and White House staff
members, pushing the idea that private accounts are not only good for the
country but also good for business.
In November, Derrick A. Max, the alliance's executive director, met with
Charles P. Blahous, a special assistant to the president who has been at the
forefront in the White House on Social Security, the Times said. At the meeting
were representatives from the Securities Industry Association, Charles Schwab &
Company (SCH), and the United States Chamber of Commerce, all members of the
alliance.
The Club for Growth, a group financed largely by conservative business
leaders that supports like-minded Congressional candidates, has also been
active in the drive for privately held Social Security accounts. Members
include Richard Gilder of Gilder Gagnon Howe & Company, a private investment
firm, and Charles H. Brunie, the founder of Oppenheimer Capital.
The club, which is run by Stephen Moore, who once served as economic adviser
to the former House Republican Leader Dick Armey, recently sent out a
memorandum to its backers proposing a $15 million public relations and
grassroots campaign in favor of private accounts, the Times said.
The Cato Institute, a Washington policy research and lobbying organization
with libertarian leanings that has received financial support from, among
others, American Express (AXP) and the American International Group, has long
supported private accounts.
Opponents of personal accounts, led by labor unions and some state pension
funds, accuse these groups of acting as a stalking horse for the financial
industry, the Times said.
"Our sense is there is a lot of activity behind the curtain," said Bill
Patterson, the director of the office of investment at the A.F.L.-C.I.O. "There
is a dangerous confluence between the industry and the ideologues of the right.
These groups can't do it by themselves - they need the covert and overt support
of the financial services industry."
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
So what did Wall Street analysts do? They brush aside that charge and say that Microsoft reported earnings of 31 cents a share.
Tech stocks may have to expense options next year. But Wall Street will probably ignore the costs.
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