Links for Wednesday, April 21, 2010

• Market Ticker: Bill Black Calls It As It Is – “What Bill Black has documented is not only how and why Lehman blew sky high, but that nothing has, in fact, changed – other than the fact that we have now effectively backstopped this activity among the current survivors by sweeping the truth under the rug! If we do not stop it now the system will blow sky-high – again – and this time there won’t be enough money or credit available to the United States Government (or any other government) to stop it.“
• Bill Black: Public Policy Issues Raised by the Report of the Lehman Bankruptcy Examiner – “The economic substance, in every case, of Lehman’s Repo transactions was a loan, not a true sale. The sole purpose of entering into the transactions was to attempt to achieve an accounting treatment directly contrary to the true nature of the transaction for the purpose of deceiving investors and regulators. If these transactions are not frauds, then accounting and accountancy have ceased to have any value or integrity. It is time for accountants, business people, and regulators to demand an end to the deliberate use of accounting to deceive.“