The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission is urging Congress to allow
the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to decide whether companies
must count the stock options they grant to employees as expenses, Reuters reports.
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Get Your Report Now!William Donaldson, chairman of the commission, sent a letter to Congress after
the House passed a measure that would override a FASB proposal.
The FASB has proposed that publicly traded companies be required to treat stock
options granted to all employees as expenses. However, the House passed a measure
in July that would require only the options granted to companies' top-five executives
to be counted as expenses. The House measure would preempt the board's proposal.
In the letter, Donaldson argued that the legislation would undermine the board,
Reuters reports.
"FASB's consideration of this proposed standard regarding stock options
should be allowed to run its full course," Donaldson write.
Under current rules, no requirement exists for companies to count stock options
against profits.
Proponents of the FASB proposal say it will act as a deterrent to accounting
fraud that allowed some individuals to profit from their misdeeds. Opponents
say that a mandate for expensing stock options would lead to fewer companies
offering stock options as a benefit to employees. This, critics say, will make
it harder for employers to attract and retain top employees.
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