Shareholders of the Bureau of National Affairs have overwhelmingly approved the compensation of named executive officers in an advisory vote. They even more strongly endorsed holding advisory votes annually at the shareholders meeting held on April 16.

A former partner at a Utah CPA firm has been permanently banned and another partner barred for at least five years from associating any public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The action was taken against two partners of Chisholm, Bierwolf, Nilson & Morrill of Bountiful, Utah, for failing to cooperate with a proposed PCAOB inspection and subsequent investigation. It also permanently revoked the firm's registration with the most serious charges surrounding the audit of an oil-and-gas-drilling business that was claiming properties it didn't own as assets.

Two New York City CPAs face hearing over SEC charges their lack of knowledge of accounting for derivatives played a major role in a client's substantially overstating assets and losses for two fiscal years. The SEC said the two, who were auditors for Kentucky Energy, turned over preparation of the clients' 2004 and 2005 financial statements to a consultant who was not a CPA and whose father was a VP and director of Kentucky Energy.