Similarly, the Fed faces limits to its ability to respond to a run on money market funds or provide insurance on all forms of accounts.
Many highly touted New Economy companies, it turned out, were better at promoting their images than at making money — although some of them did pioneer new forms of accounting fraud.
'For a very small number of our business customers, who have legacy agreements with us, we are making the change from free banking to a new form of account,' she said.
The new management team for Merrill's brokerage operation is considering whether to offer a simpler form of account aggregation, through an Internet-based service like Yodlee's, to all of its customers, according to people at the firm.
"Our current form of account restriction, the shadowban, is great for dealing with bots/spam rings, but woefully inadequate for real human beings.
Only one in five Africans have any form of account at a formal financial institution; the poor, rural dwellers and women face the greatest disadvantage.
Gap has used an aggressive form of accounting that could worsen its earnings shortfall in the coming year, analysts say.
If investors accepted this fantastical form of accounting, all sorts of companies would be worth billions more, too.
Johannesburg's stock exchange is currently "considering what form of accounting standard is needed from listed companies".
When it was first signed, Enron relied on a form of accounting known as mark-to-market, which allowed it to book immediate earnings of $50 million.
