US House may vote this week on stock options legislation
19 Jul 2004
The United States House of Representative may vote as early as Tuesday 20 July on legislation (known as H.R.
3574, the Stock Option Accounting Reform Act) that would restrict the SEC from recognising a FASB standard on expensing stock options to options granted to the top five officers of a company, would exclude volatility from the calculation of fair value for those options, and would delay implementation for at least a year. The Senate must also pass the same legislation before the bill becomes law. On 8 July 2004, FASB Chairman Robert H. Herz testified on the bill before the Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Mr. Herz's testimony may be found on FASB's Website.