Levitt: Proposed Accounting Changes Will ‘Obscure’ Impairments

"Former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Arthur Levitt fired a strong volley Thursday morning against the so-called mark-to-market lobby in a Washington Post op-ed, saying that proposed changes to key accounting rules governing the valuation of distressed assets would “obscure” and potentially “bury” the full extent of impairments on bad loans and ill-advised investments made by banks and other financial institutions.