From the CorporateCounsel.net Blog:
. . . [T]he SEC’s Chief Accountant issued guidance – in the form of this letter – on determining measurement dates for option grants under APB 25. As stated in the SEC’s press release, the letter discusses the accounting consequences under APB 25 of dating an option award to predate the actual award date; option grants with administrative delays; uncertainty as to the validity of prior grants; among other related circumstances.Here is one member’s reaction to the new guidance: Is it my imagination, or is this letter incredibly helpful and long overdue? If only we could get the IRS to give similar guidance for ISO/409A/162(m) purposes. I think these two excerpts from the SEC Staff’s letter alone resolve 90% of the options nonsense problems (without whitewashing the true back-dating situations).