Hathaway accountants Deloitte & Touche are believed to have sanctioned the move which originally kept the loan off the books. Buffett, however, unusually vocal about accounting procedures in the aftermath of the Enron affair, has now insisted that the loan is reflected in the company balance sheet.
The loan itself, originally $5.6bn, is an asset in the books of Berkadia LLC, a company joinly owned by Berkshire and Leucadia National Corp. The money was on-lent to Finova Capital Corp., part of the troubled Finova Group.
The move by Buffett is totally in keeping with his philosophy of disclosing any bad news immediately and hiding nothing.
Buffett Comes Clean
Super investor Warren Buffett has changed the accounting procedures at Berkshire Hathaway to reflect the company's liability for a $4.9bn loan it has made to a troubled joint venture.
'Gang Of One' - The True Story Of How A Successful Banker Coped With Prison Life
'The End Of Normal' - The Stigma Of Being A MadoffNews RSS Feed Like us on Facebook Linkedin Follow us on Twitter
Videos
Latest in Business
back-up- Three Firms Where Staff May Feel A Little Nervous
- Sick In The City
- Superstar Women & The Imposter Syndrome
- All You Need To Know About Morgan Stanley
- BofA, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Kleinwort Bonuses, JPMorgan, Lazard, MF Global, RBC, UBS, Facebook IPO
- Preliminary MF Global Trustee Report Out
- What Do Bankers Do When They Leave The Industry ? (Quote Of The Week)
- In Case You Missed Them - Last Week's Top Stories
- One Of The Top 10 European M&A Deals Ever
- 'Old Traders' - Chapters I - IX
- 11 Things That Happened This Day In History - 7 February
- Here Is The City Hits New Readership High - 451,772 Unique Users
- Disbelief As Greek Politicians Delay Deal On €130bn Rescue Package
- Featured Recruiter - NJF Search
- Featured Training Company of the Month – PRPi Training Limited
- Recruitment Firms We Like
- London Deals - Max Hence Bespoke Suit, Cinema Tickets, Barbican Jazz, Charterhouse Bar, Luxury Beverages, Candle Crafts, Yoga Sessions
- Firms Consider Stopping Annual Bonus Awards
- Last Week's Biggest Losers
- Goldman Bosses Get Bonus Cuts, Firm Looks For Growth In Europe
- PIMCO Announces EVP, SVP & VP Promotions
- 35th Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
- Bob Diamond Comp, Goldman, Julius Baer, Lazard, MF Global, Hedge Funds
- AG Announces Major Lawsuit Against Largest US Banks For Deceptive & Fraudulent Use Of Electronic Mortgage Registry
- Bankers Warned Of Carnage & Urged Not To Bother Going To Work
- Even The Bankers Are Saying It: This Might Be The End For Big Bonuses
- Lloyd Blankfein Speaks Out For Marriage Equality
- Obituary: The Investment Banking Bonus
- 31 Wall St Execs Who Did OK On Pay For 2011
- Who To Blame For The Great Recession ? So Many Big Names Are In The Frame
- BofA, BNY Mellon, Carlyle, Goldman, MF Global, John Paulson, Allen Stanford
- RBS Chairman Defends Stephen Hester's Near-£1m Bonus
- Top Firm Said To Be Cutting Bonuses & Jobs
- UBS Faces Formal FSA Investigation After Kweku Adoboli Charges
- Ex-MF Global Chief Risk Officer Says He Expressed 'Concerns' & Urged 'Caution'
- Ed Miliband's Speech On Banking - Pay 'Too Big, Too Often'
Features
- And The Best Place To Work In The Global Financial Markets 2011 Is...
- The Top 100 Financial Markets Firms 2011
- Recruitment Firms We Like
- Execuzen - Best Search Firm 2011
- Eximius Group - The Best Contingency Recruitment Firm 2011
- Hays Financial Markets - Best Temp / Interim Recruitment Firm 2011
- Holmes Search - The Best Compliance Recruitment Firm 2011
- Huxley Associates - Best HR Recruitment Firm 2011
- Selby Jennings - The Best Front Office Recruitment Firm 2011
- Selby Jennings - The Best IT Recruitment Firm 2011
- Selby Jennings - The Best Risk Management Recruitment Firm 2011
- Tay Associates - Best Secretarial / PA Recruitment Firm 2011
