The FASB, the independent corporate accounting standards board, is under attack. Believe this or not, financial lobbyists are trying to get it's independence dissolved so they can cook the books whenever they damn feel like it.

This article, Civil War In Corporate America: Banks Battling The Chamber On Accounting Rules outlines these latest attempts.

Amid the ongoing financial regulation overhaul, the banking industry is hoping to pull off a quiet power grab that has eluded its grasp since the Great Depression, by stripping the independence of the board that sets financial accounting standards.

The move could effectively let banks set their own accounting standards in rough economic times.