< The 2014 All-Europe Research Team

Kenneth Lee & team
Barclays
First-place appearances: 0

Total appearances: 4

Team debut: 2011

After two years at runner-up, the Barclays duo directed by Kenneth Lee advances to No. 3. This pair has been advising clients that adjustments to accounting for joint arrangements, such as joint ventures, are “more complex and dramatic than many appreciate,” as Lee puts it. New requirements for annual reporting periods that began on or after January 1, 2013, apply “real changes to margins, leverage and a plethora of other financial metrics,” he explains. The researchers are also monitoring debates surrounding the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board’s and the International Accounting Standards Board’s recommended modifications to reporting of leasing activities — “a substantial development in accounting [that] will transform reported debt and assets for many companies across the world,” he advises. One such discussion involves how an income statement should reflect leasing transactions. “In particular, there is resistance to the proposed hybrid model, which will often be complex to implement in practice and diminish comparability,” according to London-based Lee, who also co-leads (with Timothy Whittaker) a runner-up team in U.K. coverage.