SEC allows Enron type accounting for lending industry.

From Bloomberg:

Just when it seemed as if the mortgage mess had hit a new low, now comes this: The Securities and Exchange Commission's staff has granted the subprime-lending industry a huge exemption from the normal rules for off-balance- sheet accounting.

In effect, the move will let home lenders keep their balance sheets looking much smaller and less leveraged, even while the off-the-books loans they made get a makeover.

As Mr Flibble says:

It is there...in black and white...that those companies now are at liberty to basically lie to shareholders and the government will let them do it.