21.   Their value is often tied up in patents and other intellectual property, which would be considered goodwill that must be written off under purchase accounting.

22.   Those charges must be reported in the only alternative method, known as purchase accounting.

23.   Under purchase accounting, the acquiring company records the assets and liabilities of the company being acquired on the balance sheet at their market value.

24.   Wells Fargo, because of its past buybacks of its shares and plans to continue aggressive share buybacks after a merger, has elected to use purchase accounting.