In the United States, FASB is expected to do the same thing late next week. Click for Project Details. Also, an SEC Deputy Chief Accountant urges Full Fair Value Accounting for All Financial Instruments.

The JWG draft proposes that all financial instruments be measured at fair value, with fair value changes reported in measuring net income, and no hedge accounting. The draft standard is not an IASC exposure draft but, rather, a discussion paper on which the IASC and other standard-setters are seeking comments. Comment deadline is 30 September 2001, though submissions by 30 June are encouraged. Click here for IASC Press Release.

IAS 41 will require that all biological assets (animals, crops, orchards, forests, etc.) be measured at fair value, with the change in fair value reported in net profit or loss, unless fair value cannot be estimated reliably. Agricultural produce would similarly be measured at fair value at the point of harvest. Click for Summary of the Standard.

We have added to our Reference Materials the Executive Overview of the Report (PDF 59k) and the Chapter on International Implications (PDF 56k). The full report may be downloaded from POB Panel on Audit Effectiveness Website.

Topics addressed are:

• Overview of Disclosure Rules Applicable to Foreign Issuers
• Recent Commission Actions and Other Topical Information
• Staff Processing and Review of Filings
• Audit Reports and Independent Auditors
• Issues Encountered in Reconciliations to US GAAP
• International Accounting Standards
• Reporting Currency
• Other Disclosure Issues and Staff Interpretations
• Reporting in Highly Inflationary Economies
• Privatizations of Government-Owned Enterprises
• Domestic Issuers with Acquired Foreign Businesses
• Multi-Jurisdictional Disclosure System (MJDS) Reconciliation Requirements

Update as of May 2006: The above review is now out of date. Currently, the most recent version was issued (PDF 362k). You can always find the latest summary of SEC International Financial Reporting and Disclosure Issues on the SEC Division of Corporation Finance Webpage.

Here are links to three presentations by SEC officials at last week's 28th AICPA conference that relate directly to International Accounting Standards:

• Speech by Craig C. Olinger, SEC Deputy Chief Accountant, Division of Corporation Finance, about International Reporting Issues
• Speech by J. Travis Gilmer, SEC Professional Accounting Fellow, about International Reporting Issues
• Speech by John M. Morrissey, SEC Deputy Chief Accountant, about International Reporting: The Way Forward In a 22 December Letter to the SEC, IFAC President Tsuguoki Fujinuma responded to Mr. Morrissey's comments

Also, we have posted the DTT Comment Letters to IASC going back to E49 July 1995.

A study by Research International, commissioned by PricewaterhouseCoopers, found that 79 percent of 717 European CFOs support the European Commission's proposal (see previous news item) to require all listed companies in Europe to follow IAS in their consolidated financial statements by 2005. In fact, 75 percent want the option to publish IAS financials before 2005. The survey sought the views of CFOs of companies that have already converted to IAS, and 80 percent said there are more benefits than drawbacks.

Click here for:

• European Commission's Quantum Leap Proposals

We've made a few changes to our website:

• Expanded the pages of Links to Other Websites.
• Added a Chronology of IASC's structure review.
• Added a table of the Effective Dates of Recent IAS
• Added a table of the Effective Dates of Recent Interpretations.
• Added a Sitemap of this Website.