July

Arnold Schilder will succeed John Kellas as IAASB chair

08 Jul 2008

The Board of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has appointed Prof. Dr. Arnold Schilder, RA, as chairman of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) a three-year term beginning 1 January 2009.

Prof. Schilder is currently Executive Director of the prudential supervisor of financial institutions in the Netherlands. He is a member of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and served as Chairman of its Accounting Task Force from 1999 to 2006. He is also past President of the Royal NIVRA, IFAC's member body in the Netherlands. He will replace John Kellas, who has served on the IAASB and its predecessor since 2000 and as its chairman since 2004. Click for IFAC News Release (PDF 23k).

 

Korean language guide to IFRS 5

08 Jul 2008

Deloitte (Korea) has published a 74-page Korean language guide to IFRS 5 Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations.

It is a translation of the English language version. Click to download the Guide to IFRS 5 in Korean Language (PDF 706k). Our Korea Page includes a number of other Korean language IFRS publications and information about financial reporting in Korea.

 

Six new IAS Plus newsletters in Chinese

07 Jul 2008

Deloitte (China) has published six special edition IAS Plus Newsletters on recently issued standards and interpretations in Chinese.

IAS Plus Newsletters on IFRIC 15 and IFRIC 16

05 Jul 2008

Deloitte's IFRS Global Office has published special edition IAS Plus Newsletters on the two Interpretations issued on 3 July 2008 by the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee:

ECOFIN will discuss IASB governance and 'credit crunch'

05 Jul 2008

The European Union's Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) will meet in Brussels on 8 July 2008. Their agenda includes discussion about IASB governance, and also about accounting and disclosures by financial institutions.

Click for the Background Paper (PDF 166k). Here is are two excerpts:

International accounting standards – IASB Governance

The Council should adopt the conclusions on the reform currently taking place in the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), following the public consultation launched at the end of May (11183/08). It has already considered the governance and financing of the IASB, and adopted conclusions on this subject in July 2006 and July 2007.

There are two reasons why conclusions must again be adopted this year:

  • the IASCF, the foundation responsible for appointing the members and the financing of the IASB, launched a process of constitutional review last May with a view to enhancing its own governance and that of the IASB; it proposes inter alia to set up a Monitoring Committee within the IASCF which would be responsible for ensuring that the public interest and prudential concerns are better taken into account when accounting standards are being drawn up;
  • recent financial turbulence has demonstrated the need for a reliable mechanism for drawing up international accounting standards.
Against this background, the Council aims to express a firm European position, focused in particular on the principles identified by the draft conclusions.

Financial markets – Implementation of current initiatives

The Council will review developments on current initiatives, in accordance with a 'road map' adopted at its meeting last October in order to deal more effectively with the turmoil on financial markets since August 2007. The Council should adopt conclusions on two issues in particular:

  • progress in the transparency of banks and other financial institutions regarding the valuation of their risk assets;
  • the line to be followed in Europe and at world level regarding rating agencies (11229/08).
The draft conclusions stress that prompt and full disclosure by financial institutions of their exposure to distressed assets and off-balance sheet vehicles and of their write-downs and losses is essential to bring back confidence in the markets.

The Committee of European Banking Supervisors recently drew up recommendations to give guidance to banks in evaluating their assets. According to the draft conclusions, this is a very important factor in ensuring greater consistency in the practices of financial institutions, which is essential for restoring confidence in the real situation of the market.

Global Accounting Alliance launches online journal

04 Jul 2008

The Global Accounting Alliance (GAA) has established a bi-monthly online journal called GAA Accounting.

The URL is www.gaaaccounting.com. Issue 1 of Volume 1 is now available. The journal will cover a range of topical issues in accounting and finance, focussing mainly on auditing, financial accounting, accounting education, management accounting, small business, social and environmental issues, and taxation.

Two of the four main articles in the first issue of GAA Accounting deal with IFRSs:

  • Auditor Liability
  • Significantly Stronger Corporate Governance under SOX: Survey
  • The collapse of the US sub-prime mortgage market: Understanding the impacts under IFRS
  • IFRS for SMEs

The GAA is a consortium of nine national professional accountancy bodies with a goal of promoting quality services, sharing information, and collaborating on important international issues, while operating in the interest of a quality accounting profession and the public interest. The GAA's website is www.globalaccountingalliance.com/. Current members are:

  • The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia
  • Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA)
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI)
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)
  • New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA)
  • Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA)
  • South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA)

 

Panelists for SEC roundtable on fair value accounting

04 Jul 2008

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has announced the names of the participants in its public roundtable on fair value accounting standards.

Board member James J Leisenring will represent the IASB. The roundtable will be held from 9:00am to 12:30pm US EDT on 9 July 2008 at the Commission's headquarters in Washington, D.C. The roundtable will be webcast live and later archived on the SEC's Website. Click for the Announcement of Participants (PDF 59k). There is more information in our News Story of 29 June 2008.

 

Commissioner McCreevy discusses the 'credit crunch'

04 Jul 2008

EU Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services Charlie McCreevy spoke about The Financial Turmoil – The Role of the EU-Commission at a meeting of the The Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels.

Among other things, he discussed the IASB's current efforts to address the valuation of illiquid financial assets. He said that the solution lies in improved valuation techniques and not in disregarding fair value changes entirely. An excerpt:

There have been calls to temporarily disregard fair value accounting in order to neutralise possible pro-cyclical effects and avoid having to write-down assets. Intervention right now risks adding to the confusion and create even greater distrust in companies' accounts. What is needed is additional guidance on the valuation of complex and illiquid financial instruments. This has also been underscored in a report published by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) last month. It highlighted a number of accounting issues that may require further attention of accounting standards setters in order to improve consistency, comparability and transparency of valuation practices.

Click to view The Financial Turmoil – The Role of the EU-Commission (PDF 75k).
Here's a link to our Credit Crunch Page.

Agenda for 10-11 July 2008 IFRIC meeting

03 Jul 2008

The International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) will meet at the IASB's offices in London on Thursday and Friday 10-11 July 2008. The meeting is open to the public and will be webcast.

The tentative agenda is shown below.

Agenda for the IFRIC Meeting
10-11 July 2008, London
Thursday 10 July 2008 (10:00-17:00)

Friday 11 July 2008 (9:00-Noon)

  • Review of Tentative Agenda Decisions published in May IFRIC Update
    • IAS 39: Application of the Effective Interest Rate Method
  • Staff Recommendations for Tentative Agenda Decision
  • Administrative Session
    • IFRIC work in progress

 

New Global IFRS and Offerings Services newsletter

03 Jul 2008

We have posted the May-June 2008 Edition of the Deloitte Global IFRS and Offerings Services Newsletter.

Global IFRS and Offerings Services is a global team of Deloitte practitioners assisting non-US companies and non-US practice office engagement teams in applying US and International accounting standards (that is, US GAAP and IFRSs) and in complying with the SEC's financial reporting rules. The GIOS Newsletter is an update on relevant GAAP, regulatory, and other matters, webcasts, and publications, with hyperlinks to source material.
Click to view May-June 2008 Edition of the Deloitte Global IFRS and Offerings Services Newsletter (PDF 155k).

 

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