February — IAS Plus

IFRS e-Learning in Spanish

Feb 26, 2010

Several new modules have been added to Deloitte's Spanish Language IFRS e-Learning Site.

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Agenda for 4-5 March 2010 IFRIC meeting

Feb 26, 2010

The International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) will meet at the IASB's offices in London on Thursday and Friday 4 and 5 March 2010 (morning only on 5 March).

The meeting is open to the public and will be webcast. The tentative agenda is shown below.

Agenda for the IFRIC Meeting Thursday and Friday, 4 and 5 March 2010
Thursday 4 March 2010 (10:00-18:00h London time) Introduction IAS 16 Property, Plant and Equipment – Accounting for production phase stripping costs in the mining industry IFRS 2 Share-based Payment – Vesting and non-vesting conditions Review of Tentative Agenda Decisions published in January 2010 IFRIC Update IAS 21 The Effects of changes in Foreign Exchange Rates – Determination of functional currency of investment holding company IAS 32 Financial Instruments: Presentation – Debt/equity classification of instruments with obligation to deliver cash at the discretion of shareholders IAS 36 Impairment of Assets – Transition provisions for IFRS 8 amendment IAS 39 Financial Instruments Recognition and Measurement – Unit of account for forward contracts with volumetric optionality Annual Improvements – 2008-2010 Cycle Comment analysis for minor issues: Accounting policy changes in the year of adoption (IFRS 1) Clarification of statement of changes in equity (IAS 1) Transition requirements for amendments made as a result of IAS 27R to IAS 21, IAS 28 and IAS 31 Fair value of award credit (IFRIC 13) Accounting policy changes in the year of adoption (IFRS 1) Clarification of statement of changes in equity (IAS 1) Transition requirements for amendments made as a result of IAS 27R to IAS 21, IAS 28 and IAS 31 Fair value of award credit (IFRIC 13) IFRS 3 Business Combinations – Unreplaced and voluntarily replaced share-based payment awards (comment letter analysis) IFRS 3 Business Combinations – Measurement of NCI (review of examples) IFRS 5 Non.current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations – Loss of significant influence over an associate or jointly controlled entity (comment letter analysis) IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors – Change in terminology to the qualitative characteristics IAS 40 Investment Property – Change from fair value model to cost model Staff Recommendations for Tentative Agenda Decision IFRS 1 First-time adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards – Accounting for costs included in self-constructed assets on transition IFRS 5 Non.current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations – Reversal of impairment losses relating to goodwill IAS 12 Income Taxes – Tax effect of distributions to equity holders IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements – Comparative information Friday 5 March (09:00-12:30h London time) Staff Recommendations for Tentative Agenda Decision (continued from Thursday, if needed) Annual Improvements 2009 – 2011 Cycle IFRS 1 First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards – Hard wire dates IFRS 3 Business Combinations – Contingent consideration and first-time adoption IFRS 8 Operating Segments – Determination of scope IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates – Repayment of investment/CTA IAS 26 Accounting and Reporting by Retirement Benefit Plans – Valuation of plan assets IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting – Consistency in disclosure of total segment assets Administrative Session – IFRIC work in progress

Agenda for the IFRIC Meeting

Thursday and Friday, 4 and 5 March 2010

Thursday 4 March 2010 (10:00-18:00h London time)

Introduction
IAS 16 Property, Plant and Equipment – Accounting for production phase stripping costs in the mining industry
IFRS 2 Share-based Payment – Vesting and non-vesting conditions
Review of Tentative Agenda Decisions published in January 2010 IFRIC Update
- IAS 21 The Effects of changes in Foreign Exchange Rates – Determination of functional currency of investment holding company
- IAS 32 Financial Instruments: Presentation – Debt/equity classification of instruments with obligation to deliver cash at the discretion of shareholders
- IAS 36 Impairment of Assets – Transition provisions for IFRS 8 amendment
- IAS 39 Financial Instruments Recognition and Measurement – Unit of account for forward contracts with volumetric optionality
Annual Improvements – 2008-2010 Cycle
- Comment analysis for minor issues:
  - Accounting policy changes in the year of adoption (IFRS 1)
  - Clarification of statement of changes in equity (IAS 1)
  - Transition requirements for amendments made as a result of IAS 27R to IAS 21, IAS 28 and IAS 31
  - Fair value of award credit (IFRIC 13)
  - Accounting policy changes in the year of adoption (IFRS 1)
  - Clarification of statement of changes in equity (IAS 1)
  - Transition requirements for amendments made as a result of IAS 27R to IAS 21, IAS 28 and IAS 31
  - Fair value of award credit (IFRIC 13)
- IFRS 3 Business Combinations – Unreplaced and voluntarily replaced share-based payment awards (comment letter analysis)
- IFRS 3 Business Combinations – Measurement of NCI (review of examples)
- IFRS 5 Non.current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations – Loss of significant influence over an associate or jointly controlled entity (comment letter analysis)
- IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors – Change in terminology to the qualitative characteristics
- IAS 40 Investment Property – Change from fair value model to cost model

Staff Recommendations for Tentative Agenda Decision
- IFRS 1 First-time adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards – Accounting for costs included in self-constructed assets on transition
- IFRS 5 Non.current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations – Reversal of impairment losses relating to goodwill
- IAS 12 Income Taxes – Tax effect of distributions to equity holders
- IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements – Comparative information

Friday 5 March (09:00-12:30h London time)

Staff Recommendations for Tentative Agenda Decision (continued from Thursday, if needed)
Annual Improvements 2009 – 2011 Cycle
- IFRS 1 First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards – Hard wire dates
- IFRS 3 Business Combinations – Contingent consideration and first-time adoption
- IFRS 8 Operating Segments – Determination of scope
- IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates – Repayment of investment/CTA
- IAS 26 Accounting and Reporting by Retirement Benefit Plans – Valuation of plan assets
- IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting – Consistency in disclosure of total segment assets
Administrative Session – IFRIC work in progress

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SEC statement on IFRSs in the United States

Feb 25, 2010

The US Securities and Exchange Commission met on 24 February 2010 to discuss issues relating to the use of IFRSs by public companies in the United States.

The Commission approved a 71-page Commission Statement (PDF 349k) that provides an overview of the Commission's IFRS activities, summarises some of the public feedback on the proposed IFRS roadmap, and outlines an approach going forward. The Commission reiterated its support for a single set of high quality global accounting standards and said that IFRSs are the set of standards best positioned to be global standards. The Commission Statement directs the SEC staff to carry out a Work Plan prior to an SEC decision on whether to require US issuers to transition to IFRSs. According to the Commission Statement, that decision will be made in 2011. The execution of the Work Plan, combined with the completion of the convergence efforts, would position the Commission to make an informed decision on a mandate. The Commission Statement withdraws the early use option that was in the proposed roadmap. However, it was indicated that early use is still a viable option if the SEC decides to require the use of IFRSs. The Commission Statement does not provide any details of potential transition dates or approaches, but the SEC staff stated that 2015 or 2016 seemed reasonable based on comments received on the proposed roadmap (a transition would require four to five years).

The key areas of concern to be addressed by the SEC staff as part of the work plan include:

Sufficient development and application of IFRSs globally – comprehensiveness of IFRSs, auditability and enforceability of IFRSs, and comparability across jurisdictions
Independence of standard-setting – oversight of the IASCF, composition of Trustees and IASB, funding, and the standard-setting process
Transition issues:
- Investor understanding and education – education of investors
- Impact on regulatory environment – industry regulation, federal and state taxes, and audit regulation
- Impact on issuers – accounting systems, controls and procedures, contractual arrangements, and corporate governance
- Human capital readiness – education and training of various constituency groups

In her Opening Remarks (PDF 30k) at the Commission meeting, SEC Chairman Mary L Schapiro summarised the SEC's approach as follows:

Today's Commission statement reaffirms our support for a single globally accepted standard, describes the issues that need to be further examined and analyzed, and lays out the events that must occur between now and 2011. Specifically, the convergence projects currently underway between the FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board, must first be successfully completed. And our staff must gather information to aid the Commission as it evaluates the impact that the use of IFRS by US companies would have on our securities market. To this end, we have asked the staff to develop and execute a work plan, which the staff will discuss in more depth in a moment.

In 2011, upon conclusion of the fact-gathering and analysis set forth in the work plan – and assuming completion of the convergence projects – the Commission will then be in a position to determine whether to incorporate IFRS into the financial reporting system for U.S. public companies. Until that time, we will expect staff to provide periodic written public reports to the Commission on the progress of its efforts.

The Commission expressed support for the FASB having a continuing role in global standard-setting activities and asked the SEC staff to further explore this possibility as part of its Work Plan. The SEC staff will be providing regular progress reports in open meetings and indicated the first one will be provided no later than October 2010.

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Special IASB meetings 3 and 11 March 2010

Feb 25, 2010

The IASB and FASB will hold special joint Board meetings at the offices of the IASB in London as follows (agendas and timings to be announced):

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Sierra Leone adopts the IFRS for SMEs

Feb 25, 2010

On 30 December 2009, the Council for Standards of Accounting, Auditing, Corporate and Institutional Governance (CSAAG) of Sierra Leone unanimously passed a resolution adopting the IFRS for SMEs for profit-seeking entities that fall outside its conditions for the application of full IFRSs.

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Audit Committee Brief – SEC focus areas

Feb 25, 2010

Deloitte (United States) has published an Audit Committee Brief newsletter on SEC Focus Areas.

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IFRS for SMEs in Mauritius

Feb 24, 2010

In December, we reported a proposal in Mauritius to amend the accounting requirements to permit the IFRS for SMEs as an option for small state-owned enterprises.

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Advisory Panel on impairment will meet

Feb 24, 2010

In November 2009, when it issued an Exposure Draft on Impairment of Financial Instruments Measured at Amortised Cost, the IASB announced that because of significant practical challenges in moving to an expected loss model, it will establish an Expert Advisory Panel comprising experts in credit risk management to advise the board.

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Updated EFRAG 'endorsement status report'

Feb 23, 2010

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has updated its report showing the status of endorsement, under the EU Accounting Regulation, of each IFRS, including standards, interpretations, and amendments.

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IOSCO Principles for Periodic Disclosure by Listed Entities

Feb 22, 2010

The Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has published a report Principles for Periodic Disclosure by Listed Entities.

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IAS Plus

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Deloitte User?

IFRS e-Learning in Spanish

Agenda for 4-5 March 2010 IFRIC meeting

SEC statement on IFRSs in the United States

Special IASB meetings 3 and 11 March 2010

Sierra Leone adopts the IFRS for SMEs

Audit Committee Brief – SEC focus areas

IFRS for SMEs in Mauritius

Advisory Panel on impairment will meet

Updated EFRAG 'endorsement status report'

IOSCO Principles for Periodic Disclosure by Listed Entities