The European Commission has adopted certain measures designating the GAAPs of the United States, Japan, China, Canada, South Korea, and India to be equivalent to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the EU.
In our 6 November 2008 news story, we reported that the European Commission adopted the consolidated text of all IFRSs in force in the European Union (EU), bringing together all IFRS endorsed from 29 September 2003 to 15 October 2008.
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.
Nine of Europe's accountancy institutes have formed the Common Content Project to bring their professional qualifications closer together. One of the driving forces behind the project has been the globalisation of accounting and auditing regulation, so that a significant part of the relevant learning outcomes are IFRS/ISA based.
Twenty members of the National Standard Setters Group (NSS) have sent a communique to the IASB and the IASCF Trustees expressing support for the IASB's efforts to achieve true global financial reporting standards.
The heads of state or government of the EU member countries met in Brussels on 7 November 2008 to discuss a coordinated EU response to the credit crisis.
The European Commission's Working Party on Derivatives held its first meeting on 5 November 2008. The goal of the group is to develop, by the end of this year, a plan for the centralised clearing of credit default swaps (CDS) across the EU.
On 3 November 2008, the European Commission adopted the consolidated text of all International Financial Reporting Standards in force in the European Union (EU).
The European Commission has written to the IASB asking the IASB to amend or interpret IAS 39 to ensure that the following three specific matters are addressed in time for year-end 2008 financial reports:
Four French accounting and regulatory authorities have issued a joint recommendation to address the accounting treatment of certain financial instruments that can 'no longer be reliably priced on the market because of the ongoing turmoil'.
In our News Story of 16 October 2008, we noted that the European Commission has organised a meeting of 'IAS 39 Stakeholders' to discuss possible credit crisis issues under IAS 39 and IFRS 7 in addition to those addressed in the IASB's recent Amendment Regarding Reclassifications.
The European Commission has approved, for use in Europe, the IASB's recent Amendment to IAS 39 and IFRS 7 permitting reclassification of some financial instruments out of the fair-value-through-profit-or-loss category and out of the available-for-sale category.
In our news story immediately below, we noted that the European Commission has approved, for use in Europe, the IASB's recent Reclassification Amendment to IAS 39 and IFRS 7.
On 14 October 2008, José Manuel Durão Barroso, President of the European Commission, spoke at a press conference in advance of the two-day meeting of the European Council (heads of state of the 27 EU member states) that will be held on 15-16 October 2008. His remarks focused on the EU's response to the global financial crisis.
On 9 October 2008, the European Parliament adopted a Resolution on the IASCF Review of the Constitution, Public Accountability, and Composition of the IASB.
In remarks before a plenary session of the European Parliament in Brussels on 8 October 2008, Charlie McCreevy, the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, urged the IASB to ease accounting rules for banks under IFRSs.
Our News Story of 7 October noted that the Eurogroup and EU Economic and Finance Ministers Council (ECOFIN) would be discussing accounting valuation issues at its meeting in Luxembourg on 6 and 7 October 2008. ECOFIN has adopted a broad range of Conclusions on a Coordinated EU Response to the Economic Slowdown.
Our story immediately below reports on a conclusion that the Eurogroup and EU Economic and Finance Ministers Council (ECOFIN) reached on accounting valuation issues at its meeting in Luxembourg on 6 and 7 October 2008. ECOFIN has also published another set of conclusions titled Immediate Responses to Financial Turmoil that addresses, among many other things, several financial instruments accounting issues.
The heads of state of the four EU G8 member states (France, Britain, Germany and Italy) met on 4 October 2008 at the Elysee Palace in Paris in a 'mini-summit' on global financial problems.
The European Commission has published a report on where the 27 Member States stand with their implementation of the May 2006 Statutory Audit Directive, which had to be transposed into national law by 29 June 2008. Twelve Member States have completed the entire implementation of the Directive.