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30 June 2001: SEC concern about the integrity of financial statements
Expressing concern about accounting irregularities and the integrity of financial statements, Acting US SEC Chairman Laura S. Unger said in a recent Speech (PDF 57k):

29 June 2001: 2,400 follow-ups from IOSCO International Internet Surf Day
The SEC and 37 of its IOSCO counterparts conducted a second International Internet Surf Day in an ongoing effort by securities regulators to detect and deter securities violations occurring on the Internet, particularly those involving cross-border activity. Approximately 300 staff of IOSCO members surfed the Internet for fraudulent solicitation of investors, manipulation, the circulation of false or misleading information, and insider trading. Regulatory authorities collectively identified over 2,400 sites for follow-up review, with over 278 of the sites involving cross-border activity. IASB recently decided not to pursue the IASC Project on Business Reporting on the Internet. Click for SEC Press Release (PDF 9k).

28 June 2001: Kevin Stevenson is named IASB Technical Director

IASB has named Kevin M. Stevenson of Australia as its Director of Technical Activities, its senior technical staff position. Kevin Stevenson currently is managing director of Stevenson McGregor and is a member of the Australian Accounting Standards Board. Formerly, he was Senior Technical Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Australia and a member of IASC's Standing Interpretations Committtee and the Australian Urgent Issues Group. He is also a former Executive Director of the Australian Accounting Research Foundation. He will begin his position in February 2002. James Saloman will remain Technical Director of the IASB until the end of the year and will return to PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2002. Click for IASB News Release (PDF 14k).

28 June 2001: New European environmental accounting rules
The European Commission has adopted a Recommendation on recognition, measurement, and disclosure of environmental liabilities and expenditures in the annual accounts and annual reports of EU companies. "The Recommendation has been prepared taking into account relevant requirements in International Accounting Standards (IAS).... However, there exists little guidance directly related to environmental issues in IAS and no specific IAS is solely focused on these issues." Click for Full Text of Recommendation (PDF 144k).

28 June 2001: Preliminary report of IASB's 26-28 June Board meeting
We have moved the summary of discussions at the June 2001 IASB meeting to its own page. Click to go to Summary of IASB's 26-28 June 2001 Meeting. It had originally been presented as several lengthy news items.

27 June 2001: Wayne Upton of FASB appointed IASB Research Director

Wayne S. Upton, formerly Senior Project Manager at the US Financial Accounting Standards Board, will be IASB's Director of Research. The Director of Research will directly oversee IASB's technical agenda projects and will report to the Director of Technical Activities.

26 June 2001: Europe creates IAS technical expert and oversight boards
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group -- an organisation established in March by a broad group of organisations representing the European accounting profession, preparers, users, and national standard-setters -- has created a Technical Expert Group and a Supervisory Board to serve as Europe's "IAS Endorsement Mechanism". Technical Expert Group members are Johan van Helleman, Chairman, Yves Bernheim, Andreas Bezold, Allan Cook, Stig Enevoldsen, Begoña Giner, Hans Leeuwerik, Freddy Méan, Eberhard Scheffler, Friedrich Spandl, and Giuseppe Verna. The Technical Expert Group will assess the acceptability of IAS within the European legal environment as well as provide views to IASB as standards are being developed.

• Click for More Information.
• Click to download EFRAG News Release (PDF 434k).
• Click to download European Commission Announcement Re EFRAG (PDF 12k).
• Click to download March 2001 EFRAG Proposal (PDF 73k).

25 June 2001: Trustees name Standards Advisory Council Members
The IASC Foundation Trustees have named 49 people to the Standards Advisory Council. SAC members will advise the IASB on technical standards-setting issues, including agenda selection. SAC will hold its first meeting with the Board 23-24 July. SAC members include four Deloitte partners (Messrs. Wilmot, Malegam, Enevoldsen, and Inbar). Click for More Information about the SAC.

23 June 2001: Proposed IAS 39 guidance addresses bank "macro-hedging"
On 22 June 2001, the IAS 39 Implementation Guidance Committee published for comment proposed Batch 6 of IAS 39 implementation guidance. Batch 6 includes 24 Q&A and illustrative examples. Comment deadline is 24 August. One of the questions and related examples address the particularly thorny issue of applying hedge accounting when a bank or other financial institution manages its interest rate risk on an enterprise-wide basis. The guidance includes an example of a methodology that allows for the use of hedge accounting and takes advantage of existing bank risk management systems so as to avoid unnecessary changes to it and to avoid unnecessary bookkeeping and tracking.

22 June 2001: IAS In Your Pocket guide published
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has published a 64-page guide, IAS In Your Pocket. This guide includes summaries of all IAS and SICs, background on IASB projects, and other useful IASB-related information. Click to download IAS In Your Pocket.

21 June 2001: Insurance Steering Committee approves a draft DSOP
At its meeting 12-15 June, IASB's Insurance Steering Committee (ISC) reached agreement on a final Draft Statement of Principles that it will submit to IASB by the end of October. Prior to this meeting, ISC's tentative conclusions on accounting for insurance contracts were all in the assumed context of a future standard that would require full fair value for financial instruments. Because ISC believes that the Financial Instruments Project is viewed by the IASB as a long-term project, ISC has decided to propose to IASB a "non-fair value" version of the asset/liability model for accounting for insurance contracts. Click here for More Detailed Information. Click to download Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu's International Insurance News, June 2001 (PDF 39k).

20 June 2001: IASB's initial agenda is taking shape
We have updated our list of Potential Items for IASB's Initial Technical Agenda based on Board discussions at the April and May meetings. Discussions continue in June and July (which will include assignment of priorities to the projects), and the Board will consult with the Standards Advisory Council regarding its agenda on 23-24 July. [Note: The list was further updated to reflect decisions at the July 2001 IASB meeting.]

18 June 2001: Canadian Institute favours harmonisation with US GAAP
The Accounting Standards Oversight Council of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants has concluded that the goal of harmonization with U.S. standards should continue to be the top priority for the Accounting Standards Board (AcSB), which it oversees. Converging with "internationally developed common standards" should also be an objective.

17 June 2001: Changes to IASB June meeting agenda
The Agenda for IASB's 26-28 June Meeting will no longer include transition to IAS as the primary basis of accounting. The 28th June session will be closed to public observation so the Board can discuss administrative matters.

16 June 2001: Changes to IASB website
The IASB Website has been redesigned and reorganised. A new slogan, The Crucible of Convergence, has been adopted. [Note: Slogan was changed on 21 June to Leadership... Partnership... Convergence.]

7 June 2001: Testimony at US hearing on capital markets and IAS
Paul Volcker, chairman of the Trustees of the IASC Foundation, testified before the US House Subcommittee on Capital Markets:

• Full Text of Mr. Volcker's Testimony (PDF 19k)
  
• Testimony of FEI Corporate Reporting Committee Chairman Philip Ameen (PDF 25k)
  
• Testimony of Former AICPA Chairman Robert Elliott (PDF 122k)
  

7 June 2001: Page added for IASB Preface Project
We have added to this website a page for IASB's project on the Preface to IASB Standards.

6 June 2001: IASC Trustee Volcker will testify on IAS to US Congress

Paul Volcker, the former US Federal Reserve Board chairman who currently chairs the Trustees of the IASC Foundation, will testify on Thursday before the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Capital Markets. The subcommittee is holding a hearing on Promotion of International Capital Flow through Accounting Standards. The subcommittee is concerned about lack of comparability of financial information disclosed in international capital markets. In announcing the hearing, the subcommittee chair, Congressman Richard Baker, said: "Without harmonization of accounting standards from country to country, investors face uncertainty when evaluating investment opportunities and companies face costly compliance when filing financial disclosures."

5 June 2001: Make note of IASB's new address, phones, email:

4 June 2001: IASB subcommittee is working on Improvements Project
In response to its request, IASB has received hundreds of ideas for possible Improvements to existing IAS. The Board has appointed a subcommittee of IASB members (Robert Herz, Gilbert Gelard, Jim Leisenring, and Warren McGregor) to consider all proposed improvements. The subcommittee is expected to report to the Board at its June meeting. Regarding elimination of choices, IASB has identified the following nine choices as areas for possible change:

Accounting Issue	Current Choices
Inventories	FIFO/Average or LIFO
Correction of fundamental errors relating to prior periods	Restate or cumulative effect in earnings
Adjustments resulting from changes in accounting policies	If impracticable to restate, adjust retained earnings or cumulative effect in earnings
Foreign exchange losses from a severe devaluation or depreciation	Expense or capitalisation
Translation of goodwill and fair value adjustments on acquisition of a foreign entity	Closing rate or rate at transaction date
Measurement of minority's portion of identifiable assets and liabilities acquired	Fair value or carrying amount
Borrowing costs	Expense or capitalise
Investments in associates/subsidiaries in parent entity accounts	Cost or equity method or IAS 39
Reporting a venturer's interest in jointly controlled entities	Proportionate consolidation or equity method

2 June 2001: EU Council adopts IAS 39 amendments to Directives
Meeting in Brussels 30-31 May, the Council of the European Union unanimously approved an amendment to Directives 78/660/EEC, 83/349/EEC and 86/635/EEC as regards the valuation rules for the annual and consolidated accounts of certain types of companies as well as of banks and other financial institutions. The amendments were presented by the Commission in February 2000 with a view to making it possible for companies to apply IAS 39, Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement, facilitating the valuation of certain financial instruments at fair value instead of historical cost. The European Parliament had approved the amendments earlier this month. The EU's announcement said: