The three communities share a basic set of design principles and technological foundations, but the people, goals, and prospects are almost completely distinct. Those involved don’t help much by sniping constantly about which is the “real” movement.

Review the full opinion piece on Wharton School's website.

In a summary published by Osler, the objective of the proposed amendments is to bring Canada’s anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime (AML/ATF Regime) into line with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body of which Canada is a founding member, which promotes implementation of measures for combatting threats to the integrity of the international financial system. The FATF identified several deficiencies in its last evaluation of Canada in 2015 which have been addressed by proposed amendments in the following areas:

• customer due diligence requirements are modernized and, in some respects, broadened
• persons and entities dealing in virtual currency are regulated as money services businesses (MSBs)
• foreign MSBs are subject to the Canadian AML/ATF Regime to the extent their activities are directed to Canadian customers
• the deadline for filing suspicious transactions reports (STRs) is shortened from 30 days to 3 days
• prepaid credit cards and similar open-loop payment products are treated as bank accounts
• prior to launching new technologies, reporting entities are expected to assess the potential money laundering/terrorist financing risks posed by such technologies on their products and delivery channels
• certain existing requirements are clarified and technical amendments are made

Review the draft amendments on the Government of Canada's website and the summary on Osler's website.

The proposal aims to simplify and tailor the compliance requirements of the Rule, which was finalized back in December 2013 to prevent banks from engaging in proprietary trading and from owning hedge funds or private equity funds.

Among other changes, this proposal intends to:

• Create categories of banking entities based on the size of their trading assets and liabilities
• Tailor compliance requirements based on a banking entity’s level of trading activity
• Modify the term “trading account” in the Rule
• Modify or remove select compliance requirements specific to certain proprietary trading and covered funds exemptions
• Create a presumption of compliance with the underwriting and market-making exemptions for certain trading desks whose activities fall within certain internal risk limits
• Modify certain requirements related to metrics reporting and streamline the related data collection process

Review the blog on the Center for Regulatory Strategy Americas' website.

As companies process the implications of tax reform, they may be discovering that there is not much that’s simple about it. In the process, the importance of the tax function—and, in particular, the chief tax officer’s role—has taken on new meaning.

In fact, in the Q1 2018 CFO Signals™ survey, some 33 percent of CFOs noted that the fallout from tax reform is leading them to strengthen or restructure their tax functions (see "Transforming tax in an age of reform," CFO Insights, May 2018). Moreover, given the complexity of implementing the law (60 percent) and the difficulty in communicating its implications (30 percent), CFOs are expecting more from their chief tax officers than ever before.

Review the publication on our US firm's website.

A pending disclosure rule that would require companies to reveal their full costs of moving to cloud platforms would be difficult to apply, and would offer little benefit to investors, some of the biggest global software companies told the Financial Accounting Standards Board in May.

The rules would require companies to capitalize the costs—to record an asset and then subsequently recognize the amount over the term of the cloud service arrangement. The accompanying disclosures would give investors a fuller picture of what those costs are in any given quarter.

Review the full article on Bloomberg BNA's website.

According to Carney, CPA Canada, its members and others worldwide have an opportunity to help shape good practice.

Governor Carney also is chair of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), which, at the request of the G20, created a task force to develop a set of voluntary disclosures to help establish greater reporting consistency on climate change issues. The disclosures are for use by companies in providing information to investors, lenders, insurers and other stakeholders.

There are three keys to achieving success, explains Carney: Establishing recommendations, getting buy-in from the users, and putting the elements into practice.

Review the summary and video on CPA Canada's website.

To ensure that all Canadians pay their fair share of taxes, and to safeguard the Government's ability to invest in the programs and services that help the middle class and people working hard to join it, the Government of Canada is taking the next step in the fight against aggressive international tax avoidance.

Review the press release on the Department of Finance Canada's website.

Discussion points included:

• Professional Skepticism
• Non-assurance Services
• Future SWP
• Inducements
• Fees
• Technology and Innovation
• eCode
• Rollout Initiatives Restructured Code

Review the highlights and the podcast on the IESBA's Web site.

On April 24, 2018, the SEC announced that Altaba Inc. had agreed to pay a USD$35 million penalty to settle disclosure charges relating to a December 2014 cyberincident. Altaba settled without admitting or denying any wrongdoing. Among other things, the SEC settlement noted:

• Altaba failed to properly investigate the circumstances of the breach.
• Altaba did not share information regarding the breach with its auditors or outside counsel in order to assess the company’s disclosure obligations in its public filings.
• Altaba did not include information regarding the breach in its quarterly or annual public filings in 2015 or 2016 even though it learned that cyberattack attempts by the same hackers continued.

Review the full article on McCarthy Tetrault's website.

In response to regulatory and other stakeholder feedback on the topic, the paper explores:

1. The behavioral characteristics comprised in professional skepticism;
2. Whether all professional accountants should apply these behavioral characteristics; and
3. Whether the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) should be further developed to address behaviors associated with the exercise of appropriate professional skepticism.

Through this initiative, the IESBA also aims to reinforce the effective exercise of professional skepticism by auditors.

The consultation paper was developed following close coordination with the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and the International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB), and with advice from the IESBA Consultative Advisory Group.

Review the press release and consultation paper on the IESBA's website.