August

Trustees seek views on criteria for annual improvements process

31 Aug, 2010

The IFRS Foundation, the oversight body of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), today published for public comment proposed enhancements to the criteria for the IASB's annual improvements process.

The annual improvements process provides a mechanism for non-urgent but necessary amendments to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) to be grouped together and issued in one package. Such amendments may clarify guidance and wording, or make relatively minor amendments to the standards that address unintended consequences, conflicts or oversights.

The suggested amended criteria for determining whether a matter relating to the clarification or correction of IFRSs should be addressed using the annual improvements process are outlined below. All criteria must be met.

  1. The proposed amendment has one or both of the following characteristics:
    1. clarifying—the proposed amendment would improve IFRSs by:
      • clarifying unclear wording in existing IFRSs, or
      • providing guidance where an absence of guidance is causing concern.
      A clarifying amendment maintains consistency with the existing principles within the applicable IFRSs. It does not propose a new principle, or a change to an existing principle.
    2. correcting—the proposed amendment would improve IFRSs by:
      • resolving a conflict between existing requirements of IFRSs and providing a straightforward rationale for which existing requirement should be applied, or
      • addressing an oversight or relatively minor unintended consequence of the existing requirements of IFRSs.
      A correcting amendment does not propose a new principle or a change to an existing principle, but may create an exception from an existing principle.
  2. The proposed amendment has a narrow and well-defined purpose, ie the consequences of the proposed change have been considered sufficiently and identified.
  3. It is probable that the IASB will reach conclusion on the issue on a timely basis. Inability to reach a conclusion on a timely basis may indicate that the cause of the issue is more fundamental than can be resolved within annual improvements.
  4. If the proposed amendment would amend IFRSs that are the subject of a current or planned IASB project, there must be a pressing need to make the amendment sooner than the project would.

The consultation document of the IFRS Foundation is open for comment until 30 November 2010. It can be accessed via the IASB's website. The corresponding press release is available Here (PDF 35k).

Summary of the June 2010 meeting of the IFRS Advisory Council

30 Aug, 2010

The IASB has posted to its website a summary of the June 2010 meeting of the IFRS Advisory Council.

Among other topics, the Advisory Council discussed the IASB work plan post-June 2011. Members of the Council suggested that accounting for Islamic transactions and agriculture should be added to the top priorities of the IASB and that XBRL must be considered together with the disclosure framework. Click for the Advisory Council Minutes on the IASB's Website.

 

Deadline reminder – EDs on defined benefit plans and uncertainty analysis disclosure

29 Aug, 2010

We remind you that comments on the Exposure Drafts Defined Benefit Plans and Fair Value Option for Financial Liabilities are due on 6 September 2010 and 7 September 2010, respectively.

The ED on defined benefit plans was issued on 29 April 2010 and would amend the accounting for defined benefit plans through which some employers provide long-term employee benefits, such as pensions and post-employment medical care. The ED on uncertainty analysis disclosure was issued on 29 June 2010 and would require the measurement uncertainty analysis disclosure to reflect the interdependencies between unobservable inputs used to measure fair value in Level 3 of the three-level fair value hierarchy.
Click for our previous story:

 

IFRS Interpretations Committee publishes proposed guidance on surface mining

26 Aug, 2010

The IFRS Interpretations Committee, the interpretative body of the IASB, has today published for public comment proposed guidance on the accounting for stripping costs in the production phase of a surface mine.

The draft Interpretation considers the following questions:

  • (a) Is the definition of an asset met?
  • (b) When should the stripping campaign component be recognised?
  • (c) How should the stripping campaign component be measured initially?
  • (d) How should the stripping campaign component be measured subsequently?

The IFRS Interpretations Committee has reached the conclusion that costs associated with a stripping campaign' should be accounted for as an additional component of an existing asset, and that this component should be written down over the reserves that directly benefit from the campaign.

DI/2010/1 Stripping Costs in the Production Phase of a Surface Mine is open for comment until 30 November 2010. It can be accessed via the IASB's website. The IASB's press release is available here (PDF 35k). Our related project page offers a summary of the discussions leading up to the publishing of the draft Interpretation.

IASB proposes amendments to IFRS 1

26 Aug, 2010

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) today published for public comment proposed amendments to IFRS 1 'First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards'. The proposal would amend IFRS 1 by replacing references to a fixed transition date of 1 January 2004' with the date of transition to IFRSs'. As a result, entities adopting IFRSs for the first time would not have to restate derecognition transactions that occurred before the date of transition to IFRSs. In addition, first-time adopters would also not have to recalculate day 1' differences on initial recognition of financial instruments, where the transaction occurred before the date of transition to IFRSs.

The Basis for Conclusions states:

IFRS 1 First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards requires a first-time adopter to restate past derecognition transactions that occurred after 1 January 2004. This requirement was included in IFRS 1 as a result of the revision to IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement in 2003, to place entities then adopting IFRSs for the first time in the same position as existing IFRS users at that time. As time passes, the fixed transition date of 1 January 2004 becomes more remote and increasingly less relevant to the financial reports of additional jurisdictions that will adopt IFRSs.

The exposure draft Removal of Fixed Dates for First-time Adopters is open for comment until 27 October 2010. It can be accessed via the IASB's website. The IASB's press release is available here (PDF 98k). Our related project page offers a summary of the discussions leading up to the publishing of the exposure draft.

IFRS Foundation Education Initiative publishes briefing for chief executives

25 Aug, 2010

The IFRS Foundation Education Initiative has published the 2010 edition of International Financial Reporting Standards – Briefing for Chief Executives, Audit Committees and Boards of Directors to the eIFRS site. These briefing notes provide summaries of all IFRSs issued at 1 July 2010 at a high level and in non-technical language. It's specially prepared for chief executives, members of audit committees, company directors and others who want a broad overview of IFRSs and of the business implications of implementing them.

The electronic PDF is available in the eIFRS Online Subscriber Areaof the IASB's website for access by both Comprehensive and eIFRS subscribers.

 

Notes from special August IASB meeting

24 Aug, 2010

The IASB met in London on 24 August 2010 for a second special meeting for the month.

The topics discussed were as follows (click through to detailed Deloitte observer notes for that topic):

Click here to go to the preliminary and unofficial Notes Taken by Deloitte Observers for the entire meeting. The next IASB meeting is currently scheduled for 13-17 September 2010.

Newsletter on leases proposals

24 Aug, 2010

Deloitte's IFRS Global Office has published an IFRS in Focus Newsletter – IASB issues Exposure Draft on Lease Accounting. On 17 August 2010, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) published a joint exposure draft ED 2010/9 Leases. The ED would eliminate the distinction between operating leases and finance leases and would introduce new accounting models for lessees and lessors. Lessees would no longer be permitted to treat leases as "off-balance sheet" financings but instead would be required to recognise an asset and liability for all leases within the scope of the proposals.

New issue of the IASB's Investor Perspectives

24 Aug, 2010

In April 2010, the Trustees of the IFRS Foundation and the IASB launched a programme to enhance investors' participation in the development of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs). One of the enhancements is a newsletter for investors. Board members Stephen Cooper, Patrick Finnegan and Patricia McConnell publish timely updates on financial reporting matters.

A new issue of the Investor Perspectives is now available:

All Investor Perspectives are archived on the IASB's website.

Click for previous news article, July 13, 2010.

New IAESB education handbook

24 Aug, 2010

The International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) has released the 2010 edition of its Handbook of International Education Pronouncements. The 2010 handbook contains the IAESB's suite of eight International Education Standards (IESs), including the Framework for International Education Standards for Professional Accountants (the Framework), as well as three International Education Practice Statements.

The handbook can be downloaded free of charge in PDF format from IFAC's Publications and Resources site. Printed copies can also be ordered. The IFAC press release announcing the publication of the handbook is available here (link to IFAC website).

Correction list for hyphenation

These words serve as exceptions. Once entered, they are only hyphenated at the specified hyphenation points. Each word should be on a separate line.