February

EU Parliament hearings discuss accounting

28 Feb, 2010

The European Parliament's Special Committee on Financial, Economic and Social Crisis (CRIS) held a hearing on 25 February 2010 to examine financial regulation and supervision in Europe.

Accounting standards were among the issues discussed.
  • Bank of France governor Christian Noyer stressed 'the need for accounting standards to take account of the real risks'.
  • Bettina Corves-Wunderer, CFO of Allianz Italy said that 'untransparent and insufficiently harmonised accounting standards had also led to procyclical behaviour'.
Click to download Committee Press Release(PDF 126k).

 

Deloitte Dbriefs webcast on IFRSs and tax

27 Feb, 2010

Many US companies still consider conversion to IFRSs as a faraway event.

But there are many ways tax executives can lay groundwork today that makes for smoother transition tomorrow. Deloitte (United States) will host a webcast on 29 March 2010 that will discuss:
  • Regulatory developments from the SEC, how they impact your conversion timeline and steps you can take to prepare
  • Tax implications of IFRS conversion in the U.S. and abroad, including global tax and treasury planning
  • Tax operations, including education and training, data blueprinting, and supporting software
  • Broader tax implications of IFRS conversion and how the tax function can drive value and potential funding opportunities for the process
There is no cost to participate, but you must register. Details:
  • Webcast Topic: IFRS and Tax – Driving Value through Advanced Preparation
  • Date and Time: Monday, 29 March 2010 2:00pm to 3:00pm US EDT
  • Host: Rita Benassi, Partner – Deloitte Tax LLP

 

Agenda for special IASB and IASB-FASB meetings

26 Feb, 2010

The IASB and FASB will hold special joint meetings on 3 March 2010 and 11 March 2010, in advance of their regular monthly meeting on 15-19 March 2010. At both the 3 March special meeting, the IASB will also discuss several of its agenda projects separately from FASB.

You can access the agenda on our 3 March 2010 and 11 March 2010 special joint meeting pages. We will also post Deloitte observer notes on this page as they are available

Agenda for 4-5 March 2010 IFRIC meeting

26 Feb, 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

 

Special IASB meetings 3 and 11 March 2010

25 Feb, 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):

  • Wednesday 3 March 2010
  • Thursday 11 March 2010
The special IASB meeting that had been tentatively announced for Wednesday 2 March 2010 will not be held.

 

Advisory Panel on impairment will meet

24 Feb, 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.

The Advisory Panel was formed and held its first meeting in December 2009. It will hold its second meeting on Thursday 25 February (10:30-18:00h London time) and Friday 26 February (09:00-14:00h London time) 2010 at the IASB's offices in London. The meeting is open to public observation. Click for list of Advisory Panel Members (PDF 18k).

Updated EFRAG 'endorsement status report'

23 Feb, 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.

Click to download the Endorsement Status Report as of 22 February 2010 (PDF 120k). Currently, eight IASB pronouncements await endorsement action. You can always find the endorsement status report Here.

 

Working draft of the Liabilities IFRS is available

22 Feb, 2010

The IASB staff has released a Working Draft of the Liabilities IFRS (planned successor to IAS 37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets).

The working draft is based on proposals published for comment in 2005, amended for decisions the IASB has taken in the light of comments it received. In particular, the Board has decided to provide more guidance on applying the proposed measurement requirements. On 5 January 2010 it published for public comment a Re-exposure Draft of the proposed new guidance. Comments are requested by 12 April 2010. The Working Draft of the final IFRS is on the IASB's public website Project Page.

 

IPSASB proposes service concession accounting by grantors

22 Feb, 2010

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) is seeking comments on a proposed standard on accounting for service concession arrangements by the grantor.

Service concession arrangements – often called Private-Public Partnerships or PPPs – involve an operator providing services to the public on behalf of a grantor, which is usually the government or another public sector entity. For many countries, such arrangements are a means to ensure large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the building of roads and airports, can be developed and provided to the public for use. However, in some cases, they are not recognized in the financial statements, effectively concealing the financial position of the grantor. IPSASB has proposed guidance on how grantors should recognise, account for, and disclose assets in service concession arrangements. Currently, there is no international standard to address the accounting for such arrangements from the grantor's perspective. IFRIC 12 Service Concession Arrangements applies only to the operators of these arrangements. Click for IPSASB Press Release (PDF 35k).

 

IOSCO Principles for Periodic Disclosure by Listed Entities

22 Feb, 2010

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

The report includes a set of recommendations for disclosures that could be provided in the periodic reports, particularly annual reports, of entities whose securities are listed or admitted to trading on a regulated market in which retail investors participate. The disclosure principles also cover other issues related to periodic disclosure, such as the timeliness of disclosures, disclosure criteria, and storage of information. The principles are intended to provide a useful framework for securities regulators that are reviewing or revising their regulatory disclosure regime for periodic reports.

The IOSCO report identifies the following principles as essential for any periodic disclosure regime:

  1. Periodic reports should contain relevant information (the IOSCO report elaborates on this principle in considerable detail)
  2. For those periodic reports in which financial statements are included, the persons responsible for the financial statements provided should be clearly identified, and should state that the financial information provided in the report is fairly presented
  3. The issuer's internal control over financial reporting should be assessed or reviewed
  4. Information should be available to the public on a timely basis
  5. Periodic reports should be filed with the relevant regulator
  6. The information should be stored to facilitate public access to the information
  7. Disclosure criteria (including fair presentation, not misleading, no material omissions, clear and concise language)
  8. Equal access to disclosure by all investors at the same time
  9. Equivalence of disclosure in all markets in which the entity is listed
Click to download:

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