This new Declaration makes reference to convergence deadline "by the end of 2011".

The G20 was first organised in the wake of the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. With the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, the G-20 has become the principal forum to lead global efforts to stem the crisis and mitigate its effects. Below is an excerpt from the Declaration following the Seoul summit.

38. We re-emphasized the importance we place on achieving a single set of improved high quality global accounting standards and called on the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board to complete their convergence project by the end of 2011. We also encouraged the International Accounting Standards Board to further improve the involvement of stakeholders, including outreach to, and membership of, emerging market economies, in the process of setting the global standards, within the framework of independent accounting standard setting process.

 

The ASB is publishing this FRS so as to maintain the existing levels of convergence between UK and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which will assist groups in preparing consistent financial statements where their consolidated and subsidiary financial statements are prepared in accordance with IFRS and FRS respectively. The FRS includes amendments to SSAP 25 'Segmental Reporting', FRS 8 'Related Party Disclosures' and FRS 29 (IFRS 7) 'Financial Instruments: Disclosures'.

Click for:

• ASB press release (link to ASB website)
• 'Improvements to Financial Reporting Standards 2010' (PDF 167k, link to ASB website)
• Our UK country page

 

The topics discussed were as follows:

• Financial Instruments: Impairment

Click here to go to the preliminary and unofficial Notes Taken by Deloitte Observers for the entire meeting.

The checklist is formatted to allow the recording of a review of financial statements, with a place to indicate yes/no/not-applicable for each presentation and disclosure item.

A PDF version of this checklist will be available soon and posted with our various IFRS model financial statements and related checklists, including translations, which are available Here.

The proposal would amend one aspect of IAS 12 Income Taxes. Under IAS 12, the measurement of deferred tax liabilities and deferred tax assets depends on whether an entity expects to recover an asset by using the asset or by selling the asset. In some cases, it is difficult and subjective to assess whether recovery will be through use or through sale. To provide a practical approach in such cases, the proposed amendment would introduce a presumption that an asset is recovered entirely through sale unless the entity has clear evidence that recovery will occur in another manner.

We appreciate the fact that the Board is trying to address the difficult practical issues that can arise when calculating and measuring deferred taxes associated with assets that are remeasured or revalued at fair value. However, we do not support the proposed exception to the principles in IAS 12 (see box below). Click to Download our Comment Letter (PDF 58k). All of our past comment letters are Here.

Although we agree that additional guidance would be useful in this area, we do not support the introduction of an exception to the existing principles of IAS 12. Instead, we recommend the Board provides additional implementation guidance to illustrate how the existing principles within IAS 12 should be applied. In developing this implementation guidance, the Board should consider an approach based on an entity's underlying business model, an approach that we believe to be consistent with the current requirements in IAS 12.52.

The topics discussed were as follows:

• Financial Instruments: Impairment

Click here to go to the preliminary and unofficial Notes Taken by Deloitte Observers for the entire meeting.

Translation is a necessary and vital part of achieving the IFRS Foundation's mission to develop a single set of high-quality global accounting standards for use around the world. It is in the interest of any country adopting or using IFRSs or the IFRS for SMEs that the translated IFRSs are of a high quality. Moreover, the translation of IFRSs is often also an important component in a country's decision to adopt IFRSs. The IFRS Translations Update gives an overview of recently published and upcoming translations:

• Recently published translations:
  • Spanish translation of the 2010 Red Book
  • French translation of the requirements of the standards
  • French translation of IFRS for SMEs
  • Korean 2010 XBRL taxonomy
  • Japanese 2010 Red Book
• Upcoming translations:
  • Arabic 2010 XBRL taxonomy
  • Arabic translation of the 2010 Red Book (by the end of this year)
  • German 2010 Red Book (in the first quarter of 2011)
  • Polish translation of the 2010 Red Book (by the second quarter of 2011)
  • Traditional Chinese 2010 Red Book (will be published on the Taiwanese Financial Supervisory Commission's website as the standards become available)
  • Other projects in progress include the Brazilian Portuguese 2010 Red Book and IFRS for SMEs, and the Serbian IFRS for SMEs.
• Russian translation update: The requirements of the standards that have been issued since the 2009 Red Book, IFRS for SMEs, and the Training Modules for IFRS for SMEs have all been translated into Russian and are awaiting review by the expert review committee which is currently being finalised. Throughout 2011 the Russian translation will continue to be updated in support of IFRS adoption in Russian-speaking countries.

Click for:

• IFRS Translation Update (link to IASB website)

To assist the IASB in its efforts to gather views from European constituents, as well as to inform itself of whether, and to what extent, EFRAG preliminary views are representative of European views, EFRAG has organised outreach events throughout Europe in partnership with European National Standard Setters.

As part of the outreach activities, EFRAG has published a paper, which was intended to stimulate the debate by European constituents on the proposals included in the Draft ED. Prior to the outreach events, participants were asked to express their views on the issues through the use of a questionnaire.

The report was produced by the Monitoring Group into the so-called 'IFAC Reforms' aimed at strengthening the international auditing and assurance standards process to bolster public confidence in the work of auditors and in the financial reporting process.

The appointments were confirmed at the IFAC Council meeting being held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A number of new associates were also admitted to the organisation (from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Republic of Macedonia, Russia and Sri Lanka).

Click for IFAC press release (link to IFAC website).