This batch includes editorial corrections and changes to Bound Volume (Red Book) 2010, Bound Volume (Blue Book) 2011, Improvements to IFRSs (issued May 2010), The Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting (issued September 2010), Disclosures—Transfers of Financial Assets (issued October 2010), IFRS 9 Financial Instruments (issued October 2010), Deferred Tax: Recovery of Underlying Assets (issued December 2010) and Severe Hyperinflation and Removal of Fixed Dates for First-time Adopters (issued December 2010).

Click for Editorial Corrections to IFRSs (link to IASB website)

 

You can access the agenda on our 1-2 March 2011 joint meeting page.  We will also post Deloitte observer notes on this page as they are available.

This follows the nomination by the ESMA's Board of Supervisors on 11 January 2011. It is anticipated that Maijoor will take office on 1 April 2011. The term for the Chairperson is five years and may be extended once.

Steven Maijoor is currently a Director at the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) where he is in charge of financial reporting, auditing issues, market integrity supervision and part of the business operations.

Click for:

• ESMA press release (PDF 422k, link to ESMA website)
• Further ESMA news on our IFRSs in Europe pages

 

The Framework includes Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (currently in their third version, or "G3 Guidelines") which entities can follow in preparing sustainability reports. The GRI has recently publicly issued a number of documents and resources:

• a new "G3 Checklist" designed to help reporting organisations further implement the guidelines in their sustainability reporting
• a draft Construction and Real Estate Sector Supplement, sector-specific sustainability reporting guidance for organisations in these fields
• Arabic and Bulgarian translations of the Level C Reporting template, which can be used to prepare a basic sustainability report (other translations are also available).

The GRI website can be accessed at www.globalreporting.org.

We've posted additional Deloitte observer notes from the joint meeting with the FASB during day 2 of the meeting (click through for direct access to the notes):

Wednesday, 2 February 2011

• Revenue Recognition (IASB/FASB)
• Accounting for costs of obtaining a contract
• Insurance Contracts (IASB/FASB)
• Acquisition costs

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

The meeting is scheduled to take place in Brussels on Monday 28 February 2011 from 12.00 to 17.00 hrs.

Click for EFRAG press release (link to EFRAG website)

We've posted Deloitte observer notes from the first part of day 2 of the meeting (click through for direct access to the notes):

Wednesday, 2 February 2011

• Post-employment Benefits (IASB)
• Distinction between defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans
• Accounting for risk sharing features in a defined benefit plan

We will post notes from the joint IASB-FASB session (where revenue recognition and insurance contracts were discussed) soon.

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

The Accountancy Education Forum will feature speakers and participants from North and South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. The agenda includes panel discussions and interactive sessions that aim to share best practices, provide support tools, and answer questions, with a focus on the implementation of the International Education Standards set by the IAESB, and the UNCTAD-ISAR Accounting Model Curriculum.

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

He also discussed how the United States fits into the future of global accounting standards. You can access this article here (link to CFO.com website).

 

The UK Companies Act 2006 requires directors' reports to contain a business review which must itself contain a description of the principal risks and uncertainties facing the company. In assessing whether directors' reports comply with this requirement, the FRRP has found that in many cases:

• The directors' report does not clearly identify which risks and uncertainties the directors believe to be the principal ones facing the business.
• A long list of principal risks and uncertainties is given and the list raises a question as to whether all the risks and uncertainties on the list are actually principal ones.
• The description given of a risk or uncertainty is in generic terms and it is not clear how that risk or uncertainty applies to the company's circumstances.
• The disclosure is of a risk framework rather than of the risks or uncertainties themselves.
• The principal risks and uncertainties disclosed are not consistent with other information given in the report and accounts.
• The directors' report does not state how the company manages its principal risks and uncertainties.

The FRRP urges the companies not to hide behind boilerplate disclosures since "Boards who retreat behind boilerplate give the impression that they have not themselves understood the risks they face".

The requirements of the UK Companies Act are also reflected in IFRSs. The Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting states: "Financial information is useful when it is relevant and represents faithfully what it purports to represent." [F:QC4]. IAS 1.25 says that the uncertainties must be disclosed if management has significant concerns about the entity's ability to continue as a going concern; IAS 1.122 & 125 require disclosure of judgements, assumptions and sources of estimation uncertainty in preparing financial statements; and in December 2010 the IASB published an International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) Practice Statement Management Commentary, a broad, non-binding framework for the presentation of narrative reporting to accompany financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRSs, which also contains recommended risk disclosures (paragraphs 31 and 32).

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