November

Notes from the second day of the 27-30 November IASB meeting

30 Nov 2001

We have moved the summary of discussions at the November 2001 IASB meeting to its own page.

Click to go to Summary of IASB's 27-30 November 2001 Meeting. It had originally been presented as several lengthy news items.

Financial analysts worldwide strongly favour expense recognition for stock options

29 Nov 2001

More than 80% of 1,944 investment analysts and portfolio managers surveyed by the Association for Investment Management and Research believe that all stock options granted to employees are compensation whose cost should be recognised as an expense in measuring net income.

A quarter of the respondents were from Europe and Asia-Pacific, the rest from North America. AIMR surveyed its members "to gauge their response to a proposed agenda topic of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) that could require companies to report the fair value of stock options granted – including those to employees – as an expense on the income statement, reducing earnings". 81% of respondents use information about stock options when evaluating a firm's performance and determining its value. Click for AIMR Press Release. Click here for Information about IASB's Project.

Notes from the first day of the 27-30 November IASB meeting

28 Nov 2001

We have moved the summary of discussions at the November 2001 IASB meeting to its own page.

Click to go to Summary of IASB's 27-30 November 2001 Meeting. It had originally been presented as several lengthy news items.

New SEC Chairman speaks about IAS

27 Nov 2001

In his first public remarks about International Accounting Standards, new SEC Chairman Harvey L.

Pitt said (click for PDF 55k:

We are inspired and encouraged by all of the cooperative efforts aimed at crafting high quality international accounting standards. While work remains to be done, we are certainly well on the road toward creating the type of standards in which investors can have confidence. Looking into the future, we also must appreciate that compatible core accounting standards will lose some of their value unless we work together toward consistency among nations in interpretation and application of these standards.

IFAC changes its structure for setting auditing standards

27 Nov 2001

The Council of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has revised significantly the structure and operation of the International Auditing Practices Committee (IAPC), which sets International Standards on Auditing (ISAs).

Among the changes:
  • New name: International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB).
  • Revised objectives: To more clearly reflect that IAASB's goals are to develop auditing standards of high quality in the public interest.
  • Expanded membership: From 14 to 18 members, including 10 from IFAC member bodies, five from international audit firms (to be proposed by the Forum of Firms), and three non-auditor representatives.
  • IAASB meetings: Open to the public.
  • IAASB agendas and minutes: Available to the public.
  • Relationships with national auditing standard setters: A mandate to work closely, including undertaking joint coordinated projects, with the goal of convergence of standards for global acceptance.
  • IAASB technical resources: Increased.
Many of these changes are similar to those adopted when IASB replaced IASC earlier this year. The changes result from a study by a special task force: Final Task Force Report (PDF 87k).

IASB meeting 27-30 November

24 Nov 2001

IASB will meet this coming Tuesday-Friday at its offices in London to discuss the following agenda projects: Business Combinations Financial Institutions First-Time Application of IFRS Improvements to the Following IFRS: -- IAS 21, The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates -- IAS 23, Borrowing Costs -- IAS 33, Earnings per Share Insurance Contracts Amendments to IAS 39, Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurements .

IASB will meet this coming Tuesday-Friday at its offices in London to discuss the following agenda projects:

Comparisons of UK GAAP with French and German GAAP

24 Nov 2001

Deloitte & Touche has published comparisons of UK GAAP with GAAP in France and in Germany.

Batch 6 of IAS 39 guidance is published

21 Nov 2001

IASB has published its sixth batch of IAS 39 Guidance developed by the Board's IAS 39 Implementation Guidance Committee (IGC).

This batch includes 17 Q&A; and two examples. One of the examples addresses the particularly difficult issue of applying hedge accounting when a bank or other financial institution manages its interest rate risk on an enterprise-wide basis. Another example focuses on internal derivatives. IASB has indicated that IGC has not scheduled further meetings. IASB is developing some amendments to IAS 39.

IFAD's "GAAP 2000" report is being updated

19 Nov 2001

The International Forum for Accountancy Development is updating and expanding its GAAP 2000 survey of national accounting rules.

The study highlights instances where a country's rules either do not allow or do not require the IAS accounting treatment. Approximately 60 countries will be included in the report for 2001, compared to 53 in the 2000 report. Also, the revised report will cover approximately 80 accounting and disclosure requirements, compared to 60 in the 2000 report. The new report is expected to be released in December 2001. Here is More Information about IFAD including the complete GAAP 2000 Report in PDF format.

IASB begins "soft launch" of insurance accounting proposals

17 Nov 2001

IASB has released three sections of a Draft Statement of Principles (DSOP) on Insurance Contracts.

The sections deal with the scope of the project, definition of an insurance contract, recognition and derecognition principles, and measurement objectives. The DSOP was developed by a steering committee for consideration by the IASB. While the draft is not a formal IASB discussion document, IASB has invited those who wish to comment to send their views directly to the project manager. You can download the draft on IASB's Website. IASB plans to post further sections of the DSOP as drafting is completed.

Correction list for hyphenation

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