April

Possible US legislation directing FASB to work with IASB

30 Apr 2002

Today's Wall Street Journal reports that the Chairman of the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce is working on legislation that would (a) provide funding for FASB via government-collected fees from listed companies, (b) direct FASB to complete within 18 months new standards on off-balance-sheet entities and revenue-recognition issues, and (c) direct FASB to work with foreign organisations to create International Accounting Standards.

The draft legislation is not yet on the Committee's Website.

SEC Commissioner: US look to IASB progress on stock options

30 Apr 2002

In a speech to the American Bar Association, US SEC Commissioner Isaac C.

Hunt suggests that failure to expense the cost of stock options could result in "more capital being invested in companies that on the surface appear to be high growth earnings companies because their labor costs are not fully reflected in their financial numbers". He notes, however, that the FASB has "many more important priorities that must be addressed before it can reexamine accounting for option compensation. For example, accounting for special purpose entities and revenue recognition issues must be FASB priorities." Because the International Accounting Standards Board is currently examining this issue, Commissioner Hunt suggest that "it very well may be prudent to see what they come up with before FASB or the Commission address this issue." Link to (PDF 62k).

Updated project pages

28 Apr 2002

We have rewritten our project summaries for Business Combinations and Insurance Contracts. .

We have rewritten our project summaries for Business Combinations and Insurance Contracts.

Business combinations exposure drafts delayed

26 Apr 2002

IASB's recently updated project summary for its Business Combinations project indicates that the three exposure drafts expected for this project will not be issued until some time in the second half of 2002. The three EDs are for (a) a new IFRS on business combinations that would replace IAS 22, (b) a revised IAS 36, Impairment of Assets, and (c) a revised IAS 38, Intangible Assets. .

IASB's recently updated project summary for its Business Combinations project indicates that the three exposure drafts expected for this project will not be issued until some time in the second half of 2002. The three EDs are for (a) a new IFRS on business combinations that would replace IAS 22, (b) a revised IAS 36, Impairment of Assets, and (c) a revised IAS 38, Intangible Assets.

We've updated our statistics page

26 Apr 2002

The IASPlus Statistics Page has tables or links to information about the internationalisation of the world's capital markets.

We have posted updated information for cross-border listings on the 45 FIBV member exchanges and details about foreign listings on the NYSE, NASDAQ, and London Exchange.

Enforcement of IFRS in Europe: FEE discussion paper

26 Apr 2002

The European Federation of Accountants (FEE) has published a discussion paper that examines how IFRS should be enforced in order to ensure the consistent and rigorous application of financial reporting standards throughout Europe by 2005. The discussion paper calls for creation of a European enforcement coordination mechanism as a partnership among national enforcement bodies, including securities regulators (such as COB in France or CONSOB in Italy) and review panels (such as the UK Financial Reporting Review Panel).

Click for Discussion Paper (PDF 281k) and Press Release (PDF 156k).

Deloitte & Touche commentary on special purpose entities

26 Apr 2002

We have posted the April/May 2002 edition of Deloitte & Touche For the Record.

The subject of this issue: (PDF 143k). In applying IAS, SIC 12 addresses special purposes entities.

Greece requires IAS for listed companies effective 2003

25 Apr 2002

The Greek government recently passed legislation that adopted International Accounting Standards for financial reporting in Greece.

This legislation applies to annual financial statements for periods beginning after December 31, 2002 (that is, adoption from 2003 onwards), and will be compulsory for all companies listed on the Athens Stock Exchange.

The new legislation will apply to both individual and consolidated financial statements and may be optionally applied by any other entity which is audited by the Institute of Certified Accountants Auditors of Greece.

A committee has been set up to consider the detailed implementation of this new legislation. The work of this committee is expected to be completed by June 2002, after which various ministerial decisions will be issued, describing how the adoption will take place.

April 2002 IASPlus Europe-Africa newsletter is posted

25 Apr 2002

We have posted the April 2002 Europe-Africa edition of our IASPlus Newsletter. .

We have posted the April 2002 Europe-Africa edition of our IASPlus Newsletter.

IASB Chairman comments to UK Treasury Committee

25 Apr 2002

The Treasury Committee of the UK House of Commons has been conducting an inquiry relating to financial regulation of public limited companies.

The formal terms of reference are "to examine, in the light of the Enron collapse, the arrangements for financial regulation of public limited companies in the United Kingdom". On 5 April 2002, IASB Chairman Sir David Tweedie provided (PDF 89k) to the committee. His 20-page submission addresses, among other things, how IFRS differ from US GAAP and current criticisms and concerns about financial reporting.

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.