The study concluded: "Investors lack the single most important element they need to help cut through much of the distortions and dislocations discussed in this paper: Clear, full, disclosure of accurate, unbiased, comparable information." Click for Full Study (PDF 250k).

On the agenda are:

• Insurance Contracts
• Share-Based Payment
• Performance Reporting
• Business Combinations Phase 2
• Convergence Issues.

The Board will meet with its Advisory Council on 20-21 June and will hold a public Seminar on share-based payment on 18 June.

Which browser?		Which operating system?
Internet Explorer 5	74.5%	Windows 98	42.2%
Internet Explorer 6	12.5%	Windows 2000	25.4%
Internet Explorer 4	4.5%	Windows NT	19.0%
Internet Explorer 2	0.8%	Windows 95	9.2%
Total Internet Explorer	92.3%	Windows XP	2.4%
Netscape 4	5.7%	Total Windows	98.2%
Netscape 3	1.2%	Macintosh	0.4%
Netscape 6	0.6%	Others	1.5%
Total Netscape	7.8%	Total Non-Windows	1.9%

The US SEC is proposing to require, for domestic companies, that:

• The principal executive and financial officers certify the contents of the company's quarterly and annual reports.
• Certain new events be reported on Form 8-K, including unusual agreements, terminations of business relationships, contingent obligations, restructurings, write-offs, impairments, rating changes, withdrawals of auditors' reports, and changes in directors and management.
• Form 8-K reports be filed within two business days instead of the current 5 to 15 days.

Click for SEC Press Release.

The regulation establishes an Accounting Regulatory Committee to advise the Commission in this regard and sets a deadline of 31 December 2002 for decisions regarding existing IAS. Under the regulation, IAS can only be adopted if they

• (a) are not contrary to EU Directives,
• (b) are conducive to the European public good, and
• (c) meet the criteria of understandability, relevance, reliability, and comparability.

The regulation requires that the Commission consider the views of national accounting standard setters; securities, banking and insurance regulators; central banks including the ECB; the accounting profession; and users and preparers of accounts. The private sector accounting profession in Europe has created an organisation called the European Financial Reporting Advisory Council (EFRAG) to present coordinated views to the Accounting Regulatory Committee and the Commission. EFRAG has begun its task of reviewing the existing IAS with regard to their applicability in Europe. Click for EFRAG Press Release (PDF 21k).

We have posted the 10 June 2002 edition of the Accounting Roundup newsletter from Deloitte & Touche USA.

The board of trustees of the IASC Foundation will hold an open meeting at the IASB office in London on 12 June 2002. The public session is 08:30-10:30. Agenda topics:

• Report of the IASB Chairman
• Proposed Revision of the Constitution
• Future of IASC Foundation funding

The 4,000 companies listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market in the USA would be subject to corporate governance reforms similar to those proposed by the New York Stock Exchange (see 7 June 2002 news item).

Member States may defer application until 2007 for those companies that are listed both in the EU and elsewhere and that currently use US GAAP (or other GAAP) as their primary basis of accounting, as well as for companies that have only publicly traded debt securities. The goal of the Regulation is to eliminate barriers to cross-border trading in securities by ensuring that company accounts throughout the EU are reliable, transparent, and comparable. The Regulation has the force of law without requiring transposition into national legislation. However, "to ensure appropriate political oversight", the Regulation establishes a new EU mechanism to "assess IAS to give them legal endorsement" before they can be used in Europe. Member States have the option of extending the requirements of the Regulation to unlisted companies and to the production of individual accounts.

• Full Text of Regulation (PDF 33k)
• EC Press Release (PDF 24k)
• Background on IAS in Europe
• IASB Press Release (PDF 16k)

 

The report asks that the SEC to "exercise more active oversight of the FASB to improve the quality of GAAP and the speed of FASB actions". The committee also makes recommendations to Congress and the SEC on various policy and regulatory matters. The proposals seek to strengthen issuer accountability, integrity, and transparency. Click for:

• Summary of Recommendations (PDF 80k)
• Full Text of Recommendations (PDF 1,421k, 180 pages)
• NYSE Press Release (PDF 26k)
• (PDF 30k) on the NYSE recommendations