Examples of the kinds of issues addressed in IAS: Healthcheck 2002 are treasury management, distributions, debt covenants and financing, mergers and acquisitions, management compensation, product development, management information, statutory accounts, taxes, human resources, training, IT systems and investor relations. The guide sets out practical ideas for addressing these and other issues. Click to (PDF 1,532k).

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) as submitted its Comments (PDF 12k) to the Committee of European Securities Regulators on principles for enforcement of accounting standards in Europe.

Parrett as global CEO, subject to endorsement by partners of the DTT member firms. The global CEO will be confirmed at the end of this process in April 2003. In the Press Release announcing his selection, Mr. Parrett said he would "focus on the advancement of global accounting and auditing standards, corporate responsibility and accountability, and corporate citizenship in the global economy".

Day spoke about the efforts underway to bring about international convergence of accounting standards. He commented on the importance of consistent application of accounting standards across national borders:

Important to the success of convergence is an infrastructure that enables consistent, comparable and appropriate application in multiple jurisdictions around the world. This may be the most difficult part given the diversity of backgrounds and regulatory structures of each of the jurisdictions. The use of interpretive bodies, such as the Emerging Issues Task Force in the U.S. and the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee in the international arena, is a critical part of this infrastructure. While not every question can, or should, be answered, there also cannot be fifteen answers to a pervasive question. That would undermine the credibility of the global accounting system.

The FASB staff will circulate a draft of a proposed FSP to Board members for their review. If a majority of Board members do not object to the proposed FSP, it will be posted on the FASB website for comment for a period of 30 days, which will be announced in FASB's newsletter Action Alert. At the end of the exposure period, the FASB staff will draft the final FSP. FSPs are intended to achieve more timely and consistent communication about the application of FASB literature. You can download the first Proposed FSP here ("Accounting for accrued interest receivable related to securitised and sold receivables under Statement 140").

The second day's discussion will focus on the distinction between debt and equity. Click for Agenda Details. The IASB will also hold public roundtable discussions of IAS 32 and IAS 39 in Brussels (10-11 March) and in London (12-14 March). A total of 108 firms, organisations, and individuals (the majority from the banking and insurance sectors) have asked to participate. Click to download the Questions that IASB has asked participants to address (PDF 74k).

The study, titled GAAP Convergence 2002, examines the current and planned adoption of IFRS in 59 countries. In 58 percent of the countries surveyed, national accounting standards will be replaced with IFRS for all listed companies, except where national issues remained not covered by the new standards. Another 22 percent said they were adopting IFRS on a standard by standard basis, and a further 20 percent said they were eliminating differences between national standards and IFRS as and when practical. 57 percent of those planning to adopt IFRS were driven by a government or regulatory requirement and 13 percent by standard setters. 51 percent of the 59 countries indicated that the complex nature of some of the international standards - in particular, those relating to financial instruments, and others incorporating fair value accounting - is a barrier to convergence in their country. In addition, 49 percent of the countries surveyed also cited the tax-driven nature of their national accounting regime as a hurdle. Consequently, many countries are at present limiting implementation of IFRS to listed companies, rather than extending it to all companies. Survey respondents also stressed the importance of getting better and more timely access to national language translations of the new standards and interpretations. While translations of IAS were available in 70 percent of the countries covered, in many cases the translations were not sanctioned by the IASB, and in nearly one-third of the countries where IFRS are available in the national language, the translations were not considered to be available quickly enough. Another area of challenge identified was the availability of IFRS training, for which demand is expected to build up significantly as the world moves towards new standards. Click to:

• Download the Report (PDF 2,262k, download may take a while for 56k modem users).
• Download Earlier Studies (GAAP 2000 or GAAP 2001).

The new and proposed SEC rules that influence Sarbanes-Oxley are complicated and require immediate and decisive action. Sarbanes-Oxley focuses heavily on the critical role of internal control. It is a process in which a company's board of directors, management, and other personnel must actively participate to drive business success. In a new publication, Moving Forward - A Guide to Improving Corporate Governance Through Effective Internal Control, Deloitte & Touche (US) recommends developing an internal control program with a single methodology to address the provisions of both Sections 302 and 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley. The comprehensive five step program provides a reliable approach to linking effective internal controls to sound corporate governance. Click to (PDF 665k).

We have updated the Summaries of the IFRIC Agenda Projects to reflect decisions made at the February 2003 IFRIC meeting.

The table reflects new information about required use of IFRS for listed companies in the Bahamas, Bulgaria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Mauritius – bringing to 65 the number countries in which IFRS must be used for reporting by domestic companies either currently or by 2005.