Agenda: The discussion is likely to focus mainly on accounting for life insurance contracts.

13-14 January 2005 – Joint International Group on Performance. Agenda includes required financial statements, comparative periods for financial statements, how is the statement of cash flows used, what does 'performance' mean, and recycling.

The locations of both meetings will be Painters' Hall, 9 Little Trinity Lane, London EC4V 2AD, United Kingdom.

We have updated the following agenda project pages to reflect the discussions and decisions at the Board's December 2004 meeting:

• Accounting Standards for Small and Medium-sized Entities
• Business Combinations: Purchase Method Procedures
• Financial Instruments: 2004 Amendments
• Financial Instruments: Disclosures
• Revenue Recognition
• Short-term Convergence – IFRSs and US GAAP

Deloitte is pleased to make available without charge these additional IFRS e-learning modules:

• IAS 23 Borrowing Cost
• IAS 29 Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary Economies
• IAS 38 Intangible Assets
• IFRS 3 Business Combinations

These modules bring the total number of available modules to 32. Each module involves a 4mb to 6mb download of a zip file, then installation via unzipping on your computer. To access Deloitte's IFRS e-learning, just click on the light bulb icon on the IASPlus home page.

The Prospectuses Directive, which comes into force on 1 July 2005, is aimed at simplifying the raising of capital in Europe – a 'single passport' to the European capital markets. The Prospectuses Directive requires involvement of the auditor to give assurance on historical and prospective information. The purpose of the FEE paper is to provide national auditing standard setters with a framework within which standards might be developed for audits related to the Prospectuses Directive. Click for (PDF 29k). The discussion paper can be downloaded from FEE's Website.

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group has finalised its preliminary views to be submitted to IFRIC on two IFRIC draft interpretations and seeks comments on those views, as follows:

• IFRIC D10 Liabilities Arising from Participating in a Specific Market - Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, comments requested by 27 January 2005
• IFRIC D11 Changes in Contributions to Employee Share Purchase Plans, comments requested by 16 February 2005.

You can download EFRAG's draft letters to IFRIC from EFRAG's Website.

This paper complements Part I of the consultation paper issued in October, which covered dissemination and storage of regulated information. Part II covers three specific issues raised in relation to half yearly reporting, namely, the minimum content of half-yearly financial statements not prepared under IAS/IFRS; the meaning and scope of 'major' related party transactions that must be reported on in half-yearly reports; and, the auditor's review of the half-yearly report. It also addresses the equivalence of transparency requirements for 'third country' issuers. The CESR deadline for comment on Part II is 4 March 2005. A hearing is scheduled for 17 February 2005. Consultation on Part I closes 28 January 2005. Click to download:

• (PDF 444k)
• (PDF 103k)
• (PDF 729k)

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group has finalised its preliminary views regarding whether the following should be endorsed for use in Europe of:

• IFRIC 4 Determining whether an Arrangement contains a Lease, comments requested by 11 January 2005
• IFRIC 5 Rights to Interests arising from Decommissioning, Restoration and Environmental Rehabilitation Funds, comments requested by 20 January 2005.
• Amendments to IAS 19 Employee Benefits: Actuarial Gains and Losses, Group Plans and Disclosures, comments requested by 27 January 2005.

You can download EFRAG's draft letters to the European Commission from EFRAG's Website.

Bunting, Chair, AICPA Board of Directors, writes about the growing importance of IFRSs in the USA:

As we move closer to 2005 and the beginning of a long-planned convergence between U.S. and international accounting standards, American CPAs will be increasingly affected by the decisions of the International Accounting Standards Board. The U.S. profession will be only one of many wishing to be heard in this standard-setting process. Our outreach efforts and our ability to coalesce with a variety of regulators and other interested parties will help determine our level of influence.

This follows the release by the IASB of IFRS 6. Deloitte (Australia) has published a new (PDF 51k) that provides an overview of AASB 6. AASB 6 is not expected to cause significant changes to the accounting for capitalised exploration and evaluation expenditure in Australia. The AASB has added Australian-specific paragraphs into the standard to grandfather current accounting for exploration and evaluation expenditure, and the proposed impairment test included in the original exposure draft has been amended such that an area of interest approach to impairment will continue. However changes may arise with respect to how to account for other extractive industry related activities, such as development, construction, production and restoration. To view earlier Australian Accounting Alerts Click Here.

Details are on EFRAG's Website. EFRAG was formed in 2001 by a broad group of organisations representing the European accounting profession, preparers, users, and national standard-setters with the following goals:

• to provide technical expertise to the European Commission concerning the use of IFRSs within the Europe,
• to participate in IASB's standard setting process, and
• to coordinate within the EU the development of views concerning IFRSs.