January

IASB announces agenda for January meeting; day added

15 Jan 2004

The IASB will meet on Tuesday afternoon, 20 January 2004, as well as on the previously announced dates of 21-23 January.

The agenda:

AGENDA OF THE IASB MEETING 20-23 JANUARY 2004

  • Business Combinations Phase I
  • Financial Instruments – discussion of comments on the exposure draft on macro hedging
  • IFRIC Matters
  • Insurance Contracts Phase I – discussion of comments on ED 5
  • Leasing
  • Post-Employment Benefits
  • Revenue Recognition
  • Short-term Convergence – discussion of comments on ED 4 on asset disposals and discontinued operations

January 2004 editions of IASPlus newsletters posted

15 Jan 2004

We have posted the January 2004 editions of our quarterly newsletter -->IAS Plus -->: (PDF 230k) (PDF 269k) The United Kingdom edition will be published soon. .

We have posted the January 2004 editions of our quarterly newsletter IAS Plus:

The United Kingdom edition will be published soon.

Summaries of some IASs are updated

14 Jan 2004

We have begun updating our Summaries of IASs to reflect recent revisions.

So far we have updated the summaries of

Study of trends and causes of financial statement errors in US

13 Jan 2004

A new study by Huron Consulting Group has found that the number of restatements due to errors in the annual financial statements of public companies in the United States rose to a record 206 in 2003, up from 183 in 2002. Including revisions to quarterly reports, the total number of restatements fell slightly to 323 from 330 in 2002. The most common errors in 2003 related to provisions (accruals for liabilities of uncertain amount or timing) and contingencies.

That differs from 2002, when revenue recognition matters were the most common cause of restatements. Click for:

Disparities in implementing Internal Market directives in Europe

13 Jan 2004

A Study by the European Commission has found "big disparities between Member States in implementing and applying rules" for the European Internal Market.

The Commission reported that 131 Directives (around 8.5% of Internal Market Directives) have still not been implemented into national law in every Member State, though the deadlines agreed by the Member States themselves when they adopted the Directives have passed (often by more than two years). The Regulation requiring all EU-listed companies to prepare their consolidated financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards from 2005 is part of the Commission's Internal Market Strategy.

CESR recommendations on use of IFRS in prospectuses

09 Jan 2004

The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) has submitted to the European Commission its (PDF 294k) on the content of prospectuses.

Noting that some EU member States require 3 years of historical financial information in prospectuses, CESR recommended, for companies that must switch to IFRS because they are selling securities in a public market for the first time, that:
  • Debt issuers should restate only one year of accounts on an IFRS basis even if two years is required for equity issuers.
  • No issuer should be required to produce IFRS figures in a prospectus for any period earlier than 1 January 2004 (1 January 2006 if the member State allows delayed transition to IFRS for debt issuers and/or companies that currently prepare their primary financial statements with US GAAP).
  • Non-EU companies that list in Europe for the first time and that use "internationally accepted standards" should be allowed to continue to do so until 2007.
  • Non-EU issuers that currently have securities listed on a European exchange be required to switch to IFRS only if the future transparency directive requires them to do so.
  • The Commission should establish a procedure to evaluate equivalence of non-EU-GAAPs to IFRS.
Click for (PDF 114k) and Link to CESR Website.

You can listen to FASB meetings by webcast without charge

09 Jan 2004

The US Financial Accounting Standards Board has started to broadcast its meetings live via audio webcast.

There's no charge. To listen to the webcast, visit the FASB's homepage www.fasb.org to access the link. You must have Windows Media Player® Version 9 installed on your computer. If you are on a network, the network must allow MMS (multimedia service) access. You can also listen to a recording of the most recent Board meeting via webcast free of charge. Go to the FASB's homepage and click the "Archive Meeting" playback link. The archive playback will be available until the next Board meeting.

FEE calls for coordinated enforcement of IFRS in Europe

08 Jan 2004

The European Federation of Accountants (FEE) has called for a pan-European body to enforce International Financial Reporting Standards consistently throughout Europe.

"The impending adoption of IFRS in Europe should be a key driver towards a fully integrated European capital market by facilitating comparability of financial information across the EU. However, FEE... is concerned that the benefits of increased market efficiency will be undermined unless there is consistent enforcement of IFRS throughout Europe, a role that the proposed enforcement body would undertake.... The European coordination body's role is to ensure consistency in the processes used and decisions reached by national enforcement bodies in order to create a level playing field for enforcement of International Financial Reporting Standards." Click for:

International convergence is one of FEI's top issues for 2004

08 Jan 2004

The CEO of Financial Executives International (FEI) includes international convergence in her List of the top financial reporting issues for 2004. FEI comprises 15,000 senior-level corporate financial executives, primarily in the United States (75 chapters) and Canada (11 chapters).

Her advice to FEI members:

International Convergence. Monitor what's going on at the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Whatever projects are on the IASB agenda are likely to be on FASB's agenda in the near term (including pension accounting, insurance accounting, lease accounting). In mid-December, FASB issued several Exposure Drafts identifying short-term convergence issues.

Deloitte Hong Kong GAAP guide includes comparison with IFRS

07 Jan 2004

The Third Edition of Deloitte's Hong Kong GAAP: A Practical Guide to Generally Accepted Accounting Practice has been published by Sweet & Maxwell Asia.

Written by Deloitte partners Stephen Taylor and Norma Hall, this 1,514-page book includes 48 chapters and five appendices. Each chapter has a comparison with International Financial Reporting Standards and with the standards in the United States, United Kingdom, and People's Republic of China. One appendix is a comprehensive comparison of Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards and IFRS. This edition includes significant revisions to the chapters on income tax, interim financial reporting, and financial instruments as well as entirely new chapters on government grants, agriculture, hyper-inflationary economies and summary financial reports. Copies may be ordered from Sweet & Maxwell by phone (+852 2863 2668), fax (+852 2520 6954), or website www.sweetandmaxwellasia.com. The price is US$93 + 10% for postage and packing.

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