October

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SME round-tables continue today

14 Oct 2005

The IASB is holding round-table discussions with respondents to its questionnaire on possible recognition and measurement simplifications for small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) in London on 13-14 October 2005. The two days are each divided into four 90-minute segments.

In each segment, representatives of five to seven responding organisations discuss their views with an equal number of members of the IASB. Click for More Information about the SME Project.
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Four new public sector exposure drafts

13 Oct 2005

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) has issued four exposure drafts.

Two relate to convergence with IFRSs and two are aimed at increasing the transparency of government financial statements:
  • ED 25 Equal Authority of Paragraphs in IPSASs, proposes amendments to the Preface to International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) to clarify that all paragraphs in the IPSASs have equal authority.
  • ED 26 Improvements to International Public Sector Accounting Standards. ED 26 proposes updates to 11 IPSASs to converge with the equivalent IFRSs issued by the IASB in December 2003 as part of the IASB's 'improvements project'. We had previously reported on ED 26 in our news story of 28 September 2005.
  • ED 27 Presentation of Budget Information in Financial Statements.
  • ED 28 Disclosure of Financial Information about the General Government Sector.
IPSASs are based on IFRSs to the extent appropriate, and business activities of governments must follow IFRSs directly. The EDs may be downloaded from the IPSASB Web Page on IFAC's Website. Comments on EDs 25 and 26 are requested by 31 January 2006. Comments on EDs 27 and 28 are requested by 10 February 2006. Click for:
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IFRS Ydinkohdat – IFRS In Your Pocket 2005 in Finnish

12 Oct 2005

Deloitte & Touche (Finland) have published IFRS Ydinkohdat, the Finnish version of our popular booklet, IFRS In Your Pocket 2005. This 72-page booklet contains background information about the IASB and IFRSs, and summaries of all of the standards and interpretations.

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EFRAG makes three endorsement recommendations

11 Oct 2005

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group has recommended that the European Commission adopt three pronouncements for use in Europe.

Click to download EFRAG's letters on:
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FEE urges clarity of basis of reporting

11 Oct 2005

The Federation of European Accountants (FEE) has published an analysis of responses to its April 2005 discussion paper on the reporting issues and implications for the audit report of the process of 'endorsing' IFRSs for use in Europe.

FEE represents 44 professional institutes of accountants from 32 countries. Based on its analysis, FEE makes the following recommendations:
  • FEE calls on the European Commission to issue authoritative guidance on how European companies should refer to their financial reporting framework. "There is a clear need for a standard wording."
  • FEE recommends a change to the EC's previously suggested reference to the financial reporting framework: "Precision would be added if it were amended to: in accordance with IFRSs as adopted for use in the EU." Specifically the reference to the plural of IFRSs is considered significant to highlight that standards are endorsed one by one.
  • Companies are strongly encouraged to explain, in the notes to the accounts, how their accounting policies, applying IFRSs as endorsed for use in the EU, depart from full IFRS. "This will enable investors to understand the impact and to compare the results of companies within and outside the EU."
  • The reference in the audit report should be the same as in the accounting policies.
  • Where companies are in compliance with full IFRS, they should be encouraged to say so in their accounting policies. However, the legal financial reporting framework in the EU needs to be referred to in all cases.
This is not just a European issue because national adoptions of IFRSs elsewhere around the world have included additions, deletions, and changes to the IASB standards as well as time lags between IASB adoption and local adoption. Click for:
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SEC Chairman speaks on international issues

10 Oct 2005

US SEC Chairman Christopher Cox spoke recently at a Video/Tele Conference on International Securities Regulatory and Accounting Issues organised by the American Bar Association.

Chairman Cox discussed a range of issues including integrity of capital markets around the world, the need for global accounting standards and enforcement, and interactive financial data. He emphasised that while the SEC is involved increasingly in international activities, the SEC does not seek to impose its views but rather encourages global convergence and collaboration. Chairman Cox's remarks are available in the form of an MP3 audio file. Download the Audio File* (MP3, 3.185mb).

*On Windows computers, left-clicking on this link usually will open the file in the default media player. Right-click on the link to save the MP3 file on your hard disk.

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Updated news story on amendment of EU 8th Directive

09 Oct 2005

In a news story of 29 September 2005, we reported that a revision to the EU 8th Company Law Directive (the "auditing directive") approved by the European Parliament would adopt International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) for use in Europe.

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SEC planning for interactive financial data

08 Oct 2005

With the objective of making financial disclosure more useful and accessible to investors, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a Request for Information (RFI) concerning interactive financial data.

The SEC said that "interactive data holds the promise of transforming the static, text-only documents companies file with the SEC into dynamic financial reports that can be quickly and easily accessed and analysed." The RFI seeks information from the software industry to assist the Commission's staff in identifying ways to receive, store, view, and analyse interactive financial data. Click for:
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Special edition of IAS Plus on IFRS 7

08 Oct 2005

Deloitte's Global IFRS Leadership Team has prepared a special edition of our IAS Plus Newsletter providing an overview of IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures.

IFRS 7:
  • adds new disclosures about financial instruments to those currently required by IAS 32 Financial Instruments: Disclosure and Presentation;
  • replaces the disclosure requirements currently imposed on financial institutions by IAS 30 Disclosures in the Financial Statements of Banks and Similar Financial Institutions; and
  • puts all of those financial instruments disclosures together in a new combined Standard.
We have also prepared a disclosure checklist for IFRS 7 that supplements our general IFRS presentation and disclosure checklist for 2005. Click to:
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We comment on consistent application of IFRSs in EU

07 Oct 2005

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has submitted our (PDF 441k).

While we have some reservations about certain detailed aspects of the discussion paper, we support the EFRAG in taking a pro-active role in addressing the issues arising in Europe as a result of the introduction of IFRSs. We do not support the establishment of a European interpretations group or European urgent issues group. However, we do support the establishment of a European IFRIC support mechanism along the lines proposed in EFRAG's discussion paper. We agree with EFRAG that such a mechanism could be of substantial assistance to IFRIC.

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.