October

New Accounting Roundup is available

07 Oct 2005

We have posted (PDF 231k).

This newsletter, published by Deloitte & Touche LLP (United States), summarises recent accounting and financial reporting developments and provides Internet links to related content. This edition includes:
  • FASB developments, including convergence ED on earnings per share; invitation to comment on assets and liabilities with uncertainties; three proposed FASB Staff Positions; and summaries of recent FASB meetings.
  • AICPA developments, including a proposed auditing standard on communication of internal control matters; and Technical Practice Aids on employee benefit disclosures and losses from natural disasters.
  • SEC developments, including amendments to filing deadlines and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance; a statement on valuing employee stock options; and regulatory relief for Hurricane Katrina victims.
  • International developments, including IFRIC 6; Draft Technical Corrections 1; and summaries of recent IASB and IFRIC meetings.
You will find links to all past issues Here.

IASB will meet in London 18-20 October 2005

07 Oct 2005

The IASB will meet at its offices in London on Tuesday to Thursday, 18-20 October 2005. The announced agenda for the meeting is below.

The Board will also meet in Norwalk, CT, USA with the US Financial Accounting Standards Board on 24 and 25 October 2005.

agenda.gif18-20 October 2005, London Tuesday, 18 October 2005

  • Insurance contracts: continuation, cancellation and renewal options (Education Session)
  • IFRIC update on concessions (Education Session)
  • IFRIC update
Wednesday, 19 October 2005
  • Potential technical correction: IFRS 1 and IAS 12 – deferred tax relating to goodwill in a business combination
  • Business combinations II
  • Short-term convergence: borrowing costs
  • Conceptual Framework – Objectives and qualitative characteristics
  • Revenue recognition
    • The definition of revenue (specifically the meaning of 'customer')
    • Examples illustrating the application of the proposed approach to different types of revenue transactions.
  • Financial instruments – Discussion of:
    • Objectives and the nature and status of the current and possible future work program for financial instruments.
    • Issues related to the disaggregation of changes in fair value.
Thursday, 20 October 2005
  • Performance reporting
  • Consolidation

IOSCO consultation on disclosure principles

06 Oct 2005

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has published a Consultation Report on the International Disclosure Principles for Cross-Border Offerings and Listings of Debt Securities by Foreign Issuers.

Comments are due by 22 December 2005. The Consultation Report sets forth substantive disclosure principles for documents used in public offerings and listings of 'plain vanilla' corporate debt securities. The principles are intended as guidance to securities regulators who are developing or reviewing their regulatory disclosure regimes for cross-border offerings and listings of debt securities. Click for IOSCO Press Release (PDF 163k).

EFRAG comments on corrections policy

06 Oct 2005

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group has submitted to the IASB EFRAG's Views on IASB Technical Corrections Policy (PDF 25k).

While agreeing with some aspects of the proposed policy, EFRAG suggests that the IASB may be "focusing its Policy on Technical Corrections on the wrong category of issues".

Regulators to share information on IFRSs

06 Oct 2005

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is establishing a system for participating IOSCO members and other independent enforcement organizations to share information and consult in order to maximize co-ordination and convergence of the transition to and implementation of IFRSs.

While each national regulator will retain the right to deal with an issue on its own, the system will facilitate consistency by cataloguing, in a database, decisions made by regulators concerning application of IFRSs. This will provide a reference source for input to future regulatory decisions. Participating regulators will also contact each other to discuss particular decisions. IOSCO's announcement said:

On an ongoing basis, IOSCO will monitor issues related to the implementation of IFRS for indicators of issues that should be referred to the International Accounting Standards Board or the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee for consideration. IOSCO anticipates that the database will be operational by the second half of 2006. At this stage it is not intended for the catalogue of decisions to be publicly accessible.

Click for IOSCO Press Release (PDF 123k).

IASB seeks comments on Draft Technical Correction

05 Oct 2005

The IASB has invited comments on Draft Technical Correction (DTC) 1 Proposed Amendments to IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates–Net Investment in a Foreign Operation.

Comments are due 31 October 2005. If confirmed, these amendments would be the first to be issued under the Board's proposed new IASB Proposed Policy on Technical Corrections. DTC 1 provides that if a monetary item that forms part of a reporting entity's net investment in a foreign operation is denominated in the functional currency of the foreign operation, an exchange difference arises in the reporting entity's separate financial statements and in the foreign operation's individual financial statements. That exchange difference is reclassified to the separate component of equity in the financial statements in which the foreign operation is consolidated, proportionately consolidated, or accounted for using the equity method. DTC 1 can be downloaded from the IASB's Website.

Commissioner McCreevy will speak on IFRSs

05 Oct 2005

European Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy will deliver the keynote speech on the subject of IFRS: No Pain, No Gain? at the official opening of the new offices of the European Federation of Accountants (FEE) on 18 October 2005. Click for (PDF 23k). .

European Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy will deliver the keynote speech on the subject of IFRS: No Pain, No Gain? at the official opening of the new offices of the European Federation of Accountants (FEE) on 18 October 2005. Click for (PDF 23k).

New Deloitte IFRS-US GAAP comparison

04 Oct 2005

We have posted the new Deloitte (PDF 265k) as of 1 September 2005. While this 32-page comparison is comprehensive, it does not attempt to capture all of the differences that exist or that may be material to a particular entity's financial statements.

Our focus is on differences that are commonly found in practice. The significance of these differences – and others not included in this list – will vary with respect to individual entities depending on such factors as the nature of the entity's operations, the industry in which it operates, and the accounting policy choices it has made. You will find other comparisons of IFRSs and local GAAPs Here.

New IAASB standard on audit documentation

02 Oct 2005

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) has approved a revised International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 230 Audit Documentation.

ISA 230 establishes clear responsibilities for the auditor to assemble the final audit file on a timely basis (generally within 60 days after the date of the auditor's report) and sets out specific rules regarding deletions, modifications, or additions to audit documentation after the date of the auditor's report. There are new documentation requirements for those very rare occasions when an auditor finds it necessary to depart from the requirement of a standard in order to achieve the objective of the audit. There is also a new requirement that the auditor not delete or discard audit documentation after the final audit file has been assembled until after the retention period – ordinarily not less than five years from the date of the auditor's report or, if later, the date of the group auditor's report. ISA 230 is effective for audits of financial periods beginning on or after 15 June 2006. The standard may be downloaded without charge from IFAC's Website. Click for Press Release (PDF 83k).

EFRAG seeks to extend business combinations deadline

01 Oct 2005

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has written to the IASB asking that the IASB extend "probably by two months" the comment period for the Exposure Drafts of proposed amendments to IFRS 3 'Business Combinations' and related amendments to IAS 19, IAS 27 and IAS 37.

An extract from the letter follows:

The exposure drafts contain a number of proposals that will have a fundamental effect on the financial statements and/or have potentially widespread implications for other aspects of accounting. For that reason it is vitally important that the IASB's constituents study the proposals carefully before responding to them....

The nature of the drafts themselves compounds this problem because it is often not clear from the text why a particular proposal had been made. For example, faced with radical proposals for change it is reasonable to start by asking what is wrong with what we have now and how will the changes proposed benefit users of the financial statements. However, in the main the Basis for Conclusions as drafted does not help in answering those questions. This makes it more difficult to evaluate the proposals.

Click to download EFRAG's Letter to the IASB (PDF 24k).

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