It summarises the FASB's recent issuance of Statements No. 141(R) Business Combinations and No. 160 Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements. Those statements substantially elevate the role played by fair value and dramatically change the accounting for business combinations and noncontrolling interests. Their issuance represents the completion of the second phase of a multiphase project to reconsider the accounting for business combinations and to converge with the upcoming IASB standards. The IASB plans to release its equivalent of FAS 141(R) on 10 January 2008, with an effective date of 1 July 2009. The IASB's revised IFRS 3 will permit, but not require, recognition of the full goodwill of the acquired entity. SFAS 141(R) requires the full goodwill method. SFAS 141(R) and SFAS 160 may be downloaded without charge from the FASB Website.

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