December

Plans for improving IFRS XBRL in 2010

12 Dec 2009

The International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation has published The IFRS Taxonomy 2010 Architecture Draft for public comment. It also published a project summary and feedback statement on Architectural Improvements to the IFRS Taxonomy.

The feedback statement summarises the architectural improvements that will be implemented in the next release of the IFRS Taxonomy in 2010 as a result of consultations in July 2009. Both documents may be found Here on the IASB's website.

 

Insurance accounting newsletter in German

12 Dec 2009

Deloitte (United Kingdom) is publishing a series of Insurance Accounting Newsletters.

We post these regularly on our IAS Plus Insurance Project Page. Deloitte (Germany) is translating selected insurance newsletters into German. The latest is: The four earlier insurance newsletters available in German are Here.

 

FASB chairman's remarks at AICPA conference

11 Dec 2009

In his remarks at the American Institute of CPAs' 37th Annual National Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments earlier this week, FASB Chairman Robert H Herz addressed the following key points:

  • Independent accounting standards that are aimed at providing relevant, transparent, and unbiased financial information are of prime importance to our reporting system, our capital markets, and our economy.
  • Much of the discussion about the role of accounting standards in the economic crisis seems to confuse our role of helping to provide investors and the capital markets with relevant and transparent information on the performance and financial condition of financial institutions (along with other companies) with the regulatory need to ensure the safety and soundness of financial institutions and stability of the financial system.While these tasks often overlap, they are not the same and the setting of accounting standards (ie, GAAP) and the setting of regulatory capital and reserves should be decoupled so that one does not drive the other.
  • Constituents have strongly divided views on issues relating to the accounting for financial instruments and reporting by financial institutions, particularly as regards the use of amortized cost vs. fair value measurements. I will discuss some of the key issues in these debates, including concerns about 'procyclicality'. I will also offer some thoughts on why reporting both fair value information and amortized cost information might help bridge this divide by providing investors and regulators with better, more timely insights on the performance, financial condition, and underlying risks at financial institutions, without eliminating traditional measures of net income and earnings per share and while also allowing regulators to independently establish regulatory capital requirements.
  • How we are systematically and thoroughly addressing these important issues in our project to improve the accounting for financial instruments.

 

Singapore illustrative financial statements 2009

11 Dec 2009

Deloitte & Touche LLP, Singapore has published Singapore Illustrative Financial Statements 2009. This publication provides a set of sample financial statements of a typical listed company in Singapore, and includes illustrations of the various disclosures required by the Singapore Companies Act, SGX-ST Listing Manual, and Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (FRSs) and Singapore Interpretations (INT FRSs).

Singapore FRSs are nearly identical to IFRSs and will be Fully Converged by 2012. Please see our Singapore Page for more Singapore information.
Click for Singapore Illustrative Financial Statements 2009 (PDF 2,017k).

 

Japan becomes the newest IFRS country

11 Dec 2009

The Financial Services Authority of Japan (FSA) has Published on its Website, in Japanese, final Cabinet Office Ordinances that allow some Japanese public companies voluntarily to start using IFRSs designated by the Commissioner of the FSA ('Designated IFRSs') in their consolidated financial statements starting from the fiscal year ending 31 March 2010. Concurrently, the Commissioner published the Designated IFRSs as of 11 December 2009.

Basically, the list includes all IFRSs and Interpretations issued on or before 30 June 2009. Therefore, the list does not include, for example, IFRS 9, IFRIC 19, or the 2009 revisions to IFRS 1, IFRS 2, IAS 24, IAS 32, and IFRIC 14 (some of which become mandatory for annual periods beginning 1 January 2010). The revised Ordinances also discontinue a provision of the current law that allows some Japanese listed companies domestically to submit their consolidated financial statements using US GAAP. About 35 Japanese companies take advantage of this provision. Use of US GAAP will be prohibited starting in fiscal years ending after 31 March 2016. Click for Summary of the Ordinances (PDF 51k) from the FSA's website. The IASB has issued a welcoming Press Release (PDF 101k).

To be eligible to voluntarily start using IFRSs in 2010, domestic Japanese companies must meet both of (1) and (2) below:

  1. All of the following requirements shall be met:
    • Shares issued by the company are listed on a Securities Exchange in Japan.
    • The company discloses in its Annual Securities Reports information regarding specific efforts to ensure appropriateness of its consolidated financial statements.
    • The company allocates executives or employees with ample knowledge about Designated IFRSs and has in place a structure that enables it to properly prepare consolidated financial statements in accordance with Designated IFRSs.
  2. The company, its parent, a related company, or the parent of the related company shall either:
    • disclose under laws and regulations of a foreign jurisdiction periodically as required thereby, documents on its business conditions prepared in accordance with IFRSs;
    • disclose under rules set by a foreign security exchange markets periodically as required thereby, documents on its business conditions prepared in accordance with IFRSs; or
    • own a foreign subsidiary whose capital is equal to or exceeds the equivalent of two billion Japanese yen.
A company that chooses to apply Designated IFRSs will be required to disclose in the initial fiscal year of such application:
  1. condensed consolidated financial statements reported in accordance with Japanese GAAP (for the current and previous fiscal years) and a description of material changes in converting to Designated IFRSs; and
  2. a description of differences between main items prepared in accordance with Designated IFRSs and Japanese GAAP.
In subsequent fiscal years, the company will be required to disclose only the information set out in (2) above. Japan intends to consider, around 2012, whether to make IFRSs mandatory for all public companies starting around 2015 or 2016.
Click for:

 

EFRAG-FEE paper on expected loss model

10 Dec 2009

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) and the European Federation of Accountants FEE have published Impairment of Financial Assets – The Expected Loss Model.

The two groups prepared the paper jointly as part of their pro-active work to provide European stakeholders with a perspective on the IASB's Proposals for the impairment of financial assets. It is intended to promote discussion and debate on those proposals. The paper describes the proposals but does not present the views of either EFRAG or FEE. Click for Press Release (PDF 34k).

This joint FEE-EFRAG paper firstly provides detail on the context of the recent IASB proposals and then goes on to give a general description of the expected loss model (including two worked computations). This high-level analysis is followed by a discussion about what information is generated by the model, including a description of how the results would be presented and disclosed in the financial statements and associated notes. Finally the Paper compares the expected loss model with other kinds of impairment models.... The aim of the paper is to provide general characteristics of the expected loss model, highlight the potential complexities and challenges, and stress the key differences from other models, rather than provide the assessment of its suitability, which would be provided in the comment letters to IASB by both FEE and EFRAG next year.

Click for Impairment of Financial Assets – The Expected Loss Model (PDF 368k).

 

IFRS Kézikönyv 2009

10 Dec 2009

Deloitte Hungary has published IFRS Kézikönyv 2009 – the Hungarian language translation of IFRSs in Your Pocket 2009. This 124-page publication includes all of the information in the English language edition.

Click to download IFRS Kézikönyv 2009 (PDF 460k). This and many other Deloitte IFRS publications are available on our Publications Page.

 

Two new IASCF Trustees named

09 Dec 2009

The International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) Foundation, the body that oversees the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), has announced the appointment of two Trustees:

  • Yves-Thibault de Silguy, Chairman of the Board of VINCI and former member of the European Commission responsible for economic, monetary and financial affairs, France
  • Harvey Goldschmid, Dwight Professor of Law at Columbia University and a former Commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, United States
The appointments were approved by the IASCF Monitoring Board, an independent body of public capital market authorities. The two new Trustees will take office for a renewable three-year term on 1 January 2010. They will replace Bertrand Collomb (France) and Philip Laskawy (United States), who will retire as Trustees because they are not eligible for reappointment. Click for IASCF Press Release (PDF 159k).

 

New public sector standard on agriculture

08 Dec 2009

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) has issued International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) 27 Agriculture.

IPSAS 27 is primarily drawn from the IASB's IAS 41 Agriculture, with limited changes dealing with public sector-specific issues. For example, it addresses biological assets held for transfer or distribution at no charge or for a nominal charge to other public sector bodies or to not-for-profit organizations. The new standard also includes disclosure requirements that are aimed at enhancing consistency with the statistical basis of accounting that governs the Government Finance Statistics Manual. IPSAS 27 is effective for annual financial statements covering periods beginning on or after 1 April 2011, with earlier application encouraged. IPSAS 27 is available to download free of charge from the IFAC website (www.ifac.org/Store).
Click for IPSASB website.

 

IASCF invites nominees for next IASB Chairman

08 Dec 2009

The Trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, the IASB's oversight body, have launched a global search to identify a successor to Sir David Tweedie as Chairman of the IASB.

Sir David will retire on 30 June 2011 when he completes his second term. The Trustees have launched the process now in order to allow time for the broadest international search possible, and to ensure a smooth transition. They expect to make a decision in the second half of 2010. The Trustees are seeking nominations from interested parties, and will also consult relevant bodies throughout the world. A search firm is assisting the Trustees. Click for Press Release (PDF 97k).

 

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.