February

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Deloitte webcast – IFRS update

13 Feb 2009

On 17 February 2009, Deloitte (United States) will hold a live web presentation titled IFRS: New Year, New Updates.

Details:
  • Topic: The latest developments relating to IFRSs and the convergence efforts between the FASB and IASB, including:
    • The latest regulatory developments relating to IFRSs
    • An update on the IASB-FASB memorandum of understanding
    • The current IFRS requirements for leasing, consolidations, and pension accounting and recent standard setting developments in these areas
  • Date: Tuesday, 17 February 2009
  • Time: 2:00pm - 3:30pm EST (19:00 GMT)
  • Host: Robert Uhl, Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP

 

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FASB's Valuation Resource Group meeting

13 Feb 2009

The US Financial Accounting Standards Board has established a Valuation Resource Group (VRG) to provide the FASB staff with information about implementation issues regarding fair value measurements used in financial reporting.

The VRG met on 5 February 2009 and discussed the four issues listed below. Deloitte (United States) has published the 13 February 2009 edition of the Heads Up Newsletter (PDF 115k) explaining the four issues:
  • VRG Issue No. 2009-1: SEC's Study on Mark-to-Market Accounting
  • VRG Issue No. 2009-2: Proposed FSP FAS 157-c Measuring Liabilities Under FASB Statement No. 157
  • VRG Issue No. 2009-3: AICPA Draft Issues Paper, FASB Statement No. 157 Valuation Considerations for Interests in Alternative Investments
  • VRG Issue No. 2009-4: Goodwill Impairment Considerations

 

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IFRS newsletters available in Chinese

13 Feb 2009

The following Chinese language IFRS newsletters are now available.

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China's CPA exam is undergoing reforms

13 Feb 2009

The Chinese CPA Examination System is undergoing reform. The finalised examination reform scheme was issued in January 2009, and the new system will run in parallel with the current system for 2009 to ensure a smooth transition.

Highlights of the reforms are as follows:

Exam structure

The CPA examinations will be transformed into a dual-level structure:

  • Level 1: Professional Stage
  • Level 2: Comprehensive Stage

There is a hierarchy in the two levels of the examinations, which means that an examinee can take the examinations of the comprehensive stage only after passing those of the professional stage

Examinations will be held once a year for both levels

Exam subjects

The Professional Stage will cover six subjects, that is, one new subject will be added to the current five subjects as follows:

  • Accounting
  • Auditing
  • Financial and Cost Management
  • Economic Law
  • Taxation Law
  • Corporate Strategies and Risk Management (the newly added subject)

Compared with the current system, the new examination is intended to give more focus on the basic theories and their application. It is the intention of the CICPA to reduce the complexity of the six subjects but broaden their scope.

The new subject, Corporate Strategies and Risk Management, combines some of the content from Financial and Cost Management under the current system supplemented with additional topics. It is aimed at assessing the required relevant knowledge about organizations and businesses as set in the Guidance on Competence of Chinese CPAs.

The Comprehensive Stage examination will require candidates to apply their knowledge to practical situations. It is aimed at assessing: professional and legal knowledge, professional values, ethics and attitudes, intellectual ability, inter-personal communication skills and skills in managing an organization/business.

Validity Period for the examination results

The examination results of each of the subjects in the Professional Stage will be valid for five years. After successfully passing all the required subjects of the Professional Stage examinations, candidates will receive a 'Certificate for Passing the Professional Stage Examination'.

The Comprehensive Stage examination has to be completed within five years after obtaining the "Certificate for Passing the Professional Stage Examination'.

After successfully passing the Comprehensive Stage examination, candidates will obtain a 'Certificate for Passing All Subjects'.

Transition plan for the Chinese CPA examination system reforms

In 2009, first-time enrolled candidates and candidates who have enrolled in previous years but have yet to pass any subject must participate in the new system.

For those who have passed one or more of the subjects under the current system, they have a choice to either (1) take the remaining examinations under the current or (2) enroll in the new system.

At the end of the 2009 examinations, those who have passed all five subjects under the current system shall be granted the 'Certificate for Passing All Subjects'.

The results obtained from 2006 to 2008 and any passes in 2009 for those who elect to take the current system will be credited towards the corresponding subjects under the new system. Please note that the result of the Financial Management and Cost Management examination shall be credited towards both the Corporate Strategies and Risk Management and Financial and Cost Management examinations under the new system.

The validity of the results of any of the subjects transferred from the current to the new system will be extended to 2013.

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UK publication on half-yearly reporting

13 Feb 2009

Deloitte (United Kingdom) has published Our Better Halves, a survey of the half-yearly financial reports of 130 UK listed companies.

Because UK listed companies must follow IFRSs, these reports conform to IAS 34 as well as other UK requirements. Our Better Halves includes a review of:
  • compliance with the Disclosure and Transparency Rules and IAS 34;
  • the different presentations adopted in half-yearly financial statements; and
  • how companies complied with the requirements for their Interim Management Report, that is, the narrative part of the half-yearly financial report.
The publication includes current reporting requirements and latest developments, as well as various 'good practice' examples. It is aimed primarily at financial directors and financial controllers of public companies, as well as non-executive directors, including audit committee members, of listed companies. It may also be of interest to non-listed companies that prepare their financial statements under IFRSs.
Click for Our Better Halves (PDF 1,246k)

 

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IASB will release 2009 Bound Volume in March

12 Feb 2009

The IASB will publish International Financial Reporting Standards 2009 Bound Volume in March.

BV2009 presents in a single volume the latest authoritative version of IFRSs, including Interpretations and supporting documents – illustrative examples, implementation guidance, bases for conclusions, and dissenting views, as issued by the IASB at 1 January 2009. It also includes the IASC Foundation Constitution, the IASB Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements, the Preface to IFRSs, the Due Process Handbooks for the IASB and IFRIC, an updated glossary of terms, and a comprehensive index. It's £60, and discounts are available for academics, students, residents of middle and low income countries, and for multiple copies.

 

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Heads Up – SEC's revised financial reporting manual

11 Feb 2009

In December 2008, the Division of Corporation Finance of the US Securities and Exchange Commission released a new version of its Financial Reporting Manual (see our News Story of 14 Dec 2008).

This 267-page manual is specifically intended for the SEC staff, but because it contains useful information for registrants it has been posted to the SEC's website. The manual provides the SEC staff's interpretations of form requirements and portions of Regulations S-X and S-K, including guidance on topics such as the form and content of a registrant's financial statements, providing separate financial statements of businesses acquired or to be acquired and investments in entities accounted for by the equity method, pro forma financial information, Management's Discussion and Analysis, and non-GAAP financial measures. Deloitte (United States) has published a special issue of the Heads Up newsletter discussing the manual. An appendix to Heads Up is a table summarising the more important additions and changes since the previous edition of the manual.

On 2 April 2009 the SEC updated the manual. The links below have been changed to the new versions of Heads Up and the Manual.
Click for:

 

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IFRS presentation and disclosure checklist in Spanish

10 Feb 2009

Deloitte (Colombia) has published a Spanish translation of our IFRS presentation and disclosure checklist for 2008: .

Deloitte (Colombia) has published a Spanish translation of our IFRS presentation and disclosure checklist for 2008:

IFRS Presentation and Disclosure Checklist for 2008 (Word version)

IFRS Presentation and Disclosure Checklist for 2008 (PDF version) These and other Spanish resources are on our Pagina de Recursos en Español.
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EC wants loss provisioning reforms

10 Feb 2009

In a speech titled 'The Credit Crisis – Looking Ahead', Charlie McCreevy, the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, offered views on the causes of the current problems in the global financial markets.

He cited two accounting issues – mark-to-market measurements and prohibition of 'dynamic provisioning' (recognition of expected, rather than incurred, loan losses) – as factors that contributed to the problems of financial institutions in Europe. Click to Download Commissioner McCreevy's Speech (PDF 77k). Here is an excerpt on accounting:

I turn now to accounting standards and capital requirements. These have also exacerbated the markets' recent problems because of rules that are 'pro-cyclical'. When market liquidity becomes tight as of now – sales decisions and valuations based on the so-called 'mark-to-market value' reinforce the downward spiral: They result in further forced sell-offs, which in turn reinforce and amplify the falls in mark-to-market prices. That is why I recently brought forward a measure to provide firms with more flexibility on the mark to market requirements and to facilitate asset transfer from the trading to the banking book.

Dynamic provisioning served many banks well in the past. In this turmoil it has served the Spanish banks well and I would like to see a return to it more broadly. A system that introduces significant counter-cyclicality, requiring banks to build up more substantial buffers in good times so that they can let them run down in bad times, makes sense not only from a micro viewpoint – reducing the risk of bank failure – but from a macro viewpoint too: It serves to restrain excessive expansion during booms. And it reduces the likelihood of a much diminished capital base in recessionary times which makes it more difficult for banks to lend, thereby preventing the kick-starting of sustainable recovery.

Ideally, we should get international agreement on such a revised regime and I will be pushing for it.

 

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IASB updates its 'Who We Are' booklet

10 Feb 2009

The International Accounting Standards Board has published an updated version of IASB and the IASC Foundation – Who We Are and What We Do.

This six-page booklet contains a great deal of information about the organisation and its work, including the mission; structure; due process; lists of Board members, IASCF Trustees, and senior staff; funding; use of IFRSs; and contact details. We are grateful to the IASC Foundation for giving us permission to post the booklet on IAS Plus. Click to download IASB and the IASC Foundation – Who We Are and What We Do (PDF 328k – link is to the latest version).

 

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