March

New Chinese language IFRS website from Deloitte Taiwan

25 Mar 2009

Deloitte Taiwan has launched a new Chinese-language IFRS website www.ifrs.org.tw/.

The content includes IFRS-related news, newsletters, and articles. Parts of the site are still under development, including summaries of each Standard and Interpretation. In October 2008, the Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission announced that it will form a task force to study the adoption of IFRSs in Taiwan. Adoption details such as the timetable and scope (public company or private company, consolidated or separate financial statements, etc) will be addressed by the task force.

 

IASB-FASB credit crisis update

25 Mar 2009

The International Accounting Standards Board and the US Financial Accounting Standards Board have announced further steps in response to the global financial crisis following their joint board meeting held in London on 23 and 24 March 2009. Building on work underway, the two boards have agreed to work jointly and expeditiously towards common standards that deal with off-balance sheet activity and the accounting for financial instruments.

They will also work towards analysing loan loss accounting within the financial instruments project. Click for Joint Press Release (PDF 50k).

European discussion paper on performance reporting

25 Mar 2009

EFRAG and the national standard-setters of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the UK have published a Discussion Paper on Performance Reporting under the PAAinE initiative.

Broadly defined, performance is the relationship of the income and expenses of an entity. Traditionally entities reported their performance in an income statement. Under IAS 1(2007), entities report performance either in a single statement of comprehensive income (with a subtotal for traditional profit or loss) or in two statements, an income statement and a statement of comprehensive income. IAS 1 allows flexibility in formats of, and groupings and subtotals in, those statements. The IASB and the FASB have a joint Project on Financial Statement Presentation that encompasses performance reporting. In October 2008, they published a Discussion Paper proposing the structure and format of an entity's financial statements. The new PAAinE discussion paper acknowledges the joint IASB-FASB project but notes that:

There are a number of fundamental issues about the presentation of financial performance information that that discussion paper does not address. Those issues include:

  • should the net income line be retained?
  • (if it should be retained), what should the basis be for determining whether something is within net income or outside net income?
  • what role should recycling have in performance reporting?
The PAAinE paper observes that 'there is a clear need for one or more key lines to provide a basis for communication to the market and as a starting point for analysis and comparison'. The paper discusses the attributes such a key line needs to have if it is to fulfil this purpose. 'It is therefore important that items of income, expense, gains, and losses are disaggregated, grouped, and aggregated in a way that ensures that the most useful key lines are presented.' The paper notes that whether recycling is needed also depends on the aggregation/disaggregation model used. The final chapters of the paper discuss various disaggregation models. EFRAG invites comments on the paper by 30 September 2009.
Click for Discussion Paper on Performance Reporting (PDF 972k).

 

Updated summary of IFRIC agenda rejections

24 Mar 2009

We have updated our Summary of Issues Not Added to IFRIC's Agenda to reflect the IFRIC's final decisions at its March 2009 meeting not to add the following topics to its agenda.

Our summary now includes nearly 150 issues:

  • IFRS 3: Customer-related intangible assets
  • IAS 28: Potential effect of revised IFRS 3 and IAS 27 on the equity method
  • IAS 32: Classification of puttable and perpetual instruments
  • IAS 37 and IAS 38: Regulatory assets and liabilities
  • IAS 39: Two derecognition issues
  • IAS 39: Determining the discount rate for fair value measurements of financial instruments in inactive markets

Model IFRS financial statements for 2008 in German

24 Mar 2009

Deloitte (Germany) has published IFRS Musterkonzernabschluss Dezember 2008 – Model IFRS Financial Statements for 2008 in the German language.

Each item in the financial statements is cross-referenced to the relevant source in IFRSs. New for 2008 is the inclusion of IFRIC 11 through 14 and the reclassification amendment to IAS 39 and IFRS 7. Segment information is presented in two ways – using IFRS 8 (permitted but not mandatory for 2008) and using IAS 14 (must be followed if IFRS 8 is not elected). Pronouncements not yet endorsed in the European Union are identified. Yesterday, we posted the German language IFRS Presentation and Disclosure Checklist for 2008.

Click for IFRS Musterkonzernabschluss Dezember 2008 – Model IFRS Financial Statements for 2008 (PDF 3,832k, 154 pages).

Notes from day 1 of the IASB-FASB joint meeting

24 Mar 2009

The IASB and the US FASB held a joint meeting at the IASB's offices in London on Monday and Tuesday, 23 and 24 March 2009.

Click here to go to the preliminary and unofficial Notes Taken by Deloitte Observers at the Meeting.

New page for first-time adopters of IFRSs

23 Mar 2009

Many jurisdictions have announced plans to adopt IFRSs for the first time in the next few years, including Brazil, Canada, Chile, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and it's under consideration in Argentina, Taiwan, and the United States.

IAS Plus already has many resources aimed at first-time adopters of IFRSs. These resources are scattered on various pages of IAS Plus. We have created a new Page of IFRS Resources for First-time Adopters – bringing together a broad range of English-language resources that address issues relating specifically to first-time adoption of IFRSs.

 

IFRS presentation and disclosure checklist in German

23 Mar 2009

We have posted the 'IFRS Checkliste zu Ausweis- und Angabevorschriften 2008', our German translation of the 2008 IFRS Presentation and Disclosure Checklist.

New checklist of standard-setting activities in Canada

23 Mar 2009

We have added the series 'Checklist of Standard-setting Activities in Canada' to IAS Plus.

This checklist is a monthly newsletter from Deloitte (Canada) that briefly describes new rules and standards that affect financial reporting from Canadian standard-setters and regulators. This newsletter briefly describes those pronouncements and other regulatory and professional developments and indicates their effective date, transition application, and entities affected. There are hyperlinks to underlying details. We have posted the February 2009 issue:

We will continue to post new checklists as they are issued.

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.