August

Deloitte newsletter on IFRSs in Canada

31 Aug 2010

The August edition of Deloitte Canada's IFRS newsletter Countdown has been issued.

This edition focuses on:
  • Enhancing the comparability of IFRS financial statements
  • Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) review on IFRS transition disclosures
  • Summary of Deloitte IFRS publications, webcasts, and other IFRS-related events
  • An update on international standard setting activities and IFRS developments in Canada
Click here to download the August 2010 edition of Countdown (PDF 768k). A French translation is also available (PDF 1,661k). Click here to visit our Canada country page

FASB issues two new ASUs

31 Aug 2010

The FASB has released two new Accounting Standards Updates (ASUs):

The updates result from the July meeting of FASB's Emerging Issues Task Force. More information about the decisions reached at the EITF meeting can be found in the EITF Snapshot (PDF 130k).

Trustees seek views on criteria for annual improvements process

31 Aug 2010

The IFRS Foundation, the oversight body of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), today published for public comment proposed enhancements to the criteria for the IASB's annual improvements process.

The annual improvements process provides a mechanism for non-urgent but necessary amendments to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) to be grouped together and issued in one package. Such amendments may clarify guidance and wording, or make relatively minor amendments to the standards that address unintended consequences, conflicts or oversights.

The suggested amended criteria for determining whether a matter relating to the clarification or correction of IFRSs should be addressed using the annual improvements process are outlined below. All criteria must be met.

  1. The proposed amendment has one or both of the following characteristics:
    1. clarifying—the proposed amendment would improve IFRSs by:
      • clarifying unclear wording in existing IFRSs, or
      • providing guidance where an absence of guidance is causing concern.
      A clarifying amendment maintains consistency with the existing principles within the applicable IFRSs. It does not propose a new principle, or a change to an existing principle.
    2. correcting—the proposed amendment would improve IFRSs by:
      • resolving a conflict between existing requirements of IFRSs and providing a straightforward rationale for which existing requirement should be applied, or
      • addressing an oversight or relatively minor unintended consequence of the existing requirements of IFRSs.
      A correcting amendment does not propose a new principle or a change to an existing principle, but may create an exception from an existing principle.
  2. The proposed amendment has a narrow and well-defined purpose, ie the consequences of the proposed change have been considered sufficiently and identified.
  3. It is probable that the IASB will reach conclusion on the issue on a timely basis. Inability to reach a conclusion on a timely basis may indicate that the cause of the issue is more fundamental than can be resolved within annual improvements.
  4. If the proposed amendment would amend IFRSs that are the subject of a current or planned IASB project, there must be a pressing need to make the amendment sooner than the project would.

The consultation document of the IFRS Foundation is open for comment until 30 November 2010. It can be accessed via the IASB's website. The corresponding press release is available Here (PDF 35k).

Malaysian Accounting Standards Board defers IFRIC 15 equivalent

31 Aug 2010

The Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) has decided to defer the application of IC Interpretation 15 Agreements for the Construction of Real Estate (IC 15) from 1 July 2010 to 1 January 2012. However, entities that wish to apply IC 15 early can do so if they wish.

Beside differing application dates, IC 15 has the same requirements as IFRIC 15 (the effective date of IFRIC 15 is 1 January 2009).

The MASB explains the reason for the deferral as follows:

...in light of the importance of the Real Estate sector to the Malaysian economy, the MASB Board in its deliberations on 23 August 2010 felt it would be prudent to temporarily defer the application of IC 15 to 1 January 2012. This is to allow for deliberations on the implementation of IC 15 to continue and to enable the examination of the proposed standard on Revenue from Contracts with Customers with stakeholders both locally and within the region, using its participation in the Asian-Oceanian Standard-Setters Group (AOSSG).

Click for press release (link to MASB website).

Deloitte Canada IFRS transition newsletters

30 Aug 2010

Deloitte Canada has published the August 2010 issue of their Countdown IFRS transition newsletter.

This discusses practical issues Canadian companies are facing in IFRS transition as well as to provide an update on recent IFRS events. Articles in this issue include:

  • Enhancing the comparability of IFRS financial statements
  • Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) review on IFRS transition disclosures
  • Summary of Deloitte IFRS publications, webcasts, and other IFRS-related events
  • An update on international standard setting activities and IFRS developments in Canada

Click for:

IIROC proposes to harmonise regulatory financial reporting standards with IFRS

30 Aug 2010

A proposal published by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) on 27 August 2010 shows that IFRS is infiltrating more widely than just financial reporting to become the global accounting language.

The proposal is for moving to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) for regulatory reporting albeit with some departures in certain areas, which are, however, "limited to only situations where the effort and cost to converge outweigh the regulatory value or benefit of complying with IFRS". The proposal is available on the IIROC's website; comments are due within 60 days of the publication of the notice.

Deloitte IFRS newsletter in Japanese

30 Aug 2010

Deloitte's IFRS Centre of Excellence in Japan has published a Japanese translation of the following IFRS in Focus newsletter: IASB issues Exposure Draft on Lease Accounting.

Click for Japanese translation of IFRS in Focus newsletter: IASB issues Exposure Draft on Lease Accounting (PDF 334k). Here is the English Version (PDF 111k).

The Japan Center of Excellence IFRS web pages are Here (in Japanese).

IIROC proposes to harmonize regulatory financial reporting standards with IFRS

30 Aug 2010

A proposal published by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) on Friday shows that IFRS is infiltrating more widely than just financial reporting to become the global accounting language. The proposal is for moving to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) for regulatory reporting albeit with some departures in certain areas, which are, however, "limited to only situations where the effort and cost to converge outweigh the regulatory value or benefit of complying with IFRS".

The proposal is available on the IIROC's website; comments are due within 60 days of the publication of the notice. More information on financial reporting in Canada is available on our Canada country page.

Summary of the June 2010 meeting of the IFRS Advisory Council

30 Aug 2010

The IASB has posted to its website a summary of the June 2010 meeting of the IFRS Advisory Council.

Among other topics, the Advisory Council discussed the IASB work plan post-June 2011. Members of the Council suggested that accounting for Islamic transactions and agriculture should be added to the top priorities of the IASB and that XBRL must be considered together with the disclosure framework. Click for the Advisory Council Minutes on the IASB's Website.

 

Deadline reminder – EDs on defined benefit plans and uncertainty analysis disclosure

29 Aug 2010

We remind you that comments on the Exposure Drafts Defined Benefit Plans and Fair Value Option for Financial Liabilities are due on 6 September 2010 and 7 September 2010, respectively.

The ED on defined benefit plans was issued on 29 April 2010 and would amend the accounting for defined benefit plans through which some employers provide long-term employee benefits, such as pensions and post-employment medical care. The ED on uncertainty analysis disclosure was issued on 29 June 2010 and would require the measurement uncertainty analysis disclosure to reflect the interdependencies between unobservable inputs used to measure fair value in Level 3 of the three-level fair value hierarchy.
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