June

Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa will be Trustees' Chairman

19 Jun 2010

The IASC Foundation Monitoring Board has approved the appointment of Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, former Italian Minister of Economy and Finance, as Chairman of the Trustees.

He will take over from Gerrit Zalm, who currently serves as Chairman and whose term was expiring this year, after the Trustees' meeting on 7 and 8 July 2010. Mr Padoa-Schioppa briefly served as Chairman of the Trustees from January 2006 to May 2006, when he was asked to become Italy's Minister of Economy and Finance. From 1998 to 2005, he was a member of the first Executive Board of the European Central Bank. He is currently President of Notre Europe and Chairman of Promontory Europe. Click for Monitoring Board Announcement (PDF 298k).

 

President Obama letter to G20

19 Jun 2010

In a letter to the leaders of the other G20 countries in advance of their upcoming meeting in Toronto on 26-27 June 2010, US President Barack Obama urged continued efforts to facilitate recovery from the global financial crisis and repair global financial systems.

In the area of financial reporting, President Obama urged renewed 'efforts to enhance transparency and increase disclosure by our large financial institutions'. He said that greater transparency and disclosure will 'promote market integrity and reduce market manipulation'. Click to download President Obama's Letter to the G20 (PDF 114k).

Deadline reminder – ED on impairment

19 Jun 2010

We remind you that comments are due on 30 June 2010 on Exposure Draft: Financial Instruments: Amortised Cost and Impairment.

The ED was issued on 5 November 2009. The ED proposes to modify the way impairment losses are recognised on financial assets measured at amortised cost.
  • Current standard: IAS 39 recognises impairment of financial assets using an 'incurred loss model'. An incurred loss model assumes that all loans will be repaid until evidence to the contrary (known as a loss or trigger event) is identified. Only at that point is the impaired loan (or portfolio of loans) written down to a lower value.
  • Proposed standard: The model proposed in the ED is an 'expected loss model'. Under that model, expected losses are recognised throughout the life of a loan or other financial asset measured at amortised cost, not just after a loss event has been identified. The expected loss model avoids what many see as a mismatch under the incurred loss model – front-loading of interest revenue (which includes an amount to cover the lender's expected loan loss) while the impairment loss is recognised only after a loss event occurs.

Notes from day 3 of June 2010 IASB-FASB meeting

18 Jun 2010

The IASB and FASB are holding a joint meeting on 15-17 June 2010 at the IASB's office in London.

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

 

Notes from day 2 of June 2010 IASB-FASB meeting

17 Jun 2010

The IASB and FASB are holding a joint meeting on 15-17 June 2010 at the IASB's office in London.

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

 

Notes from day 1 of June 2010 IASB-FASB meeting

16 Jun 2010

The IASB and FASB are holding a joint meeting on 15-17 June 2010 at the IASB's office in London.

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

 

Deloitte IFRS newsletter in Japanese

15 Jun 2010

Deloitte's IFRS Centre of Excellence in Japan has published a Japanese translation of the following IFRS in Focus newsletter:

The Japan Center of Excellence IFRS web pages are Here.

 

New leadership for Deloitte's IFRS Global Office

14 Jun 2010

After 10 years leading the DTT IFRS Global Office in London, Ken Wild retired on 31 May 2010, and a new leadership team under the direction of Joel Osnoss and Veronica Poole took the helm on 1 June 2010. Additionally, Randall Sogoloff, has been appointed as DTT Global IFRS Communications Leader.

Given the increased adoption of IFRS as the de facto accounting language worldwide, the importance of having a high-quality, consistent approach to IFRS has never been more evident.

The leaders of the Group of 20, who represent 19 of the world's largest national economies plus the European Union, have called for the world to coalesce around a single set of financial reporting standards by June 2011, and IFRS is undergoing a series of changes to become that single set of standards. While the acceptance of IFRS is widespread, it is not yet universal. However, the trend is continuing, with more countries, such as Brazil, Canada, and Korea, adopting IFRS in the next few years. The two most recent and notable actions in line with this trend came from the United States and Japan, which are home to 40 percent of the Global Fortune 500 companies. Japan's Financial Services Authority decided in December 2009 to permit voluntary use of IFRS, while the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States in February published a plan for making a decision on the adoption of IFRS in 2011. In light of the changing IFRS landscape, clients globally, as well as Deloitte member firm professionals in all functions and virtually all geographies, are likely to be affected by IFRS over the next few years.

The new Deloitte team has taken a fresh look at Deloitte-branded IFRS publications, and has enhanced format and content to make them even more informative as well as more multifaceted. Among the new suite of publications being launched are:

  • IFRS in Focus: This newsletter will cover important accounting developments and provide commentary to help member firm practitioners understand how they will be affected.
  • IFRIC Review: This new communication tool will examine matters discussed at the IASB's IFRS Interpretations Committee. The publication will offer insights on issues discussed during these meetings.
  • Industry-Focused Publications: As developments unfold in connection with IFRS, the insights of industry leaders will be leveraged through these publications, highlighting issues and opportunities pertaining to specific industries.

FASB Chairman discusses convergence

13 Jun 2010

US Financial Accounting Standards Board Chairman Robert H Herz spoke On Convergence and Change at a conference in California on 3 June 2010.

Two excerpts are below. Click to Download Chairman Herz's Remarks (PDF 122k).

Excerpt on convergence: The intensified efforts by FASB and by the IASB represent our attempt to respond to the G20 leaders, who, following their meeting last fall in Pittsburgh, called on us to 'redouble' our efforts to complete convergence by our 2011 targets. By 'completing convergence' we mean completing major projects in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that we first published in 2006 and that we have updated periodically.

While this would bring US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP, and the International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, closer and – just as important – would improve the standards in a number of key areas, it would not, as some have suggested, mean that US GAAP and IFRS would be fully converged. Many differences would remain. The SEC staff, as part of its recently announced work plan, will inventory and evaluate the significance of those continuing differences. Its evaluation of these remaining differences, along with many other considerations, will feed into the Commission's decision on whether, how, and when to incorporate IFRS into the US reporting system for public companies.

Excerpt on revisions to project plans and timetables We and the IASB are in the process of developing a number of revisions to our MOU work plan that involve changes in the timing and scope of and approach on certain joint projects. The goals in making these changes to the work plan are to prioritize our efforts in order to better enable us to complete key projects as expeditiously as possible while also maintaining proper due process including enabling constituents to properly review, evaluate, and provide input. Accordingly, we will stagger the release of and the comment periods and roundtables on major EDs over the next year and will limit to four the number of significant or complex EDs we issue in any quarter. The inevitable and necessary result is that although we are still targeting completion of many of the projects by June 30, 2011, we will not complete all of them by that date and a few of the projects will now be targeted for completion in late 2011. We expect to issue a joint communiqué with the IASB detailing the updated work plan soon.

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