• 17 January 2011 — Stephen Cooper: Reforming hedge accounting

All Investor Perspectives are archived on the IASB's website.

An interactive webcast on the proposed 2011 taxonomy will be held at 9:00am (London time) on Thursday, 27 January 2010, and repeated at 3:00pm (London time) on the same day. Click for registration information (link to IFRS Foundation website).

The exposure draft IFRS Taxonomy 2011 is open for comment until 18 March 2011.

The meetings are scheduled as follows:

• Sydney - Monday, 24 January 2011 (10:00 am — 12:00 pm for financial institutions, 2:00 pm — 3:30 pm for non-financial institutions)
• Melbourne - Wednesday, 2 February 2011 (10:30 am — 12:00 pm, for non-financial institutions).

The near final Ind ASs are based on IFRSs, but have some changes which are noted in the appendix to each standard, e.g. investment property must be measured on the cost basis, bargain purchases arising in business combinations are generally recognised in other comprehensive income rather than profit or loss, and the 'date of transition' is the beginning of the current period rather than the comparative period (an option to present comparative financial statements in accordance with Ind-ASs on a memorandum basis is included).

The Ind ASs are subject to any changes which may be made by the Government before their notification. There is currently a lot of debate in India whether the 'modified' IFRS approach is the best way to implement IFRSs in India. The changes made in the final drafts may mean entities complying with Ind ASs will not be able to make an explicit and unreserved statement of compliance with IFRSs. There is also some conjecture as to whether the implementation of the new Ind ASs should be deferred from the original date of April 2011 (for certain entities).

Click for access to the final drafts (link to the ICAI website). Our India country page is Here.

Click for:

• Normas Internacionais de Relatório Financeiro - Modelo de demonstrações financeiras para 2010 (2010 Model financial statements in Portuguese, PDF 1,416k).
• Checklist de Apresentação e Divulgação IFRS 2010 (IFRS Presentation and Disclosure Checklist for 2010 in Portuguese, PDF 1,629k).
• IFRS Checkliste zu Ausweis- und Angabevorschriften 2010 (IFRS Presentation and Disclosure Checklist for 2010 in German, PDF 2,808k).

A review of financial statements in accordance with the proposed ISRE consists primarily of making inquiries of management and others within the entity involved in financial and accounting matters, applying analytical procedures, and evaluating the sufficiency and appropriateness of evidence obtained. The procedures performed in a review are substantially less than those performed in an audit, and the practitioner does not express an audit opinion.

Comments on the exposure draft are requested by 20 May 2011. Click for IAASB press release (link to IFAC website).

Mr. Buck is currently Senior Vice President and CFO of Reasor's Holding Company in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He was a member of the Private Company Financial Reporting Committee, an advisory board to the FASB, and member of the "Blue Ribbon" panel on Standard Setting for Private Companies.

Mr. Schroeder is currently a partner at Carlson Capital, LP in Greenwich, Connecticut. His career has given him a diverse investor and financial reporting background. Also, he served as a member of the FASB's Emerging Issues Task Force.

Click for the FASB's Press Release (link to FASB website).

The EBA Board of Supervisors selected Andrea Enria as the EBA Chairperson, subject to confirmation by the European Parliament. Mr Enria is currently the head of the Supervisory Regulations and Policies Department at the Bank of Italy. The Board of Supervisors also appointed Thomas Huertas as the EBA Alternate Chairperson. Mr Huertas was Vice-Chairman of the EBA's predecessor CEBS and is currently Banking Sector Director at the UK FSA.

The EIOPA Board of Supervisors has selected Gabriel Bernardino to become the first Chairperson. Mr. Bernardino is currently the Director General of the Directorate for Development and Institutional Relations at the Instituto de Seguros de Portugal (ISP). His nomination is subject to confirmation by the European Parliament. Mr. Bernardino represented EIOPA's predecessor, CEIOPS, as Chairman until December 2010. Additionally, the Board of Supervisors elected Victor Rod, Director of the Commissariat aux Assurances, Luxembourg, to be EIOPA's Alternate Chairperson.

EBA and EIOPA have both also announced a new round of stress tests.

Click for:

• EBA omnibus press release (link to EBA website)
• EIOPA press releases:
  • EIOPA Elects Its First Management Board (PDF 115k, link to EIOPA website)
  • Gabriel Bernardino Selected to be EIOPA's First Chairperson (PDF 106k, link to EIOPA website)
  • EIOPA to Launch Second Europe-Wide Insurance Stress Test (PDF 109k, link to EIOPA website)
• Further news on the new European supervisory structure on our IFRSs in Europe pages

The IASB and the FASB originally published separate proposals on credit impairment of financial assets. Although both boards proposed moving to a more forward-looking approach to accounting for impairment they proposed different models. Following joint discussion of the responses each board received on its original proposals, and requests by the Group of 20 (G20) Leaders, the Financial Stability Board, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and others to achieve convergence in this area, the boards expect to propose a common approach that incorporates elements of each of their original models.

The boards will propose an impairment model based on accounting for expected losses. This approach provides a more forward looking approach to accounting for credit losses.

Click for:

• IASB announcement (link to IASB website)
• Our Financial instruments – Impairment page providing a comprehensive summary of the project, including recent joint discussions