July

Two presentations from the Zurich IFRS conference

13 Jul 2011

The IASB has posted to its website two presentations from the Zurich IFRS conference held on Tuesday 5 July 2011 and Wednesday 6 July 2011.

 

New New Zealand standard setting arrangements now in place

12 Jul 2011

As announced earlier, standard setting in New Zealand has been restructured.

The New Zealand Accounting Standards Review Board (ASRB) has been replaced by the External Reporting Board (XRB). The change became effective 1 July 2011.

The new XRB Board held its first meeting on 1 July 2011 to consider some governance matters and to approve a number of standards for issue. The XRB has also started producing a new communiqué. The first issue is available here (link to XRB website); it contains a summary of all decisions arrived at during the first XBR board meeting.

Furthermore, a new XRB website has been developed and is now live at www.xrb.govt.nz. The website has specific pages where accounting standards, and auditing and assurance standards, are available. The XRB will not be publishing hard copies of standards.

More than 70 jurisdictions apply ISAs

11 Jul 2011

On June 30 2011, Prof. Arnold Schilder, the Chairman of the IAASB, delivered a speech on global progress in the use of the Clarified International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) at the 2011 annual conference on Accounting and Accountability for Regional Economic Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean (referred to as CReCER after its Spanish/Portuguese acronym).

In his speech entitled International Auditing and Assurance Standards: Implementation Challenges and Success Factors Schilder showed that during the last year alone the number of jurisdictions that already are using the ISAs or have committed to using them in the near future has more than doubled – a year ago, there were approximately 30 countries; today, there are more than 70. The transcript of his speech (link to IFAC website) contains a reproduction of a slide showing which countries already apply ISAs or will do so in the near future.

 

SEC roundtable discussions on IFRSs

11 Jul 2011

The SEC held roundtable discussions with representatives from investors, smaller public companies, and regulators to discuss benefits and challenges related to potentially incorporating IFRSs in the United States financial reporting system.

The investor panelists discussion supported a single set of globally accepted accounting standards. However, the investor panelists were concerned about the IASB's governance and funding, especially regarding the fact that financial reporting may be serving public policy interests rather than those of investors in some countries. Further concerns were raised on the uniform application of principles-based accounting standards and the IASB's interpretative mechanisms. Investors stressed the importance of the IASB's having a responsive interpretative mechanism subject to a formal standard-setting process, and they noted that local interpretation of IFRSs could lead to diverse application of IFRSs globally.

The smaller public companies panelists were concern about the lack of resources and the potential implementation costs. Some panelists viewed little or no benefits of implementing IFRSs. The panelists mostly supported a "big bang approach" versus a staggered approach for incorporating IFRSs into the U.S. system. A staggered transition was perceived as more costly. They also stressed the importance of the FASB and IASB completing its current convergence projects before the SEC sets the date for IFRS incorporation.

The regulatory panelists discussed the current use of U.S. GAAP financial information in the various regulatory activities they undertake, the steps required and potential timing to make changes in regulations, and costs and benefits of potential IFRS incorporation. The panelists believe that sufficient time should be provided for the transition to IFRS and that the needs of U.S. investors should be carefully considered.

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Change to meeting agenda for current IASB meeting

11 Jul 2011

The agenda for the IASB meeting in London on 20-22 July 2011 has been changed.

The session on Replacement of IAS 39 for Wednesday, 20 July 2011 has been moved to Friday, 22 July 2011.

A revised summary of the agenda for the meeting can be found here.

IFRS Foundation Annual Report 2010

09 Jul 2011

The IFRS Foundation under which the IASB operates has published its Annual Report for 2010. Next to the section on 'Financials' the report also contains sections on the 'Trustees of the IFRS Foundation' and the 'Activities of the IFRS Foundation'.

The report can be downloaded from the IASB's website.

 

Deloitte publications update

08 Jul 2011

The following Deloitte publications are now available:

Global Publications

Deloitte (Australia)

Deloitte (Canada)

Deloitte (Hong Kong)

Deloitte (Japan)

Deloitte (United States)

 

Notes from July IFRS Interpretations Committee meeting

07 Jul 2011

The IFRS Interpretations Committee met in London on 7-8 July 2011. We have posted Deloitte observer notes from the topics discussed at the meeting.

Click through for direct access to the notes for that particular topic:

Thursday 7 July 2011

Friday 8 July 2011

Click here to go to the preliminary and unofficial notes taken by Deloitte observers for the entire meeting.

Upcoming Dbriefs webcast: Important IFRS Developments July 2011

07 Jul 2011

A Global Financial Reporting Dbriefs Webcast is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, 27 July 2011, discussing the unprecedented pace of standard-setting developments at the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). .

A Global Financial Reporting Dbriefs Webcast is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, 27 July 2011, discussing the unprecedented pace of standard-setting developments at the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

The topics to be covered include:

  • The updated timeline for the issuance of new accounting standards
  • The recent tentative decisions on the major convergence projects
  • The new standard on Fair Value Measurements and revised standards on Post-employment Benefits and Presentation of Items of Other Comprehensive Income, with key insights for an effective transition.

 

Full details of the webcast are provided below:

Access to recordings and other materials from past webcasts is available on our IFRS Webcasts page.

UK ASB issues Amendments to FRS 29

07 Jul 2011

The UK Accounting Standards Board (ASB) of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published Amendments to FRS 29 (IFRS 7) 'Financial Instruments: Disclosures': Disclosures Transfers of Financial Assets.

The goal of the Amendments is to improve the disclosures on transfers of financial assets. The Amendments incorporate new disclosure requirements that will help users of financial statements evaluate an entity's risk exposure arising from transfers of financial assets, as well as any resulting impact on its financial position. The ASB has issued these Amendments to keep FRS 29 aligned with IFRS 7, which the IASB amended in October 2010.

The Amendments to FRS 29 are effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 July 2011.

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Correction list for hyphenation

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