2011

US and UK regulators reach an information sharing agreement

10 Jan 2011

The United Kingdom's Professional Oversight Board (POB), a part of the FRC, and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board of the United States (PCAOB) have signed an information sharing agreement aimed at increasing the cooperation on the oversight and inspection of audit firms.

The Statement of Protocol between the regulators intends to improve the accuracy and reliability of audit reports and help promote public trust in the audit process.

Click for the Statement of Protocol between PCAOB and POB (link to FRC website).

Trustees set out next steps on Trustee Chair and their Strategy Review

07 Jan 2011

The Trustees of the IFRS Foundation, the oversight body of the IASB, today announced steps to be taken following the death of the Chairman of the Trustees Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa in December 2010.

The next meeting of the Trustees in Tokyo will be chaired by the Trustee vice-chairs Tsuguoki Fujinuma and Robert Glauber. At the meeting the Trustees will discuss interim leadership of the Trustees and the process of identifying a permanent chair. In both respects the Trustees will co-operate closely with the Monitoring Board. The Trustees have also reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining the existing time line for the strategy review.

  • In February/March 2011, the Trustees will analyse public comments and meet the IASB and the IFRS Advisory Council before reaching final conclusions.
  • In April 2011, the Trustees will publish a report of the strategy review with a comment period to provide guidance on actions to be implemented.
  • In July 2011, the Trustees will agree on a set of actions to be implemented, following public consultation. The Trustees will seek to co-ordinate this effort with the Monitoring Board's review.
  • After July 2011, the Trustees will conduct required due process to adopt changes in the IFRS Foundation's Constitution, if appropriate.

Click for IFRS Foundation press release with next steps on Trustee chair and the strategy review (PDF 43k).

IFRS for SMEs news

07 Jan 2011

Following our earlier reports of Argentina and Panama adopting the IFRS for SMEs, more news concerning the IFRS for SMEs is available:

  • Bahamas. The Council of the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (the regulatory body for the accounting profession in the Bahamas) has adopted the IFRS for SMEs as an option for all companies in Bahamas that do not have public accountability. Alternatively, the companies may choose to use full IFRSs.
  • Peru. By Resolution No. 045-2010-EF-94 (25 November 2010), the Peruvian Accounting Standards Council (Consejo Normativo de Contabilidad) has adopted the IFRS for SMEs starting 1 January 2012. It must be applied by all Peruvian companies except those whose securities are publicly traded, banks, and large unlisted companies.
  • Nepal. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal has proposed to adopt the IFRS for SMEs effective 1 July 2011.
  • Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe Accounting Practices Board, which is the national standard-setting body, and the Public Accountants and Auditors Board, which is the regulatory board for the accounting profession in Zimbabwe, have formally adopted the IFRS for SMEs as the second accounting reporting framework for use in the country, by eligible entities, with effect from 1 January 2011.

 

Recent Deloitte publications

07 Jan 2011

Deloitte's IFRS Global Office has issued IFRS in Focus.

This issue describes the recent IASB amendments to IFRS 1 related to the removal of fixed dates for first-time adopters.

In addition, Deloitte (Canada) has issued two publications: (1) Modle d'tats financiers prpars en conformit avec les IFRS (the French translation of the Model Financial Statements for 2010 publication; model financial statements in this translation reflect the early adoption of IFRS 9 as issued in November 2009 and revised in October 2010) and (2) the final 2010 edition of the Countdown to IFRS newsletter, which contains articles on IFRS in Canada, Lightyear's final transition check, and top-10 tips for public companies filing their first interim financial statements.

Click for:

 

SEC appoints James R. Doty as Chairman, Jay D. Hanson and Lewis H. Ferguson as members of PCAOB

07 Jan 2011

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary L. Schapiro announced the appointment of James R. Doty as Chairman and Jay D. Hanson and Lewis H. Ferguson as members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

Click here for press release (link to SEC website).

 

Panama adopts IFRS for SMEs

06 Jan 2011

The Panamanian Accounting Technical Board approved on October 28, 2010 the adoption of IFRS for SMEs as approved by the IASB (Spanish version) for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2011.

The definition of the SMEs is based on the definition given by the IASB in the standard for SMEs:

  1. The resolution was published on the official gazette on December 29, 2010.
  2. Entities that have already adopted full IFRS and are qualified to use IFRS for SMEs are allowed to change to IFRS for SMEs.

The resolution is effective for financial statements for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2011, and earlier application is permitted.

Entities that have already adopted full IFRS and are qualified to use IFRS for SMEs are allowed to change to IFRS for SMEs.

The resolution is effective for financial statements for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2011, and earlier application is permitted.

ESMA work programme for 2011

06 Jan 2011

The newly established European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its first work programme.

Items 48 through 52 concern IFRSs with the objectives of investor protection and market integrity, transparency, and efficiency. Thus ESMA will monitor IFRS development and endorsement, map the application of requirements (e.g. IFRS 8) and consider post implementation work on IFRS 9. ESMA will also analyse the equivalence of the application of IFRS in China and India; a report on the results is to be expected in July 2011. Click for ESMA work programme for 2011 (PDF 116k, link to ESMA website).

Nigerian Committee reports on the road map for the adoption of IFRSs

06 Jan 2011

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria has published the Report of the Committee on Road Map to the Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in Nigeria.

Nigeria will adopt IFRSs in a staged implementation from 2012 on. The report discusses various areas for consideration by stakeholders in order to ensure effective adoption of IFRS in Nigeria and contains recommendations for the amendment of various laws and regulations to ensure uniformity and remove conflicts and ambiguity.
Click for more information on the financial reporting framework in Nigeria is available on our Nigeria country page.

 

Recent Deloitte publications

06 Jan 2011

Deloitte's IFRS Global Office has issued two newsletters.

IFRS in Focus, describing the recent IASB amendments to IAS 12, and IFRS on Point, highlighting the month's important IFRS developments and information.

In addition, the December 2010/January 2011 IFRS Insights newsletter from Deloitte (United States) has been posted. IFRS Insights is a newsletter on IFRS aimed at US companies.

Click for:

Argentina adopts IFRS for SMEs

05 Jan 2011

The Argentine Federation of Professional Councils in Economic Sciences (FACPCE) approved on 3 December 2010 the Technical Resolution No. 29 which introduces the application of IFRS for SMEs.

IFRS are mandatory for public entities which are under the supervision of the Comision Nacional de Valores CNV (Argentine Securities and Exchange Commission). The resolution establishes that all entities not reached by, or exempted from the mandatory use of IFRS, will have the option of
  • IFRS, or
  • the IFRS for SMEs, or
  • the accounting standards issued by the Federation or to be issued in the future that are not related to this resolution.

Entities that are out of scope of the IFRS for SMEs are not allowed to use the IFRS for SMEs.

The resolution is effective for financial statements for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2012, and earlier application is permitted for annual financial statements beginning on or after 1 January 2011. Click for Technical Resolution No. 29 (in Spanish, PDF 244k) and more information on financial reporting in Argentina.

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