Deloitte (Denmark) has published a newsletter in Danish about IFRS 3 Business Combinations (PDF 281k) and IFRS 5 Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations (PDF 185k).

1 of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board that would require that auditors' reports on SEC registrants state that the audit was performed in accordance with "the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States)". The current reference to generally accepted auditing standards would no longer be appropriate.

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The IASC Foundation trustees have issued a Press Release (PDF 14k) welcoming the decision by the Australian Financial Reporting Council regarding adoption of IFRSs in Australia starting in 2005 (see 5 April news story).

Deloitte partner Bruce Porter said that keeping the 2005 start date "will ensure that Australia remains at the forefront of global accounting trends".

We have updated our summary of IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement to reflect the Macro Hedging Amendments (PDF 43k) released earlier this week.

We have posted summaries of the three new IFRSs issued by the IASB earlier this week, and we have updated our summaries of two other standards, as follows:

• IFRS 3 Business Combinations
• IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts
• IFRS 5 Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations
• IAS 36 Impairment of Assets
• IAS 38 Intangible Assets

EFRAG requests comments by 27 April 2004.

IFRS 4 was issued because the Board saw an urgent need for improved disclosures for insurance contracts, and modest improvements to recognition and measurement practices, in time for the adoption of IFRS by listed companies throughout Europe and elsewhere in 2005. In the second phase, the IASB will address broader conceptual and practical issues related to insurance accounting. The IASB will form an international insurance accounting working party of about 15 members – experts active in the insurance industry and the accounting profession, representatives of the appropriate regulatory and supervisory authorities, and investment analysts. Although the completion of any long-term solution for insurance contracts may take several years, the IASB has said it is willing to revise IFRS 4 in the short term in the light of any immediate solutions arising from the working party's discussions. The Board will announce further details of the insurance working party shortly.

The Directive now goes to the Council of Ministers for final approval. Among the provisions:

All securities issuers will have to provide annual financial reports within four months after the end of their financial year. More detailed half-yearly financial reports by share issuers will be required, based on IAS 34. The Parliament did not adopt the Commission's proposal for quarterly financial reports. Instead, the compromise Directive requires that share issuers publish interim management statements in between the annual financial report and the half-yearly financial report. These statements should include a narrative description of the financial position and of the impact of material events on that financial position. This would not apply to those share issuers who publish full quarterly financial reports. The Parliament considered but did not adopt management remuneration disclosure requirements. More information is required on related party transactions. More information will be provided by bond issuers. A mechanism will be established for assessing at EU level the equivalence between international accounting standards and non-EU country accounting standards for the purpose of allowing companies from non-EU countries to submit their national GAAP financial statements rather than IFRS statements.

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