News

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Agenda for IASC Foundation trustees meeting

07 Mar 2008

The Trustees of the IASC Foundation will hold a public meeting on Monday 17 March 2008 from 10;00am to 16:30pm at the Crowne Plaza London - The City, Bridewell Suite, 19 New Bridge Street, London EC4V 6DB.

The agenda is as follows:

IASCF Trustees' Meeting Agenda
London, 17 March 2008

  • Report of the Chairman of the Trustees
  • Constitution Review Proposals and Actions
  • Report of the Due Process Oversight Committee
  • Report of the IASB Chairman
  • Report of the SAC Chairman
  • Review of long-term financing initiative
  • Update on XBRL activities

 

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Updated survey on extended use of IFRSs in European Union

06 Mar 2008

Since 2005, the European Union Accounting Regulation has required that European companies listed in a European securities market must use IFRSs to prepare their consolidated financial statements.

The Regulation gave EU member states the options to:
  • Require or permit IFRSs for unlisted companies
  • Require or permit IFRSs in parent company (unconsolidated) financial statements
  • Permit companies whose only listed securities are debt securities to delay IFRS adoption until 2007
  • Permit companies that are listed on exchanges outside of the EU and that currently prepare their primary financial statements using a non-EU GAAP (in most cases this would be US GAAP) to delay IFRS adoption until 2007.
The European Commission has updated its earlier surveys of EU and EEA member states concerning their decisions regarding the four options above. Click to download the results of the updated survey: Table on Use of IFRS Options 30 EU Member and EEA States (PDF 52k)

 

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Deloitte New Zealand Accounting Alert

06 Mar 2008

Deloitte New Zealand has published the March 2008 New Zealand Accounting Alert.

Topics covered are listed below. You will find links to past New Zealand Accounting Alerts Here.
  • Revised Standards change the accounting for business combinations
  • NZ IAS 32 and NZ IAS 1 amended for puttable financial instruments and obligations arising on liquidation
  • Amendment of IFRS 2 Share-based Payment clarifies vesting conditions and cancellations
  • Revised NZ IAS 1 changes the presentation of financial statements
  • Draft interpretations address distributions of non-cash assets to owners and customer contributions

Click to view the March 2008 New Zealand Accounting Alert (PDF 120k).

 

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IASB's 2008 Bound Volume is published

06 Mar 2008

The IASB has published International Financial Reporting Standards 2008 – the English language Bound Volume containing the official consolidated text of all authoritative IASB pronouncements approved for issue at 1 January 2008. This includes the revised IFRS 3 Business Combinations and amended IAS 27 Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements, which were issued in mid-January.

BV 2008 (ISBN: 978-1-905590-54-4) has 2,752 pages and sells for £60 plus shipping, with discounts for students, educators, and low and middle income countries. The main changes in the 2008 edition as compared to last year's Bound Volume are:
  • a revised IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements
  • a revised IFRS 3 Business Combinations
  • a revised IAS 23 Borrowing Costs
  • an amended IAS 27 Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements
  • two new Interpretations:
    • IFRIC 13 Customer Loyalty Programmes
    • IFRIC 14 IAS 19 - The Limit on a Defined Benefit Asset, Minimum Funding Requirements and their Interaction
  • amendments to IFRS 2 Share-based Payment
  • amendments to other IFRSs resulting from these pronouncements
  • the IFRIC Due Process Handbook
You can Order On-Line on the IASB's website.
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Accounting Roundup – February 2008

05 Mar 2008

We have posted the February 2008 Edition of Accounting Roundup published by Deloitte & Touche LLP (USA).

Topics covered in this issue include:

FASB Developments

  • FASB Partially Defers Effective Date of Fair Value Statement 157
  • FASB Excludes Leases From Scope of Fair Value Statement 157
  • FASB Indefinitely Defers SOP 07-1 Affecting Investment Company Accounting
  • FASB Issues FSP Under Which Repurchase Financing Activities May Be Derivatives
  • FASB Proposes FSP on Net Asset Classification of Endowment Funds
  • FASB Proposes FSP on Fresh-Start Reporting
  • FASB Reduces Board Members From Seven to Five
  • FASB's Valuation Resource Group Discusses Six Topics
  • FASB Discusses Changes to Defined Benefit Plan Asset Disclosures and Other Matters
  • FASB's PCFRC Provides Input on Definitions of "Issuer" and "Nonissuer"
AICPA Development
  • AICPA Issues Revisions to Accounting and Review Services Guidance
SEC Developments
  • SEC Issues Disclosure Rules for Smaller Companies
  • SEC Mandates Electronic Filing of Form D
  • SEC Votes on Foreign Private Issuer Rule Amendments
  • SEC Proposes One-Year Deferral of Section 404 Requirement for Smaller Public Companies
  • SEC Proposes Disclosure Requirements for Companies Implementing the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act of 2007
  • SEC Financial Reporting Advisory Committee Releases Progress Report
  • SEC Launches 'Financial Explorer' to Help Investors Analyze Corporate Performance
PCAOB Development
  • PCAOB Proposes New Auditing Standard on Engagement Quality Reviews
International Developments
  • IASB Amends Financial Instruments Standard for Puttable Instruments and Obligations Arising on Liquidation
  • FASB Proposes to Narrow Definition of Equity; IASB Issues Discussion Paper Seeking Constituents' Views
Other Developments
  • Recent Tax Ruling Affects Tax Positions Related to Executive Compensation
Click to view February 2008 Accounting Roundup.
You will find past issues of Accounting Roundup Here.

 

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eIFRS available to IAAER faculty and student members

04 Mar 2008

The International Association for Accounting Education and Research (IAAER) has signed an agreement with the IASC Foundation that offers very affordable access to eIFRS for IAAER members who are accounting educators and students.

eIFRS is the electronic consolidated edition of the IASB's International Financial Reporting Standards (including International Accounting Standards and Interpretations) and accompanying documents (including Exposure Drafts and Discussion Papers). IAAER membership (US$25 for faculty and US$20 for students) allows access to eIFRSs via the IAAER site. There is also a group membership price for an entire university. Normal subscription price for eIFRS is £200 (about US$400). For 2008, eIFRS access via IAAER is completely without additional charge. Click for:

 

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IASB's Insurance and SME Working Groups will meet

03 Mar 2008

Two IASB Working Groups will meet in April, as follows:

  • Insurance Working Group: Tuesday and Wednesday 1-2 April 2008 (at the Crowne Plaza Hotel London - The City, 19 New Bridge Street, London)
  • IFRS for SMEs Working Group: Thursday and Friday 10-11 April 2008 (at the Grange Holborn Hotel, 50-60 Southampton Row, London)
The agendas have not yet been announced.

 

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We comment on the IASB's proposed amendments to IFRS 1

01 Mar 2008

Deloitte has submitted comments on the IASB's revised Exposure Draft of proposed amendments to IFRS 1 on Cost of an Investment in a Subsidiary, Jointly Controlled Entity or Associate.

The revised ED was published on 13 December 2007. Under the proposal:
  • Entities, in their separate financial statements, would be allowed to use a 'deemed cost' option for determining the cost of an investment.
  • That 'deemed cost' could be either fair value (determined in accordance with IAS 39) or the carrying amount under previous national standards.
  • The 'deemed cost' option to would apply to jointly controlled entities and associates as well as subsidiaries.
  • A new parent would be required to measure cost using the carrying amounts of the existing entity at the date when the new parent is formed.
We agree with, and support, the majority of the proposals outlined in the exposure draft. However, we express a number of concerns with some of the proposals. Click to Download the Deloitte Letter (PDF 160k). Here is an excerpt:

We agree with the proposals relating to the use of deemed cost within IFRS 1. In particular, we agree with the proposal to permit the use of the previous GAAP carrying amount as deemed cost. We also support the proposals to amend IAS 27 by deleting the definition of the cost method. However, we are concerned that the requirement for mandatory impairment testing when a dividend has been received from a subsidiary, associate or jointly controlled entity in the period will impose an onerous burden on many entities in circumstances where it is clear that no impairment exists. As explained further in our response to question 4 in Appendix A, we suggest that receipt of a dividend, in certain circumstances, should be an indicator of impairment, rather than imposing a mandatory requirement for impairment testing whenever a dividend is received.

Our past comment letters are Here.

 

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Agenda for March 2008 IASB meeting

01 Mar 2008

The International Accounting Standards Board will hold its March 2008 meeting at the IASB's offices, 30 Cannon Street, London on Tuesday to Friday 11-14 March 2008. The meeting is open to public observation and will be webcast.

The full agenda for the meeting can be found here. We will post any updates to the agenda, and our Deloitte observer notes from the meeting, on this page as they are available.
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Heads Up on structural changes at FAF, FASB, and GASB

29 Feb 2008

In our News Story of 27 February 2008 we reported on the decision of the Trustees of the US Financial Accounting Foundation to make major changes to the oversight, structure, and operations of the FAF and its two standard-setting Boards, FASB and GASB, including reduction of the FASB from seven members to five.

Deloitte & Touche LLP (United States) has published a special edition of the Heads Up Newsletter (PDF 104k) explaining the structural changes.

 

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