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Heads Up newsletter on AICPA SEC conference

14 Dec 2005

Deloitte & Touche LLP (United States) has published a special edition of its Heads Up newsletter summarising the accounting highlights of the SEC and PCAOB Conference sponsored by the American Institute of CPAs that was held 5-7 December 2005 in Washington.

The conference featured speeches by, and question and answer sessions with, members of the SEC, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and other standard-setters. The (PDF 365k, 37 pages) focuses on speeches and other remarks that deal with financial accounting and reporting in accordance with US generally accepted accounting principles.
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Issues not added to IFRIC agenda

14 Dec 2005

At its meeting on 1 December 2005, the IFRIC reached tentative decisions not to place five issues on its agenda: Whether a new entity that pays cash can be identified as the acquirer 'Transitory' common control Leases of land that do not transfer title to the lessee IAS 12 Income Taxes - scope Subscriber acquisition costs in the telecommunications industry The December 2005 edition of the IFRIC Update newsletter contains IFRIC's draft reasons for rejecting these issues.

IFRIC plans further discussion in March 2006. Public comment on these tentative decisions is invited by 20 January 2006. The newsletter may be downloaded from IASB's Website (currently subscribers only; in a few days no restrictions). Because our IASPlus web page that contains a comprehensive Summary of Issues Not Added to IFRIC Agenda reflects only final (rather than tentative) agenda decisions made by the IFRIC, we have not changed our web page as a result of the 1 December 2005 IFRIC meeting.
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First day of December 2005 IASB meeting

14 Dec 2005

The IASB held its monthly Board meeting on Tuesday to Friday, 13-16 December 2005. We have combined the preliminary and unofficial notes taken by Deloitte observers on a Separate Page. .

The IASB held its monthly Board meeting on Tuesday to Friday, 13-16 December 2005. We have combined the preliminary and unofficial notes taken by Deloitte observers on a Separate Page.

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Nearly 500,000 e-learning downloads from IASPlus

14 Dec 2005

As of 12 December 2005, -->486,484 Deloitte IFRS e-learning modules have been downloaded --> from IASPlus by people in over 150 countries.

Deloitte's e-learning was launched at the end of January 2004. Many of the downloaded modules have multiple users because organisations are permitted to install them on their own servers for the internal use of their employees or students. In addition, hundreds of thousands of additional modules have been completed online and offline by Deloitte staff. You can always access IFRS e-learning without charge by clicking on the light bulb icon on the IASPlus home page. Thirty-five modules are now available.
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EFRAG proposes to support IFRIC 7

13 Dec 2005

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group has invited comments on its draft letter to the European Commission proposing to recommend that IFRIC 7 Applying the Restatement Approach under IAS 29 Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary Economies be adopted for use in Europe.

EFRAG seeks comments on its proposal by 9 January 2006. You can download the draft letter from EFRAG's Website.
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Combatting complexity in accounting

13 Dec 2005

Although he touched only briefly on accounting matters, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox made the following observation in his remarks before the New York Economic Club yesterday: "At the recent AICPA convention, both FASB Chairman Bob Herz and I announced our combined efforts to combat complexity in accounting.

This will be an across-the-board effort that will benefit issuers and investors alike." Click for (PDF 67k).
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IFAC guide to strengthening accountancy bodies

13 Dec 2005

The Developing Nations Committee of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has released a guide entitled Establishing and Developing a Professional Accountancy Body to assist governments and others seeking to build accountancy capacity in various countries, and to help strengthen IFAC's current and future member organisations.

The guide is essentially a toolkit with Internet hyperlinks to access additional information. The guide addresses the following areas:
  • Establishing a professional body;
  • Roles and responsibilities of a professional accountancy body;
  • Education and examinations; and
  • Capacity development.
The guide is copyright 2005 by the International Federation of Accountants and is posted here with IFAC's kind permission. Click to Download the IFAC Guidance (ZIP, 2,561k). Inside the ZIP file is an executable (.EXE) file that runs the guide. Click here for Press Release (PDF 83k).
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EU intepretive body not needed

12 Dec 2005

Charlie McCreevy, the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, spoke last week on Recent Developments in the Internal Market for Financial Services and Financial Reporting before the Association of Corporate Treasurers in Belgium.

Here are two excerpts from his comments on financial reporting:

Consistent application of IFRS in the EU. While CESR, auditors, and preparers of financial statements all have responsibilities in this area, "what is absolutely clear is that we do not want any EU body, formal or informal, providing EU interpretations and guidance. Where interpretations need to be done, this must be the job of the responsible body of the IASB, namely IFRIC."

Equivalence between third country GAAP and IFRS. "Making IFRS work in the EU puts us in a position to be able to claim an even bigger prize: greater access of EU companies to global capital markets. This should include removal of the reconciliation requirement to US GAAP for companies which list in the US. The US SEC agreed to a Road-map in April 2003 with the aim of working towards this at the earliest in 2007 and at the latest in 2009. In the EU we are, of course, also looking into the use of third country GAAP in order to establish whether these might be considered equivalent with IFRS. For the moment, my view is that the best way to proceed is for the EU to defer an equivalence decision and prolong the status quo, rather than taking any decision now. This option would align the EU's equivalence agenda with the US Roadmap for dropping the reconciliation requirement for foreign issuers in the US. It would mean we could work in parallel towards common agreed objectives."

Click to (PDF 83k).
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SEC 'Current Accounting and Disclosure Issues'

11 Dec 2005

The Division of Corporation Finance of the US Securities and Exchange Commission has published its latest list of (PDF 250k) as of 1 December 2005. This first section of the list is a review of recent and proposed rules and interpretations from the Commission.

The second section is staff guidance and comments on current accounting and disclosure matters based on the Division's reviews of the filings of the 15,000 SEC registrants. The list is divided into the following sections:

I. RECENT RULES, PROPOSED RULES, INTERPRETIVE BULLETINS, AND OTHER COMMISSION ACTIVITY

  • A. Final Rules Regarding Securities Offering Reform
  • B. Regulatory Relief and Assistance for Hurricane Katrina Victims
  • C. Employee Stock Options
  • D. Final Rule regarding IFRS First-time Adopters
  • E. Final Rules Regarding Use of Form S-8, Form 8-K, and Form 20-F by Public Shell Companies
  • F. Final Rules Regarding Asset-Backed Securities
  • G. Final Rules and Concept Release Regarding the Use of Tagged Data
  • H. Accelerated Filer
  • I. Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting and Certification of Disclosure
  • in Exchange Act Periodic Reports
  • J. Management's Discussion and Analysis
  • K. Rule Proposals Related to Proxy Materials
  • L. Public Release of Comment Letters and Responses
  • M. Recent Enforcement Actions Involving MD&A;
  • N. Recent Enforcement Actions Involving GAAP II. OTHER CURRENT ACCOUNTING AND DISCLOSURE ISSUES
  • A. Dividend Policy Disclosures
  • B. Classification and Measurement of Warrants and Embedded Conversion Features
  • C. Statement of Cash Flows
  • D. Oil and Gas
  • E. Leasing
  • F. Revenue
  • G. Business Combinations
  • H. Investments
  • I. Contingencies and Loss Reserves
  • J. Pension, Post Retirement, and Post Employment Plans
  • K. FIN 46 and Deconsolidation
  • L. Segment Disclosure
  • M. Issues Associated With SFAS 133, Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities
  • N. Market Risk Disclosures
  • O. Allowance for Loan Losses
  • P. Loans and Other Receivables
  • Q. Materiality Assessments and the Use of Sampling
  • R. Independent Registered Auditors III. OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE DIVISION OF CORPORATION FINANCE AND OTHER COMMISSION OFFICES AND DIVISIONS
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Model IFRS financial statements for UK

09 Dec 2005

Deloitte & Touche LLP (United Kingdom) have developed iGAAP 2006 Financial Statements for UK Listed Groups, which has been published by CCH.

The major part of this publication comprises model financial statements, accompanied by detailed commentary, to illustrate the typical disclosures required of a listed group reporting under International Financial Reporting Standards. A 'facing page' format is used so that the model disclosures can be viewed simultaneously with the relevant Deloitte commentary on the disclosure requirements. iGAAP 2006 Financial Statements for UK Listed Groups can be purchased through CCH Online or by phone at +44 (0) 870 777 2906 or by email: customerservices@cch.co.uk.

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