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Final communique from 30th annual IOSCO conference

11 Apr 2005

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) held its 30th annual conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 4 to 7 April 2005. IOSCO is the global association of the world's securities and futures regulators.

The Final Communique (PDF 293k) from the meeting reiterated IOSCO's long-standing support for IFRSs and reported on a study on regulation of the auditing profession:

8.1 International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). At this Annual Conference IOSCO has taken the opportunity to reiterate its support for the work of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), and encourages its members to accept financial statements in fillings for cross-border offerings prepared under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), with additional reconciliation or disclosure as necessary to meet national standards. In addition, IOSCO has encouraged those members still using supplemental treatments to continue to evaluate their need with the hope that within the foreseeable future, such reconciliation treatments will no longer be necessary.

IOSCO is also developing procedures to encourage cooperation and consultation among members in the regulatory interpretation and enforcement of IFRS. A consultation paper outlining the options with this approach as well as the principles to be adopted and their implementation has been distributed to the IOSCO membership. IOSCO envisages that it will be in a position to confirm a final model during the second half of 2005, in time to be used in conjunction with reviews of 2005 annual financial statements.

8.2 Regulation and Oversight of Auditors. In response to the widespread interest in the conduct and quality of audits and in oversight of auditors, IOSCO recently conducted a survey on the regulation and oversight of auditors in a number of different jurisdictions. The survey revealed that IOSCO principles for auditor oversight and auditor independence were broadly implemented in most of the developed markets and some of the emerging markets even though there remained wide variations in the approaches and structures that are applied. IOSCO is currently in the process of analyzing the survey results and considering possible revisions to the related IOSCO regulatory principles.

EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group) (dk green) Image

EFRAG's final comments on IFRIC D11

08 Apr 2005

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has released its letter of comment on IFRIC Draft Interpretation D11 Changes in Contributions to Employee Share Purchase Plans (ESPPs).

The letter expresses agreement with one aspect of the proposed consensus but disagrees with another. EFRAG agrees that if an existing ESPP is replaced by a new ESPP, the entity should account for this replacement as a modification of the original plan in accordance with IFRS 2. However, EFRAG disagrees with the proposed consensus on how to account if an employee stops contributing to an ESPP while remaining in the entity's employment. D11 proposes that the entity account for this event as a cancellation and, therefore, should recognise immediately as expense the amount that otherwise would have been recognised for services received over the remainder of the vesting period. EFRAG's letter raises questions about the basis for IFRIC's proposed consensus. Click to download EFRAG's Letter on D11 (PDF 17k).
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April Board meeting agenda is announced

08 Apr 2005

The IASB will hold its monthly Board meeting on Tuesday 19 April 2005. On Wednesday 20 April, the Board will meet with its liaison national standard-setters.

On Thursday 21 April 2005, the Board will hold a joint meeting with the US Financial Accounting Standards Board. All are in London, though venues differ. Presented below are the preliminary agendas announced so far.

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19-21 April 2005, London

Tuesday 19 April 2005

IASB Board Meeting Location: IASB Offices, 30 Cannon Street, London

Wednesday 20 April 2005

Meeting of the IASB and the Liaison National Standard Setters Location: The Council Room, One Great George Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3AA

  • Provisional agenda not yet announced

Thursday 21 April 2005

Meeting of the IASB and the US FASB Location: The Council Room, One Great George Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3AA

  • Financial Instruments – Way Forward The Boards will discuss alternative approaches towards future projects on financial instruments accounting.
  • Performance Reporting
    • 1. What topics will be addressed in Segment A and Segment B, including agreement on the required financial statements, whether to require a single statement of comprehensive income with a total for comprehensive income while retaining a subtotal similar to the concept of 'income from continuing operations' or 'profit or loss', and agreement on the number of years required to be presented in comparative financial statements.
    • 2. Whether the issue on requiring the presentation of the direct method for the statement of cash flows should be addressed in either Segment A or Segment B
    • 3. What is the timing and the type of document(s) for public comment that should be used for Segment A and Segment B
    • 4. Whether the document(s) for public comment should be drafted jointly by the IASB and FASB staff using the same wording (similar to a new standard such as Business Combinations II) or if the staff should amend each Board's existing guidance/literature using the same wording (whenever possible)
  • Short-term Convergence: Income Taxes
  • Concepts – Objectives
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Over 200,000 e-learning downloads from IASPlus

08 Apr 2005

As of 1 April 2005, 200,000 Deloitte IFRS e-learning modules had 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, tens 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-three modules are now available.
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Four Deloitte leaders are SEC SOX roundtable panelists

08 Apr 2005

The US Securities and Exchange Commission will hold a Roundtable on Implementation of Internal Control Reporting Provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 on 13 April 2005 from 9:00am to 5:30pm at the Commission's headquarters in Washington.

Real time and archived audio and video webcasts will be accessible on www.sec.gov. Selected materials related to the Roundtable – including the day's agenda, a Briefing Paper, and materials submitted to the staff in connection with the discussions – are accessible at www.sec.gov/spotlight/soxcomp.htm. The Roundtable will cover a number of topics, including: (1) first year efforts; (2) reporting to the public; (3) planning and design; (4) documentation and testing of internal control over financial reporting; (5) the use of judgment in communications and conclusions; and (6) next steps. The Roundtable will feature a broad range of stakeholders involved with internal control reporting – including investor advocates, representatives of public companies, members of audit committees, auditors, attorneys, and US regulators. The members of the PCAOB will participate. Panelists include two former Deloitte Chairmen, J. Michael Cook and James E. Copeland, Jr., and current Deloitte partners Larry J. Koch and Robert J. Kueppers. Click for (PDF 43k).
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Disclosing the effects of IFRS changeover

08 Apr 2005

The importance of explaining the effect of first-time adoption of IFRSs was highlighted in a speech by Terence O'Rourke, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland earlier this week in Dublin.

Mr. O'Rourke cited an example of the price of shares in an Irish bank tumbling after it announced lower IFRS earnings, though its circumstances had not changed. He suggested that market misunderstanding, including the failure of financial analysts to study and take account of the effects of the IFRS changeover, was a major cause of the price decline. "What it has done, however, is illustrate the importance of providing a context to accounting information provided to the capital markets," Mr. O'Rourke said. Click to download Mr. O'Rourke's Remarks (PDF 31k).
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Russia may delay move toward adopting IFRSs

07 Apr 2005

On 1 November 2004, we reported that the Russian Duma (parliament) had given preliminary approval to a bill requiring corporations with more than one subsidiary to publish financial statements that conform to IFRSs starting either in 2004 or 2005.

We noted that two additional votes of the Duma were required before the bill would become law.

It now appears that the legislation is stalled in the Duma. A news story in Vedomosti (Russia's top business newspaper, a joint venture of the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal) on 2 February 2005 was titled 'IFRS to be Adjourned' and stated that "the effort has come to a standstill". A few weeks later (22 February 2005), an editorial in Vedomosti said that neither the business community nor government is ready for transition to IFRS because "there are no incentives for transparency and there are technical difficulties for implementation that may cause chaos in the reporting rather than increase investment attraction". The editorial also questioned the quality of current IFRS implementation by Russian banks, which have been required to use IFRSs since third quarter 2004.

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Garnett, Gelard, Leisenring reappointed to IASB

07 Apr 2005

Mr.

Garnett

Mr. Gelard

Mr. Leisenring

Following a recommendation of their nominating committee, the Trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, under which the IASB operates, voted unanimously to reappoint three members of the International Accounting Standards Board to five-year terms beginning 1 July 2005 and ending 30 June 2010. The three Board members are Robert Garnett, Gilbert Gelard, and James Leisenring. Click for Press Release (PDF 124k).

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Commissioner McCreevy speaks about IFRS issues

06 Apr 2005

In a speech to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in Brussels yesterday, Charlie McCreevy, the EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, discussed a range of issues relating to IFRSs, including: .

In a speech to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in Brussels yesterday, Charlie McCreevy, the EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, discussed a range of issues relating to IFRSs, including:

  • Convergence of US GAAP and IFRSs
  • Convergence of Japanese GAAP and IFRSs
  • EC consideration of the equivalence of US, Canadian, and Japanese GAAPs to IFRSs
  • The EC 'carve-out' of two sections of IAS 39
  • Independence of the IASB
  • The need for interpretations
  • Enforcement of IFRSs
  • Auditor oversight
  • The need for international regulatory cooperation in a globalised world
With regard to interpretations, Commissioner McCreevy commented:

Standards must not be undermined by a myriad of interpretations leading to a rules-based system. I very clearly see that the important players, such as the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), CESR, and the national standard setters, have to ensure that this does not happen. And we need to consider how the links between a strengthened EFRAG and the IASB can be better defined.

Click to (PDF 77k). See also our news story of 5 April 2005 about a related speech by the Commissioner.
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Enforcement of accounting standards in UK

06 Apr 2005

The United Kingdom Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP) has reached agreements with both the UK Financial Services Authority and Inland Revenue, and also has adopted new operating procedures, all aimed at enhancing the enforcement of financial reporting standards in the UK.

Those steps coincide with changes to the Companies Act to give the FRRP statutory power to require companies, directors, and auditors to provide documents, information, and explanations relevant to a question about whether accounts comply with reporting requirements. Link to the FRRP Press Release.

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