The Draft Interpretations are:

• D12 Service Concession Arrangements - Determining the Accounting Model
• D13 Service Concession Arrangements - the Financial Asset Model
• D14 Service Concession Arrangements - the Intangible Asset Model

Service concession arrangements are arrangements whereby a government or other body grants contracts for the supply of public services, such as roads, energy distribution, prisons, or hospitals, to private operators.

D12 proposes that if, as often happens, the grantor continues to control how the infrastructure is used both during and after the concession, the operator should not recognise that infrastructure as its own property, plant, and equipment. The operator may construct or acquire such infrastructure for the purpose of the concession. If it does so, it should account for having provided construction services to the grantor under a construction contract, and recognise as an asset the rights it receives in exchange from the grantor.

D13 and D14 provide guidance on how the operator should apply relevant IFRSs when it recognises a financial or intangible asset respectively. Both address the recognition and measurement of contract revenue and costs, and service concession assets and obligations (such as obligations to repair and maintain infrastructure).

The three Interpretations are proposed to be effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2006. Early adoption would be permitted.

Comments are requested by 3 May 2005. Click for IASB Press Release (PDF 61k). Download the draft Interpretations from IASB's Website.

 

Note that this is not the same Crowne Plaza Hotel as the 16 March fair value option meeting.

Section 404 requires a company to include in its annual reports a report by management on the company's internal control over financial reporting and an accompanying auditor's report. Under the latest extension, foreign private issuers filing annual reports on Form 20-F or 40-F, as well as non-accelerated filers, must begin to comply with the internal control requirements in their first financial year ending on or after 15 July 2006. This is a one-year extension from the previously established 15 July 2005 date. The SEC noted that one reason for the deferral for foreign issuers is that "many foreign companies are facing regulatory and reporting challenges in addition to internal control reporting as companies incorporated in a European Union member country are required to prepare their financial statements for 2005 in accordance with new International Financial Reporting Standards." Click for:

• (PDF 31k)
• (PDF 45k)

That globalisation is an important reason why global financial reporting standards are needed.

The draft is intended to set out a shared vision of the respective roles of national and regional standard-setters and of the IASB in working towards a single set of high quality, understandable, and enforceable global accounting standards. An earlier draft of the MoU was discussed at a meeting of world standard setters in September 2004. The IASB requests comments by 29 July 2005. The IASB intends to present a collation of the comments and a revised draft MoU at a meeting of world standard-setters in September 2005. Click to download:

• Draft Memorandum of Understanding (PDF 44k).
• IASB Transmittal Letter (PDF 8k).

We have posted the Deloitte (PDF 114k) to the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee on IFRIC D11 Changes in Contributions to Employee Share Purchase Plans (ESPPs).

Our letter acknowledges that the definition of 'vesting condition' in IFRS 2 paragraph BC 7 might lead to the answer proposed in D11. However, Deloitte's view is that "a more faithful representation of the employee's decision to cease contributing to the scheme is to recognise an expense for the share-based payment component up until the date that the employee decides to withdraw their cash deposit. However, this accounting treatment is not supported by the current version of IFRS 2."

All of Deloitte's comment letters to IASC, SIC, IASB, and IFRIC are Here.

Under Control provides a straightforward discussion of the essential characteristics of sustainability, as well as plain-English guidance for deriving long-term value from internal control programs. The document clearly and simply explains key concepts, provides practical advice, and analyses critical shortcomings that many companies experienced in their first-year efforts. Click to (PDF 409k).

Also on the agenda are the composition and mandate of a reconstituted Standards Advisory Council (SAC) and reappointment of the three IASB members whose terms are due to end on 30 June 2005 (Robert Garnett, Gilbert Gelard, and James Leisenring). The meeting agenda indicates that the Trustees intend to make a decision on reappointments at the March meeting.

The eight PIOB members include seven individuals nominated by the International Organization of Securities Commissions, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, and the World Bank, and one selected by those organisations from individuals nominated by IFAC.

Click for press releases from:

• IOSCO (PDF 70k).
• Press Release (PDF 69k).

 

The revised GIPS standards, developed jointly by financial analysts' groups in over 20 countries, represent the most comprehensive and significant upgrade to the standards since their introduction in 1999. You can Download the Standards from the CFA Institute website. Also available are an FAQ document and a comparison of the revised standards with the 1999 version.