News

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FASB agrees to delay its stock options standard

14 Oct 2004

The US Financial Accounting Standards Board has voted to delay the effective date of its proposed standard on accounting for equity-based compensation by six months – to interim or annual periods beginning after 15 June 2005. Therefore, an entity would apply the final statement to all employee awards of share-based payment granted, modified, or settled in any interim or annual period beginning after 15 June 2005. FASB's exposure draft would require recognition of an expense for all equity-based compensation, including stock options.

The proposal, as modified as a result of consideration of comments received, is similar though not identical to IFRS 2 Share-based Payment, which is effective for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2005, with earlier application encouraged.
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Reminder – comment deadline on ED 7 is next week

14 Oct 2004

The deadline for comments on Exposure Draft 7: Financial Instruments: Disclosures is Friday, 22 October 2004. ED 7 would: add certain new disclosures about financial instruments to those currently required by IAS 32, replace the disclosures now required by IAS 30, and put all of those financial instruments disclosures together in a new standard on Financial Instruments: Disclosures.

IAS 32 would then deal only with financial instruments presentation matters.
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UK ASB urges compliance with full IAS 39

13 Oct 2004

The United Kingdom Accounting Standards Board has issued a statement on the implications for UK financial reporting of the modified version of IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement recently endorsed by the Accounting Regulatory Committee of the European Commission.

The ASB said:

The ASB strongly supports the view that all UK companies should comply as far as possible with the full hedging provisions of the standard and not the amended version.... If power to mandate full compliance lay with the Board, it would do so immediately. However, the Board understands that, as a consequence of the IAS Regulation, the Board may not currently have this power. The Board intends to explore all possible means of mandating compliance with the hedging requirements as soon as possible.

Click to download the (PDF 40k)
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IASB convergence project with Japan

13 Oct 2004

The International Accounting Standards Board and the Accounting Standards Board of Japan (ASBJ) have held the first meeting to plan a joint project aimed at minimising differences between IFRSs and Japanese accounting standards towards a final goal of convergence of their standards.

Sir David Tweedie, IASB Chairman, said: "The decision of the ASBJ to join with us to examine the differences between our standards and, where the economic facts are similar, to discuss which of our two methods best reflects economic reality is a major boost for the convergence of accounting standards worldwide. I applaud the decision of the ASBJ to take this historic step." Click for IASB Press Release (PDF 16k).
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ARC opinion on IAS 39

13 Oct 2004

We have inserted a link to the official report of the decisions of the EU Accounting Regulatory Committee on endorsement of IAS 39 into our 4 October 2004 News Story about the ARC meeting. .

We have inserted a link to the official report of the decisions of the EU Accounting Regulatory Committee on endorsement of IAS 39 into our 4 October 2004 News Story about the ARC meeting.

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New EITF Roundup is available

13 Oct 2004

We have posted the (PDF 117k), which provides an overview of the issues discussed, consensuses reached, and administrative matters discussed at the 29-30 September 2004 meeting of FASB's Emerging Issues Task Force.

EITF Roundup, from Deloitte & Touche LLP (USA), is published after each Task Force meeting and is intended for a general audience of financial professionals, including CFOs, controllers, and internal audit and accounting professionals. Past issues are Here.
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IASC Foundation trustees will meet 25 October 2004

12 Oct 2004

The trustees of the IASC Foundation, under which the IASB operates, will meet at the IASB's offices in London starting at 9:00am on Monday 25 October 2004. Agenda items include Report of the Constitution Committee Report of the IASB chairman: Update on IASB activities Report on IASB consultative procedures Recommendations regarding relationships with national standard-setters Report of the Trustees' Committee on IASB Procedures .

The trustees of the IASC Foundation, under which the IASB operates, will meet at the IASB's offices in London starting at 9:00am on Monday 25 October 2004. Agenda items include

  • Report of the Constitution Committee
  • Report of the IASB chairman:
    • Update on IASB activities
    • Report on IASB consultative procedures
    • Recommendations regarding relationships with national standard-setters
  • Report of the Trustees' Committee on IASB Procedures
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PCAOB staff Q&As on internal controls

12 Oct 2004

The US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has published a second set of staff questions and answers related to PCAOB Auditing Standard No.

2, An Audit of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting Performed in Conjunction with an Audit of Financial Statements. AS 2 applies to audits of foreign, as well as domestic, SEC registrants. The new Q&As (nos. 27-29) address the scope and extent of testing, evaluating deficiencies, and service organisations. Click to download:
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Role of the audit committee examined

12 Oct 2004

In her recent comments on The Role of the Audit Committee: The US Experience, US SEC Commissioner Cynthia A.

Glassman spoke about application of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to foreign registrants:

It is clear that the problems that led to the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley are not exclusive to the United States. Corporate governance issues are just as important internationally, as evidenced by some of the recent Italian and other European scandals. We in the United States are also not the only ones crafting solutions to these problems. It is therefore incumbent upon all of us to work diligently to ensure that our solutions are appropriate and have the intended effect. The Commission therefore has and will continue to seek a balance between its responsibility to protect U.S. investors and the need to provide reasonable accommodations to foreign issuers.

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Deloitte comment letters on proposed IAS 39 amendments

11 Oct 2004

We have posted three letters of comment submitted by Deloitte in response to the IASB's exposure drafts of proposed amendments to IAS 39: .

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