News

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IASB will host a world accounting standard setters meeting

14 Aug 2003

The IASB will host a meeting with representatives of world accounting standard setters on Monday, 22 September 2003, from 09:00 to 18:00 at the Renaissance Chancery Court Hotel in London.

The meeting is open to public observation. The agenda for that meeting includes:
  • Financial reporting by small and medium-sized entities. A technical discussion of the IASB project and the proposed approach to SME reporting. Short plenary session introducing the topic, followed by breakout sessions.
  • Convergence, harmonisation, and first-time adoption of IFRSs. Specific issues likely to be encountered in moving to IFRSs, including business combinations, hedge accounting, and tangible and intangible assets. Includes a discussion of the role of national standard-setting bodies and how they can be involved in the IASB process.
  • Reporting comprehensive income. A technical discussion of the proposed reporting format developed by the IASB. Short plenary session introducing the topic and case study, followed by breakout sessions.
  • IASB update and concluding remarks.
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US GAO report on consolidation in the accounting profession

13 Aug 2003

A new report by the US General Accounting Office on Public Accounting Firms: Mandated Study on Consolidation and Competition (PDF 1,992k) includes a survey of independent auditors of SEC-registered companies.

Based on responses from 47 firms, the GAO found:

  • 49% of the accounting firms said that changes in and growing complexity of accounting and auditing standards had a "great upward influence" on their costs in the past decade, and 51% said those factors had a "moderate upward influence".
  • 28% of the accounting firms said that changes in and growing complexity of accounting and auditing standards had a "great upward influence" on their fees in the past decade; 64% said those factors had a "moderate upward influence"; and 7% said they had "little or no influence".
  • 37% of the accounting firms said that changes in and growing complexity of accounting and auditing standards had a made it "much harder" to maintain audit quality in the past decade; 57% said those factors made it "somewhat harder" to maintain quality; and 7% said they had "little or no effect" on audit quality.
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New United Kingdom edition of IASPlus newsletter

13 Aug 2003

The London IFRS Centre of Excellence of Deloitte & Touche (UK) has begun publishing a United Kingdom edition of our quarterly IASPlus newsletter.

As with our other editions of IASPlus, you can download the UK edition on our IASPlus Page. You can also download them directly here:
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ED 5 is now available without charge

12 Aug 2003

The IASB has now lifted the restriction on public downloading of exposure draft ED 5, Insurance Contracts.

You can download it Here. Comment deadline is 31 October 2003. You can also get ED 4, Disposal of Non-current Assets and Presentation of Discontinued Operations, for which the comment deadline is 24 October 2003.
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IFAC study on rebuilding confidence in financial reporting

11 Aug 2003

A task force commissioned by the International Federation of Accountants to address, from an international perspective, the loss of credibility in financial reporting and to suggest approaches to resolving the problem has issued its report.

The report makes a number of comments with respect to accounting standards, including these:

  • "It is inevitable when standards are established at the national level, even where those standards are purporting to implement an international standard, that differences will arise among countries. These issues would be of less consequence if countries adopted international standards, rather than adapted their standards to comply with them. With the exception of the E.U., this does not appear to be the approach being adopted by most of the developed countries."
  • "We support IFRSs becoming the worldwide standards for accounting. We believe that, as soon as possible, international standards should replace national standards."
  • "We support the general approach of IASB in setting principles-based standards, rather than establishing lengthy lists of detailed rules. A rules-based approach encourages a legalistic approach and the finding of loopholes, rather than attention being given to the objectives and principles of the standard. The principles-based approach requires the use of more judgment by management and by the auditor."
  • "We recommend that the convergence process for international accounting standards be given a greater sense of urgency; this will require extensive cooperation between IASB and national standard setters."
You can download the report from IFAC's Website (PDF 231k).
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US bank regulators jointly adopt rules on bank audits

11 Aug 2003

The United States Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Treasury Department Office of Thrift Supervision have jointly adopted rules and procedures for the removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and their accounting firms from performing independent audit and attestation services to banks operating in the United States.

The rules apply to branches and agencies of foreign banks. Click for Press Release (PDF 16k) and Full Text of Rules (PDF 265k).
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Public sector standards to be updated for harmonisation with IFRS

11 Aug 2003

We have posted the August 2003 edition of the IFAC Public Sector Committee Newsletter (PDF 35k).

The PSC develops accounting standards for national, regional, and local governments and their agencies based (to the extent appropriate in the public sector) on IFRS. At its July 2003 meeting, the PSC considered staff papers that outlined likely differences between existing International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) and their equivalent IFRSs expected to be in place as at March 2004, and identified key IFRSs for which equivalent IPSASs had not yet been developed. The PSC directed its staff to prepare, for consideration at the next PSC meeting, a paper that would outline alternative ways of updating IPSASs to ensure they remain harmonised with IFRSs where appropriate for the public sector. Copies of PSC standards and proposals are available free of charge at PSC's Website. Click for More Information about the PSC.
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Changes to IASB's project timetables

10 Aug 2003

The IASB has made the following changes to its project Timetables: Final Standards resulting from the Improvements project moved to 4th quarter 2003. Final Standards on Amendments to IAS 32 and IAS 39 moved to 4th quarter 2003 (with a further revision in 1st quarter 2004 on macro hedging). Final Standards on Share-Based Payment moved to 1st quarter 2004. Exposure Draft on Business Combinations Phase II – Application of the Purchase Method moved to 4th quarter 2003. Concepts of Revenue, Liabilities, and Equity moved to an unspecified period after 1st quarter 2004. Exposure Draft on replacement of IAS 20 (Government Grants) – part of the IASB's Convergence Project – moved to an unspecified period after 1st quarter 2004. Exposure Draft on Consolidation Including SPEs to be issued in 2004 after 1st quarter. An Exposure Draft on Reporting Comprehensive Income (Performance Reporting) is still planned for 4th quarter 2003 but that is "subject to review in August 2003". .

The IASB has made the following changes to its project Timetables:

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Inaugural edition of EITF Roundup

08 Aug 2003

Deloitte & Touche (USA) has published the first newsletter in a new series called EITF Roundup.

The newsletter will be published after each meeting of FASB's Emerging Issues Task Force to provide an overview of the Issues discussed, consensuses reached, and administrative matters discussed at the EITF meeting. We have posted the August 2003 Edition summarising the 31 July 2003 EITF meeting. EITF Roundup complements our Accounting Roundup Series, which covers current accounting initiatives of the FASB, GASB, AICPA, SEC, and IASB. If you need more in-depth information on accounting standards than these newsletters provide, consider subscribing to our Technical Library: The Deloitte Accounting Research Tool. Technical Library is a comprehensive online library of accounting and financial disclosure literature, including official material and Deloitte & Touche interpretive guidance.
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IVSC proposes guidelines for valuing property under IFRS

07 Aug 2003

The International Valuation Standards Committee (IVSC) has published a Consultation Paper proposing guidance on the valuation of owner-occupied property under IAS 16 'Property, Plant and Equipment'.

The IVSC's goal is consistent measurement of property that is carried at revalued amount under IAS 16. Click for IVSC Press Release (PDF 41k) and IVSC Consultation Paper (PDF 164k).

John Edge, Chairman of the IVSC said:

Although IAS 16 allows property to be carried at fair value in the accounts, it has no guidance on how to arrive at that fair value. Yet the national accounting and valuation standards in those countries that currently permit revaluation of assets have some significant differences. For example, 'depreciated replacement cost' is defined differently in different countries. Or, in some countries owner-occupied property is valued as if vacant; in others, it is valued on the basis of a capitalised notional lease. This can lead to differing valuation conclusions although all will be reported as 'fair value'.

 

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