'Elemental changes to the current format of financial reporting need to be made to increase its relevance and stakeholder value and stem the increasing complexity that has plagued financial reporting in recent years', it says. Those changes should include: 'developing a new form of reporting that integrates an organization's social and environmental performance with its economic performance, in a simplified manner'.

Click for IFAC press release (link to IFAC website).

He also stated the need for the US to continue to work towards adoption of IFRSs by stating the following:

We all know that there cannot be a global system without US acceptance of IFRSs. This is an objective that I have been fully committed to over the past ten years. I would like to make the case today on the pressing need for the United States to commit itself this year to a clear, defined, and workable timetable for the incorporation and use of IFRSs, as published by the IASB.

Click for the full text of Sir David Tweedie's speech (link to IASB website).

The survey, sent to all CFA Institute members (over 98,000 members), was distributed by email during January 2011. 5,735 members participated in the survey, for a response rate of 6%, and a margin of error of ±1%.

Highlights of the survey include:

• market fraud, financial reporting (honesty and integrity of financial reporting generally), and derivatives (disclosure and use of financial derivatives by financial firms) were rated at the most serious ethical issues facing global markets – participants from 8 of the 16 priority markets in the survey said derivatives is the most serious issue facing global markets in the coming year
• improved enforcement of existing laws & regulation (31%) and improved regulation & oversight of global systemic risk (23%) are the most needed regulatory/industry actions needed in the coming year to help improve market trust and integrity – however, two countries (Brazil and China) both had the highest proportion of members selecting improved transparency of financial reporting and other corporate disclosures as the most needed reform
• over half of respondents think the impact of the credit crisis will last 5 years or less, with approximately one-third believing it will last more than 5 years.

Click for CFA Institute press release (link to CFAI website). Our credit crunch page is Here

The UN Global Compact is a voluntary corporate responsibility initiative which currently involves over 8700 corporate participants and other stakeholders from over 130 countries.

The UN Global Compact seeks to ensure participating businesses commit to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. The eighth principle involves undertaking initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility and includes consideration of communication and reporting tools such as corporate environmental reporting and sustainability reporting.

Participants in the Global Compact submit an annual Communication on Progress (COP) describing their levels of implementation of the ten Global Compact principles and related areas. The Differentiation Programme framework, partially developed in collaboration with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), allows companies to differentiate themselves based on the extent to which their COP describes their implementation.

Upon submitting their next COPs, companies will be categorised as "GC Active" or can self-declare themselves "GC Advanced" based on their disclosure on progress made in implementing the ten principles and contributing to broader UN goals. In an effort to demonstrate the synergies between the Global Compact and the GRI, the two initiatives are working together to imbed the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines ("GRI Guidelines") at both levels of the differentiation programme.

Click for UN Global Compact press release (link to UNGC website). Further information about GRI's participation in the initiative can be found in this GRI article (link to GRI website). Our sustainability reporting page can be found Here.

We express our support for the IASB's project to reform financial instrument accounting, but we also note concerns about some of the detailed requirements in the exposure draft. The following is an excerpt from the letter:

Although generally supportive of the ED, we have concerns with a number of the proposed detailed requirements, including, but not limited to, the effectiveness threshold, the recognition of time value of options, the prohibition on hedge accounting for risks that affect only other comprehensive income and the presentation of fair value hedges.

Click to Download our Comment Letter (PDF 168k). All of our past comment letters are here.

This batch makes editorial corrections and changes to IFRS 9 Financial Instruments (issued October 2010), Bound Volume (Blue Book) 2011 and Bound Volume (Red Book) 2011.

Click for:

• Editorial Corrections to IFRSs (link to IASB website)

 

This publication addresses three of the more contentious issues highlighted by the consumer business industry through feedback on the leases proposal issued by the IASB and US FASB in August 2010. Three of the more significant issues raised by the consumer business industry during the open comment period and subsequent roundtable discussions were around lease term, variable lease payments and the pattern of expense recognition.

Click for:

• IFRS Industry Insights: The Leases Project – An update for the consumer business industry (PDF 79k)

In addition, the IASB and FASB are meeting in Norwalk on 21-23 March 2011. Many of the topics to be discussed are spread over both meetings.

 

You can access the agenda on our March 2011 joint meeting page.  We will also post Deloitte observer notes on this page as they are available

The e-learning consists of 36 modules, based on accounting standards applicable at 31 December 2010, and is available free of charge.

The Japanese e-learning modules can be accessed Here. IFRS e-learning resources in English, Spanish and Chinese can be found at www.deloitteifrslearning.com.

Click for the full report (PDF 362k).