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IFRS 9 advances in committee
It may seem strange, given the many commonalities in the preparation of the balance sheet and income statement, that there is quite significant divergence on how these documents should be presented. This manifests itself partly from a regulatory..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
ESMA signs new protocols with IASB
At a European accounting research conference in Switzerland, Thierry Kenel told participants what had induced Swatch Group to switch from IFRS in 2013, and how that had worked out. He pointed to IFRS importing market volatility into the balance..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
IASB meeting: Conceptual framework
The board published in August a draft new chapter for the conceptual framework. The proposed Chapter 7 of Concepts Statement 8 addresses presentation in financial statement. It aims to set objectives rather than prescribe a particular presentation...
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
IASB meeting: Materiality
The European Commission published at the end of August a regulation which requires the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to set up a web portal through which corporate filings held by national enforcement bodies can be accessed. The..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
FASB chairman at congressional committee
The question of whether financial reporting standards are too complex, and whether, as a corollary, regulators should reduce the burden on smaller listed companies, is very little discussed. There is, however, a cost/benefit argument that suggests..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
Death of standard-setting veteran
FASB chairman Russ Golden gave testimony in September to a congressional committee which is reviewing the programmes of regulators and standard-setters in the financial area. Aside from setting out the structure of the FASB, and its due process, he..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
Should regulators address complexity issues?
The question of whether financial reporting standards are too complex, and whether, as a corollary, regulators should reduce the burden on smaller listed companies, is very little discussed. There is, however, a cost/benefit argument that suggests..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
Ongoing standard-setting activities
FASB chairman Russ Golden gave testimony in September to a congressional committee which is reviewing the programmes of regulators and standard-setters in the financial area. Aside from setting out the structure of the FASB, and its due process, he..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
Presentation in financial statements
It may seem strange, given the many commonalities in the preparation of the balance sheet and income statement, that there is quite significant divergence on how these documents should be presented. This manifests itself partly from a regulatory..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
Defining the reporting entity
The IASB has made several attempts to define the reporting entity, but it seems that a workable definition is elusive. The standard-setter is reluctant to stray into the area of providing a definition of what is an entity, but it is hard to define a..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
Focus on small public companies
The standard-setter has issued a proposed amendment to the Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) that would shorten the amortisation period on debt, where the debt can be called earlier than its full contractual term. The aim is to do away with..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
Slow progress on conceptual framework
Steven Maijoor, together with the presidents of the other European Supervisory Authorities, delivered a verbal report to the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European parliament in September. The ESMA chief said it was essential for..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
Access to corporate filings
The European Commission published at the end of August a regulation which requires the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to set up a web portal through which corporate filings held by national enforcement bodies can be accessed. The..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
Expansion of Monitoring Board
In August the Chinese Ministry of Finance became a member of the IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board. The appointment might be seen as sensitive, given that China does not use IFRS as such.
In its 2012 review of governance, the Monitoring..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
Editorial
Despite the two-month seasonal gap since the last issue, things seem fairly quiet on the standard-setting front. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) seems to be pursuing its policy of restricting the number of active projects and..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
Presentation proposal
The board published in August a draft new chapter for the conceptual framework. The proposed Chapter 7 of Concepts Statement 8 addresses presentation in financial statement. It aims to set objectives rather than prescribe a particular presentation...
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
Proposed change to premium amortisation
The standard-setter has issued a proposed amendment to the Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) that would shorten the amortisation period on debt, where the debt can be called earlier than its full contractual term. The aim is to do away with..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
Plea to support CMU
Steven Maijoor, together with the presidents of the other European Supervisory Authorities, delivered a verbal report to the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European parliament in September. The ESMA chief said it was essential for..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
FASB issues new hedge accounting proposals
The IASB has made several attempts to define the reporting entity, but it seems that a workable definition is elusive. The standard-setter is reluctant to stray into the area of providing a definition of what is an entity, but it is hard to define a..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
Insurers given relief from IFRS 9
In August the Chinese Ministry of Finance became a member of the IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board. The appointment might be seen as sensitive, given that China does not use IFRS as such.
In its 2012 review of governance, the Monitoring..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.7 - 23 September 2016
EFRAG’s preliminary assessment of IFRS 16
Despite the two-month seasonal gap since the last issue, things seem fairly quiet on the standard-setting front. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) seems to be pursuing its policy of restricting the number of active projects and..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
SWATCH GROUP: why we don’t use IFRS
At a European accounting research conference in Switzerland, Thierry Kenel told participants what had induced Swatch Group to switch from IFRS in 2013, and how that had worked out. He pointed to IFRS importing market volatility into the balance..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.8 - 01 November 2016
IASB meeting: New Interpretation
A new Interpretation has been in preparation with the
Interpretations Committee over the last months. This Interpretation, which
addresses the role of advance payments in foreign currency translation, was
approved by the board, and will be issued..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
UK review procedure to be changed
The Conduct Committee of the UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) carries out enforcement reviews of the financial statements of UK companies. Following a review of its own procedures, it has decided to publicise the outcomes of all the reviews it..
Online Published Date:
01 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
Tax simplification
The standard-setter has issued an Accounting Standards Update (ASU) which cancels an exception in the tax treatment of intra-entity asset transfers other than inventory. The ASU says that tax should be accounted for on such transfers. This will..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
Annual review of financial reporting
The FRC has published its annual review of financial reporting. It says the quality of reporting is good, particularly amongst the larger companies, but there is still room for improvement.
The FRC’s overall conclusion is:..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
Quantitative analysis of goodwill
EFRAG has published the results of a quantitative analysis of the amounts of goodwill, and changes in them, in published financial statements. The study is intended to feed into the continuing review of goodwill accounting under way at the IASB, and..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
EFRAG funding progresses
The European parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee has been debating a suggestion that EFRAG’s funding for 2017–2020 should be tied to a requirement for the European Commission to report every year on the extent to..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
Link to intellectual capital
The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) has announced a link with the World International Capital/Assets Initiative (WICI). The two organisations have signed a joint statement of collaboration which sets out how they think an..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
Non-financial information in focus
The growing importance of non-financial information was highlighted at the 33rd annual conference of the UN Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (UN-ISAR). About 40 countries sent teams to..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
Better discussion needed
The UK FRC has published a review of the 2016/2016 reporting season. It says that standards are high but there is room for improvement in the strategic review. It also identifies tax reporting and the use of alternative performance measures as being..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
Round-up from international organisations
At the closing session of the annual UN conference on financial reporting, representatives of the World Bank, IIRC and regional professional organisations gave delegates an update. Jarrett Decker spoke of the World Bank’s capacity building...
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
New vice-chairman
The Trustees of the IFRS Foundation have named Sue Lloyd as vice-chairman of the IASB. Ms Lloyd, who joined the board in 2014, has previously served as a member of the Australian Accounting Standards Board and as a senior member of the IASB..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
Editorial
Reporting non-financial information seems to have been the theme of the month. From many quarters there is a growing strength to the message that investors want companies to provide more than the traditional financial information. A number of..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
Investors need non-financial information
The main theme on the opening day of the UN’s annual financial reporting conference was the role of financial reporting in achieving SDGs. The Secretary General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that sustainability..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
Quantitative survey of goodwill
EFRAG says that it has prepared its survey of goodwill in published statements to provide background to help with the current debate about the future of accounting for goodwill. The survey shows a concentration of goodwill in particular industry..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
Improvements to cash flow statements
The UK FRC has published a discussion paper asking for comment on proposals to improve the presentation of cash flow information. Amongst the suggestions are that notional cash flows should be excluded, that cash equivalents should not be part of..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
Re-deliberations on goodwill
During October the board continued to discuss the treatment of goodwill and impairment. They tentatively agreed to remove step 2 of the impairment test, and also decided to suspend consideration of methods other than impairment for the subsequent..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
Insurance improvements
The FASB has issued a proposed ASU for long-term insurance contracts. The proposals are intended to improve accounting for insurance contracts by using updated inputs for the liability calculation, introducing consistent measurement of market risk..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
ESMA issues IFRS 9 guidance
The European Securities and Markets Authority has issued a
public statement drawing attention to the disclosures it expects to see in 2016
financial statements in relation to IFRS 9. It underlines that companies should
provide an analysis of its..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.10 - 23 December 2016
Framework for disclosing intangibles
The World Intangible Capital/Assets Initiative (WICI) aims to promote better information for investors on intangible assets. Its Intangibles Reporting Framework is a guide to preparers as to what kind of information on intangibles is useful to..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.09 - 14 November 2016
Proposed clarification of concession accounting
The FASB has issued a proposed
amendment to the Accounting Standards Classification (ASC) dealing with the
operation of concessions by private sector companies. The proposal clarifies
that in a concession arrangement, the customer for revenue..
Online Published Date:
14 November 2016
Appeared in issue:
19.10 - 23 December 2016