International

While the first phase of the IASC’s restructuring moves forward—the new group of trustees met for the first time in June under the chairmanship of Paul A. Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board—the committee has been busy issuing guidance on international accounting.

The IASC board, also in June, approved exposure drafts of limited revisions to IAS no. 39, Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement; IAS no. 19, Employee Benefits and IAS no. 12, Income Taxes.

In July the staff of the IASC issued a discussion paper, Accounting for Share-based Payment— the result of an effort by the standard-setting bodies of G4+1, comprising the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Among the proposals in the paper was one that said a transaction whereby an entity obtains goods and services from other parties, with payment taking the form of shares or share options, should be recognized in the financial statements with a corresponding charge to the income statement. Also discussed was the treatment of lapsed options, options that are repriced, employee share plans with cash alternatives and share appreciation rights.

The IASC board is scheduled to meet in October in Tokyo to issue several proposed international accounting standards as final: E65, Agriculture; E66, Proposed Limited Revisions to IAS 39, Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement; E67, Pension Plan Assets; and E68, Income Tax Consequences of Dividends.

Comments on the discussion paper are due October 31. For details on this and other publications of the IASC, see www.iasc.org.uk .