International

The SEC signed protocols to share information on the application of IFRS with financial regulators in four European countries. The arrangements with regulators in Belgium, Bulgaria, Norway and Portugal are in line with the plan previously agreed to between the SEC and the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR). These protocols join the growing list of arrangements for regulatory, enforcement and supervisory cooperation between the SEC and its foreign counterparts. For more information, visit www.sec.gov/news/press/2008/2008-95.htm .

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Committee released new guidance on the use of discounted cash flow analysis and net present value in evaluating investments. Titled Project Appraisal Using Discounted Cash Flow , the guidance was released as part of the PAIB Committee’s new program to develop international good practice guidance on financial and management accounting topics. The document can be downloaded free from www.ifac.org/store . The PAIB Committee welcomes feedback, which can be e-mailed to stathisgould@ifac.org .

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA), an independent standard-setting board within IFAC, has issued a re-exposure draft of proposals to strengthen two areas of the independence requirements contained in the IFAC Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants . The proposals relate to the provision of internal audit services to an audit client that is a public interest entity and the safeguards required when the fees from a public interest entity audit client exceed 15% of the total fees of the firm.

The original exposure draft was issued in July 2007. The re-exposure draft contains two key proposals. The first would prohibit independent auditors from providing internal audit services related to internal controls, financial systems or financial statements to an audit client that is a public interest entity, thereby further strengthening their objectivity in carrying out audits.

The second proposal requires that an annual pre- or post-issuance review be conducted by a professional accountant who is not a member of the firm when the revenues from a public interest entity audit client exceed 15% of total firm revenue for two consecutive years. Comments on the new ED are due by Aug. 31, 2008. The draft can be seen at www.ifac.org/EDs

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued amendments to IFRS 1, First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards , and IAS 27 , Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements , that respond to constituents’ concerns that retrospectively determining cost and applying the cost method in accordance with IAS 27 on first-time adoption of IFRS cannot, in some circumstances, be achieved without undue cost or effort.

The amendments address that issue by allowing first-time adopters to use a deemed cost of either fair value or the carrying amount under previous accounting practice to measure the initial cost of investments in subsidiaries, jointly controlled entities and associates in the separate financial statements; and by removing the definition of the cost method from IAS 27 and replacing it with a requirement to present dividends as income in the separate financial statements of the investor.

The amendments to IAS 27 also respond to queries regarding the initial measurement of cost in the separate financial statements of a new parent formed as the result of a specific type of reorganization. The amendments require the new parent to measure the cost of its investment in the previous parent at the carrying amount of its share of the equity items of the previous parent at the reorganization date. The amendments to IFRS 1 and IAS 27 will apply for annual periods beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2009, with earlier application permitted. For further information on the amendments to IFRS 1 and IAS 27, see the project Web pages at www.iasb.org .