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
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