The International Federation of Accountants releases two international public sector accounting standards (IPSASs) ( www.ifac.org ). IPSAS 19, Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets, defines the terms to which its title refers and establishes the criteria for recognizing and disclosing provisions and the rules for measuring them. IPSAS 20, Related
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TOPICS / TAX
International tax
Accounting
For news from the AICPA and state societies, visit www.cpa2biz.com , which also offers online CPE, AICPA professional literature, practice management aids and links to state society Web sites. The Institute’s accounting standards staff releases a technical practice aid (TPA) ( www.aicpa.org/members/div/acctstd/general/tpa5.htm ) to clarify financial accounting and reporting issues
Banking
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issues Bulletin 2002-39, Investment Portfolio Credit Risks: Safekeeping Arrangements ( www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/bulletin/2002-39.doc ), alerting national banks to potentially significant credit risks inherent in custody relationships involving their own assets. Recently, several financial institutions suffered losses when deposit brokers (entities that broker, among other
Financial Reporting
The SEC issues final rules ( www.sec.gov/rules/final/33-8124.htm ), effective August 29, requiring a public company’s principal executive and financial officers to certify the financial and other information in their organization’s quarterly and annual reports. The commission also solicited, through October 9, public comments on the advisability of extending this requirement
Auditing
The AICPA auditing standards board issues three standards. The first, Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) no. 98, Omnibus 2002, contains amendments to SAS nos. 1, 8, 25, 29, 47, 52, 58 and 95. SAS no. 98 also amends SAS no. 70 by rescinding Interpretation no. 6, incorporating its guidance into
FYI
The Association of Government Accountants honors the GAO, the National Science Foundation, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Social Security Administration and the Departments of Energy, Interior, Labor and State with Certificates of Excellence in Accountability Reporting ( www.agacgfm.org/cear/index.htm ) for the fiscal year 2001 reports they issued on their financial
International
The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) releases a paper, Financial Reporting on the Internet—Responsibilities of Directors and Managers ( www.ifac.org/Store/Details.tmpl?SID=1030393082223229 ), outlining the managerial actions necessary to ensure online financial reports are as accurate and complete as those issued in print. Among the matters the report discusses are the control
Investments
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency reports that in the second quarter, U.S. commercial banks increased the amount of derivatives in their portfolios by $3.8 trillion to $50.1 trillion—the second highest amount ever recorded ( www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/release/2002-70.doc ). According to the OCC, bank risk managers used this strategy to
Retirement
A survey ( www.socialsecurity.org/dailys/07-29-02.html ) conducted during a week in July when the Dow Jones industrial average plummeted nearly 700 points found 68% of likely voters nevertheless favor letting workers invest part of their Social Security taxes in personal retirement accounts, say researchers at the Cato Institute.
Professional Issues
The AICPA is forming four panels (one for each of the proposed CPA examination sections) to help set standards for passing the computer-based exam. Qualified CPA volunteers are needed for a series of two-day standard-setting sessions between December 11 and 19. Participants should have three to seven years’ experience in
Financial Reporting
Most of the 947 companies whose CEOs and CFOs are required by the SEC to certify the accuracy and completeness of corporate financial statements met the commission’s initial August 14 deadline. To assist investors and others in tracking which of these large corporations have complied, the commission listed on its
Auditing
For news from the AICPA and state societies, visit www.cpa2biz.com , which also offers online CPE, AICPA professional literature, practice management aids and links to state society Web sites. President Bush signed into law on July 30 the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (www.aicpa.org/info/sarbanes_oxley_summary.htm), establishing the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board,
FYI
The Senate brings the SEC to full strength by confirming the nominations of four commissioners: Paul S. Atkins and Cynthia A. Glassman of Virginia, Harvey Jerome Goldschmid of New York and Roel C. Campos of Texas ( www.senate.gov/legislative/legis_act_nominations_confirmed_civilian.html ). Atkins, Goldschmid and Campos will serve out the remainder of terms
International
The International Accounting Standards Board publishes an exposure draft of a group of proposals, First-time Application of International Financial Reporting Standards ( www.iasb.org.uk/docs/ed1/ed1.pdf ), intended to ensure that entities adopting these standards provide in their financial statements information comparable to that reported under previous standards. The board wants to make
Government
The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board issues Technical Bulletin 2002-1, Assigning to Component Entities Costs and Liabilities that Result From Legal Claims Against the Federal Government ( www.fasab.gov/pdf/presreltb.pdf ). According to the guidance, all such costs and liabilities must be attributed either to the component entities responsible for the programs
Fraud
The Treasury Department issues the 2002 National Money Laundering Strategy ( www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ml.html ), a report that describes a governmentwide effort to fight financial crime and to shut down terrorist organizations’ funding sources.
Securities
Fannie Mae (formerly the Federal National Mortgage Association; www.fanniemae.com ) and Freddie Mac (formerly the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation; www.freddiemac.com ) voluntarily consent to unprecedented SEC oversight of their financial disclosures. The accord’s immediate practical consequences—registration of the two government-sponsored enterprises’ (GSE) common stock with the SEC—are perhaps less
Government Auditing
The GAO issues a series of questions and answers ( www.gao.gov/govaud/d02870g.pdf ) to clarify the revised yellow-book auditor independence standard it released in January. Recognizing the amendment’s broad scope and the time necessary to implement it, the watchdog agency extends its effective date. The new standard applies to all audits
Financial Reporting
For news from the AICPA and state societies, visit www.cpa2biz.com , which also offers online CPE, AICPA professional literature, practice management aids and links to state society Web sites. Amid ongoing revelations of falsified corporate financial statements, the SEC moved to buttress investor confidence in companies’ reported results. In late
FYI
CPAs score high on Worth’s annual ranking of the nation’s top financial advisers ( www.aicpa.org/news/2002/p071002.htm ). Of the 250 preeminent professionals that are listed in the magazine’s July/August issue, 59 (24%) are CPAs and 46 (18%) are CPA/PFS practitioners. The secretary of the Treasury, the director of the Office of
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