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Accounting Research
Manager(TM)
Weekly Summary of
Developments
January 21-25, 2008
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Accounting Research
Manager subscriber,
The Accounting Research
Manager database now contains this week's weekly summary of developments. Click
the link below to access and print the fully-formatted Weekly Summary:
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com
If you do not have immediate
Internet access to the Accounting Research Manager database, below is the text
of this week's Weekly Summary.
Accounting and SEC
Headlines
Income Taxes -- FASB Approves Deferral of Effective
Date in FIN 48 for Certain Nonpublic Companies
Measurement of Liabilities
and Statement 157 --
Proposed FASB Staff Position Issued
Repurchase Financing
Agreements -- FASB
Discusses Statement 140 Implementation Issues and Other Matters at January 16,
2008 Meeting
Proxy Rules -- SEC Issues Final Rule on Electronic
Shareholder Forums
Financial Reporting -- Director of Corp Fin Discusses Areas
of Focus for 2008
IFRIC Update -- IFRIC Discusses Real Estate Sales and
Other Matters at January 10-11, 2008 Meeting
Auditing and Internal
Controls Headlines
Planning and Supervision -- Unconditional and Presumptively
Mandatory Requirements of SAS 108
Government Headlines
GASB Resources -- GASB Resource Aids Discussed
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ACCOUNTING AND SEC HEADLINES:
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Income Taxes -- FASB
Approves Deferral of Effective Date in FIN 48 for Certain Nonpublic Companies
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com
We have prepared a hot topic
that discusses the FASB's decision to finalize its
proposed deferral of the effective date in FASB Interpretation (FIN) No. 48, Accounting
for Uncertainty in Income Taxes, for certain nonpublic companies. FIN 48
was issued in July 2006, and had an effective date of years beginning after
December 15, 2006 (2007 for most nonpublic entities).
This decision was made by the
FASB after considering comments it received on proposed FASB Staff Position
(FSP) FIN 48-b, "Effective Date of FASB Interpretation No. 48 for
Nonpublic Enterprises." The FASB approved the deferral generally as
proposed but will clarify the deferral as follows:
-A nonpublic enterprise would
be eligible for the deferral unless the enterprise had issued a full set of
annual financial statements incorporating the recognition, measurement, and
disclosure requirements of FIN 48.
-Nonpublic companies will
have to implement the provisions of FIN 48 in annual periods beginning after
December 15, 2007.
-A nonpublic subsidiary of a
public company that issues its own financial statements would not be eligible
for the deferral.
See our hot topic for
complete details.
Measurement of Liabilities
and Statement 157 -- Proposed FASB Staff Position Issued
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com
The FASB has issued proposed
FASB Staff Position (FSP) FAS 157-c, "Measuring Liabilities under FASB
Statement No. 157, Fair Value Measurements." The proposed FSP
clarifies the principles on measuring the fair value of liabilities under
Statement 157. Specifically, the proposed guidance would clarify that: (a)
a quoted price for the identical liability in an active market is the best
evidence of fair value for that liability; and (b) in the absence of a
quoted market price, the liability may be measured at fair value as the amount
that the company would receive as proceeds if it were to issue that liability
at the measurement date.
As proposed, the guidance in
the FSP would be applied prospectively effective on the later of: (a)
the beginning of the period that includes the issuance date of the FSP; or (b)
the beginning of the period in which an entity initially applies Statement 157.
Earlier application would not be permitted.
Comments on this proposed FSP
are due February 18, 2008.
Repurchase Financing
Agreements -- FASB Discusses Statement 140 Implementation Issues and Other
Matters at January 16, 2008 Meeting
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com
As reported in its
"Action Alert" publication, the FASB met on January 16, 2008, and discussed
implementation issues associated with FASB Statement No. 140, Accounting for
Transfers and Servicing of Financial Assets and Extinguishment of Liabilities,
and repurchase financing agreements. Specifically, the FASB discussed
significant issues raised on proposed FASB Staff Position (FSP) FAS 140-d,
"Accounting for Transfers of Financial Assets and Repurchase Financing
Transactions." The FASB decided to: (a) reaffirm the scope in the
proposed FSP for transactions entered into contemporaneously with, or in
contemplation of, one another; (b) retain the rebuttable
presumption approach when evaluating the linkage criteria; (c) delete
the recourse provision that states that the initial transferee must maintain
rights to the collateral to account for the initial transfer and repurchase
financing separately; (d) reaffirm that early adoption is prohibited;
and (e) amend the transition guidance to require prospective
application.
The Action Alert also
indicates that the FASB is scheduled to have a meeting on January 30, 2008, and
plans to address the following projects or topics:
-Revenue recognition;
-Financial guarantee
insurance; and
-Agenda decision: relief from
FASB Statement No. 114, Accounting by Creditors for Impairment of a Loan.
The FASB will discuss whether
to add a project to its agenda to consider permitting lenders to measure
impairments of residential mortgage loans that are troubled debt restructuring
under FASB Statement No. 5, Accounting for Contingencies, rather than
Statement 114.
Proxy Rules -- SEC Issues
Final Rule on Electronic Shareholder Forums
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com
The SEC has issued a final
rule amending the proxy rules under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to
facilitate electronic shareholder forums. The final rule clarifies that
participation in an electronic shareholder forum that could potentially
constitute a solicitation subject to the proxy rules, is exempt from most of
the proxy rules if certain conditions are satisfied. In addition, the final
rule provides that a shareholder, company, or third party acting on behalf of a
shareholder or company that establishes, maintains or operates an electronic
shareholder forum will not be liable under the federal securities laws for any
statement or information provided by another person participating in the forum.
The final rule is effective
February 25, 2008.
Financial Reporting --
Director of Corp Fin Discusses Areas of Focus for 2008
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com
John W. White, Director of
the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance (Corp Fin), gave a speech discussing
key areas the division will focus on in 2008. Mr. White indicated two leading
focuses for Corp Fin in 2008: (1) financial reporting; and (2) international
matters. Specific areas of focus by Corp Fin regarding financial reporting will
include:
-Review recommendations from
the SEC's Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting;
-Further rulemaking regarding
the use of eXtensible Business Reporting Language
(XBRL) technologies;
-Continue to study the
implications of allowing U.S. registrants to use IFRS as proposed in a Concept
Release in 2007;
-Consider possible guidance
on Section 404 reporting relating to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
requirements for small public companies; and
-Improve oil and gas reserves
disclosure.
Mr. White also provided the
following specific areas of focus by Corp Fin on international matters:
-Consider revisions in
Exchange Act Section 12(g) "entrance rules" for Foreign Private
Issuers (FPIs);
-Revisit the automatic shelf
registration rules for FPIs regarding the age of
financial statements requirements,
-Possibly accelerate the
annual report filing deadline for FPIs;
-Review the current FPI
definition with a possibility of providing a definitive process with specific
measurement dates to determine whether a registrant is an FPI;
-Consider revisions to the
cross-border tender offer rules to address areas that may not be working as
well as expected or where relief could be expanded; and
-Continue studying the
possibility of "mutual recognition" arrangements in which foreign
regulatory regimes could be relied upon by the SEC to eliminate dual
registration and regulation.
IFRIC Update -- IFRIC
Discusses Real Estate Sales and Other Matters at January 10-11, 2008 Meeting
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com
As reported in the IASB's "IFRIC Update" publication, the IFRIC met
on January 10-11, 2008, and discussed the following matters:
-IFRIC D21 Real Estate
Sales;
-IFRIC D22 Hedges of a Net
Investment in a Foreign Operation;
-IAS 19 Employee Benefits
- Settlements;
-IAS 37 Provisions,
Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets - Deposits on returnable
containers;
-IFRIC agenda decisions;
-Tentative agenda decisions;
and
-IFRIC work in progress.
Some of the documents
listed above may not be accessible under your current subscription. For
information about upgrading your subscription to include additional content,
click here:
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com
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AUDITING AND INTERNAL
CONTROLS HEADLINES:
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Planning and Supervision
-- Unconditional and Presumptively Mandatory Requirements of SAS 108
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com
We have added a GAAS Update
Service that discusses the unconditional and presumptively mandatory
requirements of AICPA Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 108, Planning
and Supervision. Among other matters, SAS 108 requires the auditor to: (a)
adequately plan the audit work and properly supervise any assistants; (b)
develop an audit plan which documents the audit procedures to be used that are
expected to reduce audit risk to an acceptably low level; (c) establish,
for each engagement, an understanding with the client regarding the services to
be performed and document such understanding in a written engagement letter
with the client; (d) consider whether specialized skills are needed to
perform the audit; (e) document changes to the original audit plan; and
(f) review the work performed by each assistant to determine that it was
adequately performed and documented and to evaluate its results.
Some of the documents
listed above may not be accessible under your current subscription. For
information about upgrading your subscription to include additional content,
click here:
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com
======================
GOVERNMENT HEADLINES:
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GASB Resources -- GASB
Resource Aids Discussed
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com
We have added a Governmental
GAAP Update Service that highlights several resources the GASB makes available
to help constituents apply changes in GAAP for state and local governments. The
Update discusses the following resources:
-GASB implementation guides;
-On-line technical inquiry
system via the GASB's Website;
-Plain language publications;
-Speeches;
-Website resources;
-User guides; and
-GASB research reports.
Some of the documents
listed above may not be accessible under your current subscription. For
information about upgrading your subscription to include additional content,
click here:
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com