===================================================
Accounting Research Manager(TM)
Weekly Summary of Developments
January 17-21, 2011
===================================================

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

Troubled Debt Restructurings -- FASB Defers Effective Date of Disclosures About Troubled Debt Restructurings
New Accounting Standards -- Checklist Updated
SEC Reporting -- SEC Staff Publishes Updated Interpretations
Self-Regulatory Organizations -- SEC Issues Guidance on Proposed Rulemaking By Self-Regulatory Organizations
Asset-Backed Securities -- SEC Issues Asset-Backed Securities Offering and Disclosure Rules
Revenue Recognition -- FASB and IASB Discuss Revenue Recognition and Other Matters
Contingent Pricing -- IFRS Interpretations Committee Discusses Contingent Pricing and Other Matters

=============================
ACCOUNTING AND SEC HEADLINES:
=============================

Troubled Debt Restructurings -- FASB Defers Effective Date of Disclosures About Troubled Debt Restructurings
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com


The FASB has issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2011-01, Receivables (Topic 310): Deferral of the Effective Date of Disclosures about Troubled Debt Restructurings in Update No. 2010-20. The amendments in ASU 2011-01 temporarily delay the effective date of the disclosures about troubled debt restructurings in ASU No. 2010-20, Receivables (Topic 310): Disclosures about the Credit Quality of Financing Receivables and the Allowance for Credit Losses, for public entities. The delay is intended to allow the FASB time to complete its deliberations on what constitutes a troubled debt restructuring. The effective date of the new disclosures about troubled debt restructurings for public entities and the guidance for determining what constitutes a troubled debt restructuring will then be coordinated. Currently, that guidance is anticipated to be effective for interim and annual periods ending after June 15, 2011.

The deferral in ASU 2011-01 is effective January 19, 2011 (date of issuance).

New Accounting Standards -- Checklist Updated
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com


We have updated our publication "Summary Checklist of Recent Authoritative U.S. Accounting Standards." This checklist is intended to serve as a reference tool to help users ensure that they have considered authoritative standards recently issued or approved by the FASB. The checklist is updated shortly after the content is added to the FASB Accounting Standards CodificationTM (Codification) by the FASB. The standards are listed by source and a summary of the transition guidance is provided with a reference to the relevant Codification paragraph(s). Effective dates and application (adoption) requirements are also presented.

We have updated our checklist to reflect the issuance of ASU 2011-01, discussed above.

See our Literature Update for complete details.

SEC Reporting -- SEC Staff Publishes Updated Interpretations

The staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (Corp Fin) of the SEC has updated the following Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (C&DIs):

-Regulation S-K (new questions 111.01-111.07); and
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com


-Exchange Act Form 8-K (new questions 114.01-114.03).
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com


These C&DIs provide interpretations by Corp Fin, in a question and answer format, of the SEC’s rules and regulations related to Regulation S-K and Form 8-K. The Corp Fin staff has updated its guidance in these C&DIs regarding the reporting of changes in and disagreements with accountants on accounting and financial disclosures required under Item 304 of Regulation S-K and Item 4.01 of Form 8-K. Topics updated include:

-Defining the “subsequent interim period” for purposes of reporting disagreements with auditors and reportable events;
-Whether a registrant is required to affirmatively disclose it has no reportable events;
-Reporting an internal control deficiency even when a remediation occurs before the end of the subsequent interim period;
-Whether the inclusion of a going concern paragraph in an auditor’s report constitutes a modification and therefore must be reported;
-Reporting considerations when a registrant's principal accountant enters into a business combination with another accounting firm; and
-Form 8-K disclosure requirements where revocation of the accountant's PCAOB registration has occurred.

Self-Regulatory Organizations -- SEC Issues Guidance on Proposed Rulemaking By Self-Regulatory Organizations
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com


The SEC has issued a final rule, Rules of Practice, which includes rule amendments to implement certain requirements of Section 916 of the "Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act" (Dodd-Frank Act). This release adopts new rules intended to formalize the process the SEC will use when conducting proceedings to determine whether an self-regulatory organization's proposed rule change should be disapproved under Section 19(b)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In addition, this release amends existing regulations to add a rule providing that the new Rules of Practice also formalize the process the SEC will use when conducting proceedings to determine whether a PCAOB proposed rule should be disapproved.

This rule is effective when it is published in the Federal Register.

Asset-Backed Securities -- SEC Issues Asset-Backed Securities Offering and Disclosure Rules

The SEC has issued the following final rules:

-Disclosure for Asset-Backed Securities Required by Section 943 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Rule 1); and
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com


-Issuer Review of Assets in Offerings of Asset-Backed Securities (Rule 2).
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com


These final rules implement Sections 943 and 945 of the Dodd-Frank Act. Rule 1 provides guidance on representations and warranties in asset-backed securities (ABS) offerings. Under this rule, securitizers of ABS are required to disclose fulfilled and unfulfilled repurchase requests. In addition, Rule 1 requires nationally recognized statistical rating organizations to include information regarding the representations, warranties and enforcement mechanisms available to investors in an ABS offering in any report accompanying a credit rating issued in connection with such offering, including a preliminary credit rating.

Rule 2 includes new guidance under the Securities Act of 1933 to require any issuer registering the offer and sale of an ABS to perform a review of the assets underlying the ABS. In addition, this rule amends Item 1111 of Regulation AB to require an ABS issuer to disclose the nature of its review of the assets and the findings and conclusions of the issuer’s review of the assets.

These final rules are effective 60 days after they are published in the Federal Register.

Revenue Recognition -- FASB and IASB Discuss Revenue Recognition and Other Matters
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com


As reported in its "Summary of Board Decisions" publication, the FASB and IASB (the Boards) met on January 18-20, 2011, and discussed the following topics:

-Revenue recognition;
-Leases;
-Insurance contracts; and
-Accounting for financial instruments: impairment.

The Boards began their redeliberations of the Exposure Draft, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, and made a number of decisions, including to:

-Eliminate the proposed requirement to account for one contract as two or more contracts if the price of some goods or services in the contract is independent of the price of other goods or services in the contract;
-Provide that the revenue standard should clarify that the objective for identifying separate performance obligations is to depict the transfer of goods or services and the profit margin that is attributable to those goods or services;
-Retain the principle of “distinct goods or services” as the basis for identifying separate performance obligations; and
-Affirm the core principle that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods and services to a customer.

Regarding their project on leases, the Boards reviewed feedback received in response to the Exposure Draft, Leases, which was published for public comment in August 2010. The Boards plan to begin redeliberations of this proposal by considering two of the fundamental issues raised by respondents: (a) the definition of a lease; and (b) the next steps to be taken relating to lessor accounting.

The Boards also discussed the feedback received in the comment letters on the IASB's Exposure Draft, Insurance Contracts, and the FASB's Discussion Paper, Preliminary Views on Insurance Contracts. No decisions were made.

For further information on the Boards projects on revenue recognition and leases, see the following discussion and analysis we previously published:

-“A Closer Look: The FASB's Proposal on Leases”; and
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com


-"A Closer Look: The FASB’s Proposal on Revenue Recognition."
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com


Contingent Pricing -- IFRS Interpretations Committee Discusses Contingent Pricing and Other Matters
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com


As reported in its "IFRIC Update" publication, the IFRS Interpretations Committee met on January 6-7, 2011, and discussed the following topics:

-Accounting for stripping costs in the production phase of a surface mine;
-Contingent pricing of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets;
-Put options written over non-controlling interests;
-Tentative agenda decisions;
-Issues considered for Annual Improvements project; and
-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