The Canadian Securities Administrators recently took a trip down memory lane with CSA Staff Notice 51-366 Regulatory Concerns with Certain Asset or Business Acquisitions It relates to “problematic acquisitions” that “typically have the following attributes:” Key regulatory concerns with these types of transactions include: After that build-up, there’s not actually much to the notice beyond…

I came across a recent study by Simon Thies titled: How Does the IASB Rationalize IFRS Standard-Setting Decisions and Construct Legitimacy? An Analysis of the Bases for Conclusions The study cites a previous study on standard setters’ “rhetoric and construction of legitimacy:” It reaches the following conclusion: One might struggle to comprehend why any of…

The IASB has issued a revised Practice Statement on management commentary.  It “intends for the revised Practice Statement to serve as a global benchmark for regulators to use in updating or developing their national requirements and guidance,” as well as providing “a comprehensive resource for companies to help meet investors’ information needs.” The former goal…

I came across a relatively new blog, AccountancyIQ, written by Nasir Uddin, a teacher of accounting and auditing: The blog teases the following… …and might actually be capable of delivering on that. Uddin is a strikingly elegant writer (much more so than the quasi-hack you’re reading at the moment), often expressing himself with an almost…

The IASB has issued a request for information in connection with its post-implementation review of IFRS 16 Leases, with comments requested by October 15, 2025. The document contains a summary of user perspectives: On the other hand: Assuming that “a few” is a smaller number than “some other,” one wonders if there’s an undercurrent of…

I came across a highly interesting recent think-piece written by Colin Mayer, entitled ESG is Dead, Be True and Fair Instead Here are some extracts: In part, that points toward the limitations of current accounting and reporting standards, for example in not recognizing certain categories of intangible assets and related costs. Mayer doesn’t dwell on…

A recent IFRIC agenda decision addressed the following fact pattern: Regarding that last point, you’ll recall that IFRIC previously determined that if an entity has such a constructive or legal obligation, it considers the criteria in IAS 37.14 in determining whether it recognizes a provision for the costs of fulfilling that obligation, separately assessing whether…

At its May meeting, the IASB discussed its project on the Statement of Cash Flows and Related Matters. Here are some of the decisions it took, as summarized in the IASB Update: The IASB decided that it will assess potential ways to improve: The IASB decided it will not: Of course, some of those items…

An interesting article in Canadian Accountant ponders Why accountants should spend less time on the numbers and more time explaining the results. Written by Philip Maguire, it notes that “The combination of historical and current valuation requirements in the balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows have resulted in financial statements that are…

The Ontario Securities Commission recently released staff research that analyzes the frequency and sentiment of Canadian listed issuers’ references to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their financial disclosures. Here’s how the OSC’s news release summed it up: As indicated above, one of the more interesting aspects of the exercise is that it itself made use of AI: The…