Looking for more insight into the ongoing debate in Europe about the role of prudence in the IASB’s conceptual framework, I came across Getting a Better Framework: Prudence, a bulletin issued a year or so ago by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group. The document provides a useful overview of the diverse notions of prudence…
A European example of a disagreement about what constitutes a business In numerous recent posts, I’ve looked at issues arising from extracts of enforcement decisions recently issued by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) (for more background see here). I came late to this party though, because ESMA had actually issued similar summaries on…
Might gender make a difference in how one reviews the application of IFRS? It probably seems like an immediately absurd, if not offensive question. It’s a logical extension though of some of the discussion surrounding the amendments recently proposed by the OSC to National Instrument 58-101 Disclosure of Corporate Governance Practices, regarding the representation of women on…
A European example of problems in derecognizing financial instruments Here’s another of the issues from some extracts of enforcement decisions recently issued by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) (for more background see here): “In 2011, the issuer granted a loan to its ultimate parent through a facility agreement and arranged issuance of preferred…
IASB Chair Hans Hoogervorst recently delivered another strangely underwhelming speech, this time on the topic of “Accounting and moral hazard.” The speech is handicapped by the absence of any explanation of what Hoogervorst takes the term “moral hazard” to mean, perhaps on the basis that it seems so obvious that it doesn’t need explaining. Paul Krugman…
A European example of the importance of information about new standards issued but not yet implemented Here’s another of the issues from some extracts of enforcement decisions recently issued by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) (for more background see here): “The issuer’s annual financial statements have been prepared in accordance with IFRS as…
The Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada and the Canadian Investor Relations Institute have jointly issued a draft discussion brief: Interim Reporting Strategies, which is open for comment until the end of April 2014. To obtain this post, and additional articles on IFRS by other writers, go to http://ifrs.wiley.com/news/interim-reporting-strategies-a-canadian-perspective (subscription required, but free trial available)
The IASB has issued an exposure draft of proposed amendments to IAS 1 resulting from its Disclosure Initiative, with comments to be received by July 23, 2014. The proposed narrow-focus amendments “will clarify some of (the Standard’s) presentation and disclosure requirements to ensure entities are able to use judgment when applying that Standard… (responding) to…
From Australia comes another contribution to the seemingly endless debate about disclosure overload This is an Australian Accounting Standards Board staff paper titled “To Disclose or Not to Disclose: Materiality is the Question” (a Google search confirms my feeling that this Hamlet-derived formulation has been used far too often to be effective now, including in…
Is XBRL the future of financial reporting asks Tom Selling in the title of a recent post on his Accounting Onion website, immediately answering his own question with an exuberant “YES!” Here’s part of his argument: “..the FASB should take it as a given that XBRL will be a game changer for accounting standards. For…
John Hughes IFRS Blog 