Continuing on our recent theme of happy takes on accounting… …this time from a perhaps unexpected source, the Chair of Canada’s Accounting Standards Board, Armand Capisciolto. He’s instigated a series of “Inside Standard Setting” articles, comprising “A little “inside baseball” on accounting standard setting” – a serious purpose, executed with a light touch. The first…

Let’s take another look at some items from the Ontario Securities Commission’s refilings and errors list. This is a chronological record covering the last three years, of companies that refiled or restated some aspect of their continuous disclosure record as a result of an OSC review – the list has the dual purpose, I believe,…

Well, it’s been a few years since the last installment, so let’s continue the periodic series I call “Great Cliches of IFRS.” Today’s example – well, you’ll see: And I could go on indefinitely. You may already be thinking that even if it is a cliché, it’s one that’s worth repeating for the sake of…

Here’s the background to an issue recently considered by Canada’s IFRS Discussion Group: This provides a nice opportunity to throw a few stones at IFRS 2, which I haven’t done for a few years. You’ll recall that the standard is based on the assumption that since no one gets something for nothing, an entity issuing…

Over Half of M&A Dealmakers have Canceled Deals on ESG Due Diligence Findings, states an ESG Today report on a recent KPMG survey. Here’s some of what it had to say: This is somewhat significant, but leaves many questions for its significance to be entirely “loud and clear.” At its simplest, the due diligence process…

Is there a term that’s applied more unproductively in the world of standard-setting and regulation than “investors”? It’s easy (and perhaps inevitable) for example to cite “investor protection” as a justification for almost anything a regulator might be inclined to do. But of course, “investors” is an extremely broad category, incorporating a wide range of…

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) recently announced their endorsement of the ISSB’s Sustainability-related Financial Disclosures Standards. Here’s an extract: The IFRS Foundation is working on an adoption guide to support jurisdictions in adopting the standards, and already published a “high-level roadmap” as a precursor to that. This acknowledges that, of course, regardless of…

Why Aren’t Accountants Happy Being Accountants? asks a recent article in the UK’s PQ Magazine. True, we’ve covered aspects of this issue several times already, but then, it’s eternally intriguing. Here’s what the article has to say: This seems to support the view expressed here before, that higher compensation alone can’t solve the profession’s recruitment…

The UK’s Financial Reporting Council published a thematic review of IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement. Here’s the executive summary of key findings: It’s not too surprising that the FRC has more to say about disclosure problems than about those in the underlying methodology; it’s usually difficult to demonstrate that a particular fair value represents an…

Who would have expected that within a few days of each other, IASB Chair Andreas Barckow and ISSB Chair Emmanual Faber would both have kicked off speeches by citing notable movies? Interesting too that between them they covered almost the entire history of the cinema. First, here’s Faber: The speech ends: “On 26 June 2025—two…