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Accounting Standards Board
Decision Summary
July 11, 2007
This summary of Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) decisions has been prepared for information purposes only.
Decisions reported are tentative and reflect only the current status of discussion on projects, which may
change after further deliberations by the AcSB. Decisions to publish Handbook material are final only after a
formal ballot process.
For more detailed information on AcSB projects, including the decisions summarized below, please refer to the
project summaries under
Projects
, which will be updated within the month following an AcSB meeting. |
International Activities
The AcSB received reports on recent meetings of the International Accounting Standards Board
(IASB) and US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) (see www.iasb.org.uk and www.fasb.org,
respectively).
In particular, the AcSB noted that the IASB has launched a comprehensive program for field testing the
proposals in its Exposure Draft of an International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized
Entities during the comment period.
Publicly Accountable Enterprises Strategy
The AcSB discussed recent developments and several issues related to the implementation of its strategy to
adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) for publicly accountable enterprises. The AcSB will
continue discussing these and other related matters in future meetings. Decisions described as tentative are
subject to further discussion and, in many cases, exposure for public comment.
Omnibus Exposure Draft
The AcSB agreed to issue an omnibus Exposure Draft of IFRSs in advance of their incorporation into Canadian
GAAP for publicly accountable enterprises. In addition to the text of the standards proposed to be adopted,
the Exposure Draft will set out the AcSB’s guiding principles for the adoption of IFRSs, and ask for
responses to a limited set of questions concerning the application of the standards to publicly accountable
Canadian enterprises. The AcSB currently expects to issue the omnibus Exposure Draft by the first half of
2008.
Applicability of IFRSs
The AcSB tentatively decided not to prescribe whether specific types of reporting entity are publicly
accountable enterprises and, therefore, subject to the IFRS strategy. Rather, the AcSB confirmed that it
intends IFRSs to apply to all Canadian enterprises that have public accountability. Thus, for example, if a
co-operative enterprise is considered to have public accountability based on its circumstances, it would
prepare its financial statements in accordance with IFRSs.
The AcSB has tentatively concluded that a profit-oriented enterprise will apply IFRSs unless it:
| (a) |
has not filed, and is not in the process of filing, its financial
statements with a securities commission or other regulatory organization for the purpose of issuing any class
of instruments in a public market; and |
| (b) |
does not hold assets in a fiduciary capacity for a broad group of
outsiders. |
The AcSB has not yet decided which not-for-profit organizations should be considered to be publicly
accountable.
Employee Future Benefits and Rate-Regulated Operations
The AcSB received a status report on the March 2007 Exposure Drafts on these topics. The AcSB will
re-deliberate its proposals in both areas in accordance with its normal due process.
Financial Statement Presentation
The AcSB received an update on the joint IASB/FASB project on Financial Statement Presentation, noting
that a Discussion Paper on Phase B of the project is expected to be issued for comment by the end of 2007. No
decisions were made.
Extractive Activities
The AcSB received an update on the IASB research project on Extractive Activities. No decisions were
made.
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