Новости

Stricter bank disclosure rules studied

Banks could be forced to disclose their off-balance sheet interests in an unusually strict and detailed form, according to proposals under debate by accounting standard-setters.

The Accounts Chamber will audit Russia’s state-controlled entities

According to its chief Sergei Stepashin, the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation will audit expenses of six state-controlled corporations in 2008 – on voluntary basis. Officially, they are not subject to its regulations, but have already agreed and are ready to sign contracts. But still, what will be checked is to be decided during negotiations and not by the Accounts Chamber alone.

FFMS is welcome on shareholders’ meetings

After the official order of the Federal Financial Markets Service of November 13th 2007, its representatives may now appear at shareholders’ meetings of companies, acting as observers. Before that, they could appear, but only after receiving official requests, complaints or other information indicating possible violation of investors’ rights. FFMS is not obliged to inform on its probable visits; it is not capable of interfering into the process. But the regulators may ask for copies of documents disclosing details of meetings, and if any violations are found, they may issue official orders for elimination of these.

ICAEW calls on EU to reduce SME burden

The ICAEW has urged the European Commission to “level the playing field” and reduce the regulatory burden on SMEs as part of its initiative to modernize policy in that area.

Shoot ’em on sight

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation aims at toughening its regulation in respect to cancellation of banking licenses for improper accountancy. According to its new project, it will cancel licenses not for a set of violations (also taking into account other factors like frequency of a bank being caught by the regulator) but for any reason from a predefined set. For example, not disclosing information about transactions for the value above 600 thousand rubles is already a reason for cancellation. Expert say these measures will likely be very effective, leading to a drastic fall in suspicious banking operations, but at the same time they’ll expose each and every bank to the regulators’ wrath.

RTS market index offered for foreign investors

Swiss investment bank “Credit Suisse” signed an agreement with market index department of Standard & Poor’s, one of the world’s largest rating agencies, on creation of a new derivative instrument based on RTS’s market index. To remind you, S&P is in charge of operating RTS’s market indexes and is currently engaged into bargaining process concerning their use as a base asset for financial products.

FSF urges IASB to fix off balance sheet rules

Accounting standard setters have been urged to improve the accounting and disclosure standards for off-balance sheet vehicles on an accelerated basis and work with other standard setters toward international convergence.

IAASB Issues Auditing Standard to Enhance Written Representations Requested from Management

Following the consideration and approval of due process by the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB), the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB), an independent standard-setting board under the auspices of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), today released International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 580 (Revised and Redrafted) “Written Representations” and ISA 560 (Redrafted) “Subsequent Events”.

NASB of Russia held another meeting: brief results

The National Accounting Standards Board of Russia held its most recent discussions on April 10th, addressing a number of issues like comment letters on the IASB’s projects IFRIC D23 “Distributions of Non-cash assets to owners” together with IFRIC D24 “Customer Contributions”, also exchanging views on another discussion paper “Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity” published by IASB in February-2008.

US releases study on restatements

US treasury secretary Henry Paulson has announced the completion of a study on public company financial restatements as part of his efforts to encourage capital market competitiveness.