Financial Reporting zone

Financial reporting briefs: October 2007

The Accounting Standards Board (ASB) has issued an exposure draft of amendments to FRS 26, “Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement – Exposures Qualifying for Hedge Accounting.” This follows similar proposals issued in September by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

The proposed amendments respond to requests for additional guidance on what IAS 39 permits to be designated as a hedged item. They are intended to clarify the IASB’s original intentions regarding what can be designated as a hedged item, and when an entity may designate a portion of the cash flows of a financial instrument as a hedged item.

Following the issue of the IASB exposure draft, the ASB is proposing to make the corresponding changes to FRS 26 to keep it in line. The Board don’t believe the proposals will significantly increase your preparation costs, and welcome your views.

Comments on the exposure draft (which can be viewed here) are requested by 11 January 2008. E-mails can be sent to amendfrs26@frc-asb.org.uk.

17 October - New-look FRC announces non-execs

As its re-structure draws to a close, the FRC has announced the following have agreed to serve as non-executive directors on its revamped board:

Eric Anstee
Should be familiar to AWeb readers from his previous job as chief executive of the ICAEW. Has also been CFO of three FTSE 100 companies and is currently a non-executive director of Insight Investments.

Peter Chambers
CEO of Legal & general Investment Management.

Rudy Markham
CFO of Unilever plc and also a non-executive at Legal & General plc.

Sir Michael Rake
Chairman of BT Plc as well as the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. Former chairman of KPMG international.

Sir Steve Robson
Second permanent secretary at HM Treasuy until 2001. Currently a non-executive director at international mining company Xstrata plc, Royal Bank of Scotland plc, JP Morgan Cazenove plc, and public-private partnerships business Partnerships UK plc.

Sir John Sunderland
Cadbury-Schweppes plc chairman, as well as a non-executive at Barclays plc. Former president of the CBI.

Lindsay Tomlinson
Vice-chairman at Barclays Global Investors. Past chair of the Investment Management Association and of the Professional Affairs Board of the Institute of Actuaries.

The new board will come into being at the start of November. Sir Christopher Hogg, the present chair, and Paul Boyle, the present chief executive, will continue to serve in their current capacities for the time being. They will be joined by Baroness Sarah Hogg ( no relation to Sir Christopher) as deputy chair, whose appointment was announced last week by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Baroness Sarah Hogg
Lady Barbara Thomas Judge’s replacement as deputy chair. Most notably perhaps, she is the current chairman of venture capital giant 3i. An ex-economics editor for the Independent newspaper, a former head of John Major’s policy unit, and current chair at international economics consultancy Frontier Economics. Also director of global cruise company Carnival. She was one of the BBC governors who demanded the resignation of Greg Dyke

In the coming months, the board will be enlarged to sixteen members by the addition of the chairs of the FRC’s operating bodies (the Professional Oversight Board, or the Auditing Standards Board, for example).

The restructure proposals were announced in March and the FRC began implementation in June, with the help of corporate headhunters Odgers Ray & Berndtson. The non-executive directors will be on an annual salary of £20,000, while the deputy chair position pays £30,000.

Previous financial reporting briefs:

Septmeber 2007
August 2007
July 2007