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Action Alert No. 04-01
January 8, 2004
NOTICE OF MEETINGS
OPEN BOARD MEETINGS
Wednesday, January 14, 2004, 9:00 a.m.
- Financial
instruments: liabilities and equity. The Board will
continue its consideration of an approach for distinguishing
equity from liabilities and assets that is based on liquidity and
ownership relationship criteria, including (a) classification of
shares that are not the only class of common stock, for example,
preferred stock, tracking stock, nonvoting stock, and other
"uncommon stock," (b) classification of rights to receive shares
and of shares incorporating rights to receive assets, and (c)
subissues addressing the effects of various features of financial
instruments on the classification. The discussion will include
comparisons to alternative approaches based on a narrower view of
equity and on the revisions to International Accounting Standard
32, Financial Instruments: Disclosure and Presentation.
(Estimated 60-minute discussion.)
- FASB technical plan and agenda decision. The Board will
discuss the status of its agenda projects and a draft of the
January 2004 technical plan for research and technical activities
that focuses on the plans for the first half of 2004. The Board
also will consider written requests suggesting that the Board
reexamine (a) mortgage servicing rights at fair value, (b) life
insurance contracts by the purchaser/holder, (c) certain
investments held by insurance companies, (d) risk guidance for
certain reinsurance arrangements, (e) beneficial interests, and
(f) application of FASB Statement No. 143, Accounting for Asset
Retirement Obligations, to legal obligations to perform asset
retirement activities that are conditional on a future event. The
Board also will consider written requests to add to its agenda a
short-term convergence project that would address pensions.
(Estimated 90-minute discussion.)
- Open discussion. If necessary, the Board will allow
time to discuss minor issues with staff members on technical
projects or administrative matters. Those discussions are held
following regular Board meetings as topics come up.
Wednesday, January 14, 2004, 1:00 p.m.
- AcSEC documents. The Board will meet with
representatives of the Accounting Standards Executive Committee
(AcSEC) to consider clearance of a final AICPA Statement of
Position, Accounting for Time-Sharing Transactions, and the
proposed FASB Statement, Accounting for Real Estate
Time-Sharing Transactions, which would be issued
concurrently.(Estimated 60-minute discussion.)
- Equity-based
compensation (EBC). The Board will discuss certain issues
related to FASB Statement No. 123, Accounting for Stock-Based
Compensation, as it would be revised by the decisions reached
in this project, including issues related to the classification of
liability and equity awards, attribution, and disclosures.
(Estimated 2.5-hour discussion.)
OPEN EDUCATION SESSIONS
Wednesday, January 14, 2004, immediately following the 9:00
a.m. Board meeting
Thursday, January 15, 2004, 9:00 a.m.
The Board will hold educational, non-decision-making sessions to
discuss topics that are anticipated to be discussed at the January
21, 2004 Board meeting. Those topics will be posted to the FASB calendar
four days prior to the education session.
BOARD ACTIONS
No Board meetings were held during the weeks of December 22
and December 29, 2003.
FASB MEETINGS AUDIO WEBCAST
NEW FREE SERVICE
You can now monitor FASB meetings by an audio webcast. The
service is provided free of charge. To access the webcast, you will
need to go to the FASB’s homepage to access the link. You must have
Windows Media Player™ installed on your computer to access the
webcast. To listen to a recording of the most recent Board meeting
via webcast for free, go to the FASB’s homepage to access the Board
meeting playback link. The playback will be available until the next
Board meeting.
FASB MEETINGS BY TELEPHONE
NEW LOWER PRICE
Because not everyone will choose to use the webcast to listen to
the FASB meetings, we will continue to offer telephone broadcasting
of meetings, at a lower price. The telephone access charges have
been reduced from $.75 per minute to $.45 per minute. Call
1-800-846-4717 to monitor the meetings by telephone. To listen by
telephone to a recording of the most recent Board meeting, call
1-800-462-0393 (the playback will be available until the next Board
meeting). For either of those options, you will be charged $.45 per
minute, and VISA, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover Card is
required. Questions can be directed to 1-800-846-4630.
FASB STAFF POSITION GUIDANCE AVAILABLE
On January 7, 2004, a majority of the Board directed the staff to
issue a final FASB Staff Position (FSP) on the accounting and
disclosure requirements related to the Medicare Prescription Drug,
Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (the Act). The final FSP
would modify the proposed FSP, posted to the FASB’s website on
December 11, 2003, as follows:
- The final FSP would permit, rather than require, a plan
sponsor to make a one-time election to defer recognition of the
effects of the Act in accounting for its plan under FASB Statement
No. 106, Employers’ Accounting for Postretirement Benefits
Other Than Pensions, or in making disclosures related to its
plan required by FASB Statement No. 132, Employers’ Disclosures
about Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, until
authoritative guidance on accounting for subsidies provided by the
Act is issued.
- A plan sponsor that elects deferral under the FSP would not be
permitted to continue that deferral if it amends its plan.
- A plan sponsor that does not elect deferral and instead
accounts for the effects of the Act on its plan in the period that
the Act was enacted would be required to make certain additional
disclosures about the manner in which it accounted for the effects
of the Act. In addition, if a plan sponsor determines that some or
all of the federal subsidy related to a plan’s accumulated
postretirement benefit obligation should be recognized immediately
in income, any such amount should be reported in a separate line
item on the face of the income statement.
The final FSP FAS 106-1, Accounting and Disclosure
Requirements Related to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement
and Modernization Act of 2003, will be available on the FASB
website by the close of business on Monday, January 12, 2004.
FUTURE OPEN MEETINGS
The following is a list of open meetings tentatively scheduled
through February. Because schedules may change, please check the
FASB calendar
before finalizing your plans. Revisions to this list since the last
issue of Action Alert are highlighted in bold.
Wednesday, January 21, 2004—FASB Board Meeting
Wednesday,
January 21, 2004—FASB Education Session
Wednesday, January 28,
2004—FASB Board Meeting
Wednesday, January 28, 2004—FASB
Education Session
Friday, January 30, 2004—Liaison Meeting with
the American Bar Association
Wednesday, February 4, 2004—FASB
Board Meeting
Wednesday, February 4, 2004—FASB Education
Session
Wednesday, February 11, 2004—FASB Board
Meeting
Wednesday, February 11, 2004—FASB Education
Session
Wednesday, February 18, 2004—FASB Board
Meeting
Wednesday, February 18, 2004—FASB Education
Session
Wednesday, February 25, 2004—FASB Board
Meeting
Wednesday, February 25, 2004—FASB Education
Session
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