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Action Alert No. 05-46
November 17, 2005
NOTICE OF MEETINGS
OPEN BOARD MEETING
(Board
meetings are available by audio webcast and telephone.)
Tuesday, November 22, 2005, 9:00 a.m.
The Board meeting will be held on Tuesday instead of
Wednesday.
- Uncertain
tax positions. The Board will discuss the comment letters
received on its proposed Interpretation, Accounting for Uncertain Tax
Positions. The Board also will discuss scope and recognition and
measurement issues. (Estimated 2.5-hour discussion.)
- Fair value
option. The Board will discuss several issues regarding the
process for electing the fair value option and the scope of the
financial and nonfinancial assets and liabilities for which the election
is permitted. (Estimated 45-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.
OPEN EDUCATION SESSION
Tuesday, November 22, 2005, following the Board meeting
The Board will hold an educational, non-decision-making session to
discuss topics that are anticipated to be discussed at the November 29,
2005 Board meeting. Those topics will be posted to the FASB calendar four
days prior to the education session.
BOARD ACTIONS
The Board Actions are provided for the information and convenience
of constituents who want to follow the Board's deliberations. All of the
conclusions reported are tentative and may be changed at future Board
meetings. Decisions are included in an Exposure Draft for formal comment
only after a formal written ballot. Decisions in an Exposure Draft may be
(and often are) changed in redeliberations based on information provided
to the Board in comment letters, at public roundtable discussions, and
through other communication channels. Decisions become final only after a
formal written ballot to issue a final Statement, Interpretation, or
FSP.
November 10, 2005 Board Meeting
Agenda decision: pensions and other postretirement benefits. The
Board considered a staff analysis of a possible project to reconsider the
existing guidance on accounting for postretirement benefits including
pension benefits. The Board decided to add a comprehensive project to its
technical agenda and to conduct that project in two phases.
The first phase is targeted for completion by the end of 2006. The
Board's objective in undertaking that phase is to address the fact that
under current accounting guidance, important information about the
financial status of a company's postretirement benefit plans is reported
in the notes to the financial statements but not in the statement of
financial position. Accordingly, this phase seeks to improve financial
reporting by requiring that the funded or unfunded status of
postretirement benefit plans, measured as the difference between the fair
value of plan assets and the benefit obligation (for example, projected
benefit obligation for pensions), be recognized on the balance sheet. This
phase of the project is not expected to change the amount of net benefit
cost included in the determination of net income.
In the second, multiyear phase of the project, the Board expects to
comprehensively consider a variety of issues related to the accounting for
postretirement benefits, such as:
- How the various elements that affect the cost of postretirement
benefits are best recognized and displayed in the statement of earnings
and comprehensive income
- How to best measure an entity's benefit obligations, including
whether more or different guidance should be provided regarding
assumptions used in measuring the benefit obligations
- Whether postretirement benefit trusts should be consolidated by the
plan sponsor.
Furthermore, consistent with its efforts toward international
convergence, the FASB expects to conduct this comprehensive phase
collaboratively with the IASB and other standard setters around the
world.
FASB DOCUMENT AVAILABLE
FSP FIN
45-3, “Application of FASB Interpretation No. 45 to Minimum
Revenue Guarantees Granted to a Business or Its Owners,” was issued on
November 10, 2005, and is available on the FASB website.
FUTURE OPEN MEETINGS
The following is a list of open meetings tentatively scheduled through
December. 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.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005—FASB Board Meeting
Tuesday, November 29,
2005—FASB Education Session
Wednesday, November 30, 2005—Small Business
Advisory Committee
Thursday, December 1, 2005—Financial Accounting
Standards Advisory Council
Wednesday, December 7, 2005—FASB Board
Meeting
Wednesday, December 7, 2005—FASB Education Session
Thursday,
December 8, 2005—New York Society of Security Analysts
Tuesday,
December 13, 2005—FASB Education Session
Wednesday, December 14,
2005—FASB Board Meeting
Wednesday, December 14, 2005—FASB Education
Session
Tuesday, December 20, 2005—FASB Board
Meeting
Wednesday, December 21, 2005—FASB Board
Meeting
Wednesday, December 21, 2005—FASB Education
Session
Wednesday, December 28, 2005—No FASB Board Meeting or
Education Session scheduled
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