Action Alert No. 08-07
February 14, 2008

NOTICE OF MEETINGS

OPEN BOARD MEETING
(Board meetings are available by audio webcast and telephone.)

Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 3:00 p.m.

The Board meeting will begin at 3:00 p.m. instead of 9:00 a.m.

  1. Conceptual framework: objectives and qualitative characteristics, and reporting entity (estimated 60-minute discussion). The Board will discuss certain issues that arose in drafting (a) the Exposure Draft on the objectives of financial reporting and qualitative characteristics of decision-useful information and (b) the Preliminary Views on the concept of a reporting entity. The Board also will consider whether and, if so, how it might invite comments on potential consequences and other implications of decisions reached on those phases of the conceptual framework project for matters that are being or are yet to be considered in other phases of the project.

  2. 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

Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 1:30 p.m. (The education session will precede the Board meeting.)

The Board will hold an educational, non-decision-making session to discuss topics that are anticipated to be discussed at a future 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, FSP, or Statement 133 Implementation Issue.

February 6, 2008 Board Meeting

Application of Statement 157 to Statement 13 and its related interpretive accounting pronouncements that address leasing transactions. The Board discussed comments received on the proposed FSP FAS 157-a, Application of FASB Statement No. 157 to FASB Statement No. 13 and Its Related Interpretative Accounting Pronouncements That Address Leasing Transactions, and decided to limit the FASB Statement No. 157, Fair Value Measurements, scope exception to FASB Statement No. 13, Accounting for Leases, and other accounting pronouncements that address fair value measurements for the purposes of determining lease classification or measurements in accordance with Statement 13. The scope exception will not apply to assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business combination that are required to be measured at fair value under FASB Statement No. 141, Business Combinations, or No. 141 (revised 2007), Business Combinations, regardless of whether such assets and liabilities are related to leases. The Board directed the staff to proceed to a draft of a final FSP for vote by written ballot.

Partial deferral of the effective date of Statement 157. The Board decided that:

  1. Private companies should have the same deferral requirements as public entities.

  2. Impaired loans measured at fair value based on the underlying collateral pursuant to the guidance in FASB Statement No. 114, Accounting by Creditors for Impairment of a Loan, will not be subject to the deferral.

The Board affirmed that providing guidance on the applicability of Statement 157 disclosures to impaired loans measured using the Statement 114 practical expedient is outside the scope of this project and that guidance should not be provided within the proposed FSP. The Board directed the staff to proceed to a draft of a final FSP for vote by written ballot.

Deferral of the effective date of AICPA SOP 07-1. The Board decided to defer indefinitely the effective date of AICPA Statement of Position 07-1, Clarification of the Scope of the Audit and Accounting Guide Investment Companies and Accounting by Parent Companies and Equity Method Investors for Investments in Investment Companies.  The Board decided that:

  1. An entity that early adopted the provisions of SOP 07-1 may elect to continue applying the SOP or rescind its adoption.

  2. No other entity is permitted to adopt the SOP, with the following exception. If a parent entity that early adopted the SOP chooses not to rescind its early adoption, an entity consolidated by that parent entity that is formed or acquired after that parent entity’s adoption of the SOP must apply the provisions of the SOP in its standalone financial statements.

The Board instructed the staff to modify the effective date in proposed FSP SOP 07-1-a, Effective Date of AICPA Statement of Position 07-1, in a manner consistent with its intent, which was not to require entities to adopt the SOP at its original effective date and subsequently rescind its adoption upon issuance of the final FSP. The Board directed the staff to proceed to a draft of a final FSP for vote by written ballot.

FASB DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE

Final FSP FAS 157-2, Effective Date of FASB Statement No. 157, was issued on February 12, 2008 and is available on the FASB website.

Also, the following documents are expected to be available on the FASB website by the end of business on February 14, 2008:

  • Final FSP FAS 157-1, Application of FASB Statement No. 157 to FASB Statement No. 13 and Other Accounting Pronouncements That Address Fair Value Measurements for Purposes of Lease Classification or Measurement under Statement 13

  • Final FSP SOP 07-1-1, Effective Date of AICPA Statement of Position 07-1.

FUTURE OPEN MEETINGS

The following is a list of open meetings tentatively scheduled through April. 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, February 27, 2008—FASB Board Meeting (canceled)
Wednesday, February 27, 2008—FASB Education Session
Wednesday, March 5, 2008—FASB Board Meeting
Wednesday, March 5, 2008—FASB Education Session
Wednesday, March 11, 2008—FASB Education Session
Wednesday, March 12, 2008—FASB Board Meeting
Wednesday, March 12, 2008—Emerging Issues Task Force Meeting
Tuesday, March 18, 2008—Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council Meeting
Wednesday, March 19, 2008—FASB Board Meeting
Wednesday, March 19, 2008—FASB Education Session
Wednesday, March 26, 2008—FASB Board Meeting
Wednesday, March 26, 2008—FASB Education Session