What's New (Nov, 2008)

November 26,2008

A seminar co-hosted by the JICPA and the Accounting Standards Board of Japan (ASBJ)/Financial Accounting Standards Foundation (FASF), entitled "The Current IFRS Situation and the World Trends" was held at JICPA headquarters, on September 25, 2008. The seminar was given by Sir David Tweedie, Chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, John T. Smith, Board Member of IASB and Ikuo Nishikawa, Chairman of the ASBJ. This seminar attracted over 500 participants of CPAs as well as other market participants.

November 26,2008

The 16th JICPA-The Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants (KICPA) Annual Conference was held in Tokyo at the headquarters of JICPA on October 9, 2008. Six delegates from JICPA attended. These were Mr. Masuda, the Chairman and President, Mr. Yamazaki, the Deputy President, Mr. Kinoshita, the Chief Executive and Mr. Ikegami, who is on the Executive Board; and persons from the secretariat. Five people from KICPA, including Mr. OuHyung Kwon, its President, attended the conference. They exchanged views on developments in accounting and auditing in each country.

November 26,2008

On October 28, 2008, Accounting Standards Board of Japan (ASBJ) released Practical Issue Task Force (PITF) No. 25 "Practical Solution on Measurement of Fair Value for Financial Assets". Measurement of fair value for financial assets is conducted in accordance with the ASBJ Statement No. 10 "Accounting Standard for Financial Instruments" and related Implementation Guidance. This PITF reconfirms the issues that have generated many questions in measurement of fair value for financial assets in order to enhance better understanding of those Statement and Implementation Guidance. The accounting treatments and measurement of fair value of financial instruments prescribed by these Statement and Implementation Guidance are based on the same idea as in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
The JICPA published Chairman and President Release on the same day that states ASBJ's PITF reconfirms the current accounting standard and implementation guidance and requested JICPA members to reconfirm them in auditing fair value measurement and to make appropriate responses based on the circumstances.
This document is available in Japanese only.

November 26,2008

The Auditing Standards Committee announced, on October 31, 2008, the revision of Auditing Standards Committee Statements No. 3 "Management Representation Letter". This revision is applicable to audits for the year ending on or after September 30, 2008. This revision was made to conform to other statements that have been already revised.
This document is available in Japanese only.

November 26,2008

The Auditing Standards Committee announced, on October 31, 2008, four risk assessment standards: Auditing Standards Committee Statements No. 37 "Planning an Audit of Financial Statements (Interim report)"; No. 38 "Identifying and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement Through Understanding the Entity and Its Environment (Interim report)"; No. 39 "The Auditor's Responses to Assessed Risks (Interim report)"; and No. 40 "The Auditor's Responsibilities Relating to Fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements (Interim report)", re-drafted as part of JICPA responses to the Clarity Project of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB).
Effective dates of these standards will be considered in the future by taking into account the progress on re-drafting other Auditing Standards Committee Statements, and adoption of International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) in other jurisdictions.
These documents are available in Japanese only.

November 10,2008