12 November 2010
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The US Week in Review highlights this week’s financial reporting developments. Here we provide a brief explanation of the latest releases from the FASB, SEC, PCAOB and IASB, along with certain Ernst & Young publications.
Ernst & Young publications ................................................................ 2
Hot Topic - Health care reform: year-end accounting considerations for postretirement health care plans ............................................................................ 2
FASB ................................................................................................. 2
Proposed effective date delayed for new disclosures about an employer’s participation in a multiemployer plan ....................................................................... 2
Other matters discussed at 10 November 2010 meeting ............................................. 2
IFRS .................................................................................................. 3
IFRS – Ernst & Young .................................................................................................. 3
IFRS – Standard Setters .............................................................................................. 3
Other topics ....................................................................................... 4
WCEY analysis highlights the business implications of the midterm elections ............... 4

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The fourth quarter of each calendar year is typically when many companies focus on fiscal year-end measurements of postretirement health care plan assets and obligations. For many sponsors of defined benefit postretirement health care plans, a key consideration in the upcoming measurements will be the accounting for the effects of the health care reform legislation enacted earlier this year.
The upcoming measurements may be the first time that the health care reform legislation is reflected in the actuarial valuations used to report a plan’s funded status on the balance sheet. In addition, plan sponsors may be planning to take certain actions to avoid incurring additional costs resulting from the health care reform legislation. In particular, plan sponsors may be planning to make changes to a postretirement health care plan to avoid the new 40% excise tax on high-cost health plans. The existing terms of a postretirement health care plan and the nature of the planned actions are important considerations when measuring the effects of those anticipated actions.
This Hot Topic, which is available on www.
ey.com/us/accountinglink , highlights some of the accounting considerations for sponsors of postretirement health care plans.
The September 2010 Exposure Draft (ED), Compensation—Retirement Benefits—Multiemployer Plans (Subtopic 715-
80): Disclosure about an Employer’s Participation in a Multiemployer Plan , proposed enhanced disclosures in financial statements of public entities beginning in fiscal periods ending after 15 December 2010, with a one-year deferral for nonpublic entities. At the 10 November 2010 FASB meeting, the Board decided that a final standard will not be effective for the 2010 calendar year-end reporting period. A new effective date for public entities will be determined only after the Board has substantially concluded its redeliberations.
The FASB received over 300 comment letters on the ED, many of which included commentary that the proposed effective date for public companies did not allow enough time to coordinate with third parties to receive the necessary information to produce the proposed financial statement disclosures.
The Board’s decision to delay the effective date will also allow more time for the FASB staff to review and consider issues raised in the comment letters. The Board intends to issue a final standard with enhanced disclosure requirements for participants in multiemployer plans during the second quarter of 2011.
The FASB discussed comments received on the July 2010 Exposure Draft, Contingencies (Topic 450): Disclosure of
Certain Loss Contingencies, and the major issues to be redeliberated. The FASB did not reach any decisions at this meeting on these issues and directed its staff to work with the staffs of the SEC and PCAOB to understand their efforts in addressing investor concerns about the disclosure of certain loss contingency through increased focus on compliance with existing rules. The FASB is expected to begin redeliberations at a future meeting.
The Board also discussed (1) a summary of outreach activities relating to the effect of requiring fair value measurement for investment property as defined by IAS 40, Investment Property , and (2) scope-related issues resulting from that outreach. The Board instructed the staff to develop a scope proposal that would include entities whose primary activities are investing in real estate and who have some characteristics similar to investment companies, for example, the entity has unrelated investors, and the entity intends to provide investors with returns
US Week in Review 12 November 2010

from both rental income and capital appreciation. The Board agreed that lessors of properties that are outside the scope of the investment properties guidance would be affected by the FASB Exposure Draft, Leases (Topic 840), and should therefore focus their attention and comments to the Board on that proposed guidance.
The Summary of FASB decisions is available on the FASB’s website .
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Exposure Draft ED/2010/11 - Deferred Tax: Recovery of Underlying Assets. EY supports the IASB's objective of amendments to IAS 12 and the overall conclusion contained with the ED. However, EY has concerns as to the manner in which the ED has been drafted, as the proposed amendments take the form of an exception to a principle. EY also believes users of the standard would prefer a simpler drafting of the amendments, for example an amendment to SIC 21 or application guidance within IAS 12 itself.
Financial instruments: a sea of change
Hosted by Ernst & Young's Global Professional Practice/IFRS Services
Date: Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Live broadcast: 09:00-10:15 London
Replay broadcast: 11:00-12:15 New York
The Trustees of the IFRS Foundation have published a first-stage consultation paper as part of a comprehensive review of the organization's strategy. The paper was initiated as a result of the second Constitution Review completed in early 2010.
The issues for public comment are:
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Mission: How should the organization best define the public interest to which it is committed?
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Governance: How should the organization best balance independence with accountability?
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Standard Setting Process: How should the organization best ensure that its standards are high quality, meet the requirements of a well functioning capital market and are implemented consistently across the world?
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Financing of the IFRS Foundation: How should the organization best ensure forms of financing that permit it to operate effectively and efficiently?
Comments are due by 31 December 2010.
For further discussion on IFRS matters go to our Global IFRS site .
US Week in Review 12 November 2010 3

Major changes are in the offing as Republicans win a majority in the House and Democratic control of the Senate is narrowed. The results of the 2010 elections will have broad implications for businesses.
Read our analysis by Washington Council Ernst & Young (WCEY) that examines the results of the midterm elections as well as what the lame duck session and the 112th Congress might mean for health care reform, the Dodd-Frank financial services reform, tax policy and reform and more. The paper is available on www.
ey.com/us/accountinglink .
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