Newsletter of the ABA Section of Business Law Committee on
  Law and Accounting
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2009 Spring Meeting
  Committee Meeting
  Committee Program
  Recent Meetings and Programs
  Committee Comment Letters
  Upcoming Program

2009 Section of Business Law
Spring Meeting

April 16-18, 2009
Vancouver, BC
Register Now!

  2009 SPRING MEETING
   
MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON LAW AND ACCOUNTING:

Perhaps more than at any time in recent memory, accounting issues have been at the forefront. "Mark-to-market" accounting, IFRS, and loss contingency disclosures have all been highly visible and often contentious issues in the legal, business and political spheres. Every indication is that these issues will continue to be lively and controversial during the rest of this year.

We are looking forward to seeing you and engaging on these and other issues at the Business Law Section's Spring Meeting in Vancouver. Please plan on attending our Committee meeting and program. Here's a description of our planned activities in Vancouver, as well as an update on some of the Committee's recent projects.


Committee Meeting
Our committee meeting is from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 18, in the Vancouver Convention Exhibition Centre West, Room 210, Level 2. Some of the expected topics include:

Fair Value Accounting — The SEC's report on fair value accounting, recent actions by FASB and IASB and other developments in the continuing controversy.

FASB Proposed Disclosure Standards for Loss Contingencies — The FASB's roundtables on the FAS 5 disclosure proposals and ongoing developments.

FASB—Other recent FASB activities.

PCAOB — Current developments, including proposed auditing standard on engagement quality review, new reporting rules for accounting firms, and cooperation with foreign accounting regulators.

Organizational—If time permits, we hope to discuss:

  • Alternative ways we can deliver value to members, such as webcasts, telephone briefings, and other content sources.
  • Expanding our focus—areas of intersection of law and accounting beyond just the financial reporting sphere.
Even if you are unable to attend the meeting, please give me your thoughts on the foregoing. Also, we are always looking for support from members who would like to participate in our projects or who have ideas about what the Committee might do.



Committee Program
"Cross Border Impact of U.S. Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards" — 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., on Saturday, April 18, in the Vancouver Convention Exhibition Centre West, Room 208-09, Level 2—co-sponsored with the Committee on Federal Regulation of Securities. We are planning a multi-faceted panel, which will be moderated by Thomas White of WilmerHale and Rob Collins of Blakes. We will discuss the status of the SEC's roadmap on IFRS in light of recent comments by SEC Chairman Schapiro and other developments. We will also consider Canada's process for transition to IFRS by 2011 and the lessons of that experience for U.S. conversion. Finally, we will hear from an accounting executive at a major multinational about the challenges faced by these companies in planning for IFRS conversion in the U.S. and other jurisdictions. Panelists will include Paul Cienki, Vice President, Government Accounting and Compliance, Honeywell International, Inc.; Philip Dowad, Audit Partner, KPMG LLP (Canada); and Linda Griggs, partner, of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.



Recent Meetings and Programs
2008 Annual Meeting. On August 10, 2008, we presented a program at the ABA Annual Meeting, co-sponsored by the Committee on Federal Regulation of Securities, on "The SEC's Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting and Other Financial Reporting Developments." Our committee meeting also featured Gordon Seymour, General Counsel of the PCAOB.

CLE Webcast. On November 10, 2008, we presented a webcast, co-sponsored by the Banking Law Committee, on "The Mark-to-Market Accounting Controversy."

2008 Fall Meeting. On November 21, 2008, we presented a program at the Business Law Section Spring Meeting, again co-sponsored by the Committee on Federal Regulation of Securities, on "Getting Ready for Financial Statement Convergence." Our committee meeting featured Wayne Carnall, Chief Accountant of the Division of Corporation Finance of the SEC.

You can find summaries of our recent committee meetings, along with Randy McClanahan's very useful summaries of current FASB developments, at the Committee's webpage: Section of Business Law: Law and Accounting.



Committee Comment Letters
SEC Rulemaking File S7-11-08, "Interactive Data to Improve Financial Reporting." We participated with the Federal Regulation of Securities Committee in the preparation of a comment letter on the SEC's XBRL proposal, which was filed on August 6, 2008. The Commission issued its final XBRL rules on January 30, 2009.

FASB Proposed FSP 141R-a, "Assets and Liabilities Arising from Contingencies in a Business Combination." The FASB proposed to amend SFAS 141R to change the accounting for contingencies acquired or assumed in business combinations. We filed a comment letter on January 16, 2009. On February 25, 2009, the FASB approved a revised FSP 141R-a that reflected several comments we made in our letter.

SEC Rulemaking File S7-27-08, "Roadmap for the Potential Use of Financial Statements Prepared in Accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards by U.S. Issuers." Together with the Federal Regulation of Securities and Audit Letter Response Committees, we are preparing a comment letter on the SEC's proposed IFRS roadmap. The comment letter is due on April 20, 2009. Our draft is in process—please let me know if you wish to participate in the drafting committee.



Upcoming Program
We will be co-sponsoring a program along with the Federal Regulation of Securities Committee at the Second Global Business Law Program in Hong Kong on June 11, 2009. The topic will be "Asian Companies and the SEC: Strategies for Complying with Different Regulatory Regimes." Among other topics, the panel, including a representative from Pricewaterhouse Coopers' Shanghai office, will discuss accounting issues faced by Chinese companies seeking access to the U.S. markets and China's experience in transitioning to IFRS.


As our agenda indicates, accounting issues will continue to be important for our clients. Our Committee meetings, our participation in programs and the drafting of comment letters and articles about accounting developments provide valuable resources for business lawyers to keep up with and exchange views and information about accounting and auditing developments of relevance to their practices. Please join us in Vancouver on April 18.


–Tom White (Committee Chair)
    thomas.white@wilmerhale.com

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