FASB News

FAS Investor Panel to Drill Down on Board Priority Topics

FASB will wait until early next year to move on topics investors believe should be priorities on its technical agenda, wanting to first get a handle of the feedback it has received to date, according to discussions held on November 9. At its Investor Advisory Committee (IAC) meeting, the board once more heard the need for disaggregated information on the income statement and in segment reporting, as well as a clamor by investors for fuller disclosures around raw materials, labor cost, trade cost, and expenses amid inflationary pressures. Mortgage disclosures and recognition of expenses have also lacked consistency, which makes it tough for analysts to make useful comparisons, the discussions indicated. More disclosure rules might be needed. “It’s hard to really look at what bottom line mortgage is for a lot of the companies and compare that year over year and bank to bank,” Catherine Mealor, managing director Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, said. The IAC will hold an ad hoc meeting in February as the board plans to mull over 500 comment letters from Invitation to Comment (IAC) 2021-004, Agenda Consultation. The ITC was published in June to solicit broad public input.

Taxonomy Staff Propose Updates to Reference Project, Interim Disclosures

FASB’s Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) staff is seeking public comment on proposed improvements for the 2022 GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy reference project and proposed changes to interim financial disclosure requirements, according to a November 1 post. As a part of the ongoing development and maintenance of the GAAP Reporting Taxonomy (GRT), improvements to references are made in addition to those from Accounting Standards Updates (ASU) and other technical and conforming improvements. Staff said respondents should weigh in by November 15 on Proposed Improvements for the 2022 GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy Reference Project (Release Notes), File Reference 2022-1300, which improved 485 elements and resulted in almost 900 additions and 600 deletions. Reference roles assist in understanding how the elements relate to the reporting requirements and how to identify which elements explicitly meet the disclosure requirements and which elements are not specifically required.

PCAOB News

Christina Ho is First New Board Member to be Sworn in

A day after the SEC reconstituted the PCAOB with four new board members, one of the CPA members, Christina Ho, was sworn in. Ho was most recently vice president of government analytics and innovation at Elder Research. Earlier on in her career, she was a senior manager with Deloitte & Touche LLP. The PCAOB said that the SEC conducted the swearing-in ceremony virtually. Her initial term will expire on October 24, 2025. The ceremony came just one day after the SEC named Erica Williams, a partner with Kirkland & Ellis LLP, as PCAOB chairperson. Others named to the board are Kara Stein, a former SEC Commissioner, and Anthony Thompson, who currently serves as executive director and chief administrative officer (CAO) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).