The roles and objectives of AASB

The roles and objectives of AASB The AASB is hardly an independent standard setting body. Its policies and activities are subjected to the dictation and supervision by at least two big brothers the IASB and the FRC, not to mention the ASIC. A critical evaluation of this statement has been done in the light of the present accounting regulatory environment in Australia. This study had a detailed analysis within the concerned Government websites of Australia, annual reports, journal and documents. This paper will discuss the various roles and objectives of AASB as an accounting standard setting body and its relationship to FRC, IASB and ASIC in achieving its task. Finally helps to reach a conclusion whether agree or not to agree with the above statement. The Australian Accounting Standard Board (AASB) AASB is an independent Australian Government agency under the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001. It has responsibility for the development of accounting standards for application by companies and by other entities in the private and public sectors, and for the development of Statements of Accounting Concepts. (Lundqvist k, 2003) AASB (2009, pp 23-24) in the Annual report 2009, describes the function, mission, vision and objectives of AASB Statutory functions of AASB: To develop a conceptual framework for the purpose of evaluating proposed standards; To make accounting standards under section 334 of the Corporations Act 2001; To formulate accounting standards for other purposes; To participate in and contribute to the development of a single set of accounting standards for worldwide use; To advance and promote the main objects of Part 12 of the ASIC Act, which include reducing the cost of capital, enabling Australian entities to compete effectively overseas and maintaining investor confidence in the Australian economy. Vision of AASB To be recognised as a global centre of excellence, delivering a truly distinctive contribution to the development of high-quality financial reporting standards. Mission of the AASB To develop and maintain high-quality financial reporting standards for all sectors of the Australian economy To contribute, through leadership and talent, to the development of global financial reporting standards and to be recognised as facilitating the inclusion of the Australian community in global standard setting. The major standard-setting objectives of the AASB, as set out in its 2006-07 annual report, are to: issue Australian versions of International Accounting Standards Board documents; produce standards that treat like transactions consistently; significantly influence the development of International Financial Reporting Standards; identify areas requiring fundamental review and introduce standards to cover those areas; and promote globally consistent application and interpretation of accounting standards. The Standard-Setting Process The following  diagram  is a simplified view of  the standard-setting process. Organisational Structure The following  diagram  shows the relationships between other bodies and the AASB. Source: Adapted from AASB (2009) As an independent standard setting body, AASB is responsible for the development of accounting standards for application by companies and by other entities in the private and public sectors, and for the development of Statements of Accounting Concepts. (Lundqvist k, 2003) The policies and activities of AASB are subject to the supervision of an advisory body, FRC. AASB implemented the broad strategic direction from FRC to adopt  International Accounting Standards Board  (IASB) standards for financial reporting Financial Reporting Council (FRC) FRC (2009) in its website makes a broad understanding on its responsibilities, functions and objectives. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is a statutory body under the Australian  as amended by the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (Audit Reform and Corporate Disclosure) Act 2004. FRC is responsible for providing broad oversight of the process for setting accounting and auditing standards as well as monitoring the effectiveness of auditor independence requirements in Australia and giving the Minister reports and advice on these matters. Responsibilities of FRC on accounting standard setting functions: appointing the members of the AASB (other than the Chairmen); approving and monitoring the AASBs priorities; business plans; budgets; and staffing arrangements (including level, structure and composition of staffing); determining the AASBs broad strategic directions; giving the AASB directions, advice or feedback on matters of general policy and on the AASBs procedures; monitoring the development of international standards that apply in major international financial centres; furthering the development of a single set of accounting standards for world-wide use with appropriate regard to international developments; promoting the continued adoption of international best practice accounting standards in the Australian accounting standard setting processes if doing so would be in the best interests of both the private and public sectors in the Australian economy; monitoring: the operation of accounting standards to assess their continued relevance and their effectiveness in achieving their objectives in respect of both the private and public sectors of the Australian economy; the effectiveness of the consultative arrangements used by the AASB seeking contributions towards the costs of the Australian accounting standard setting processes; monitoring and periodically reviewing the level of funding, and the funding arrangements, for the AASB Objectives of the FRC in relation to Accounting standards The FRC operates within a framework set out in the ASIC Act. Main objectives are: Accounting standards should require the provision of information that: allows users to make and evaluate decisions about allocating scarce resources; assists directors to discharge their obligations in relation to financial reporting; is relevant to assessing performance, financial position, financing and investment; is relevant and reliable; facilitates comparability; and is readily understandable. Accounting standards should facilitate the Australian economy by reducing the cost of capital and enabling Australian entities to compete effectively overseas. Accounting should facilitate the Australian economy by having accounting standards that are clearly stated and easy to understand. Accounting standards should maintain investor confidence in the Australian economy, including its capital markets. Functions and Objectives of FRC clarifies its limitations on standard setting. According to Leo et.al (2008, pp 16) FRC has the power to do all things necessary to perform its functions, including establishment of committees and advisory groups. In particular FRC has to ensure that standards set by AASB are in harmony with standards established in international level so that there is no competitive disadvantage overseas for Australian businesses. To ensure that AASB as an independent standard setter there is a provision under the ACT that expressly limits the FRCs ability to become involved in the technical deliberations of the AASB. It provides that the FRC does not have power to direct the AASB in relation to the development, or making, of a particular standard, or to veto a standard formulated or recommended by the AASB .(FRC,2009) Bowrey G (2007) in his article has a significant argument on the independence of AASB. In ASIC Act 2001 the role of the FRC could be summarised as providing broad oversight for setting accounting standards in Australia. Indeed section 225 of the ASIC Act 2001 outlines that the FRC does not have the ability to be become involved in the technical deliberations of the AASB, nor does it have power to direct the AASB in the development of a particular standard and nor does the FRC have the power to veto a standard made or recommended by the AASB. These limitations placed on the FRC are to ensure the independence of the standard setter. The notion of independence of the AASB is eroded by the fact of direct control on the appointment of the members. The notion of independence is even further eroded because the FRC sets the AASBs priorities, its business plans, budgeting and even it staffing arrangements. The government through department, Treasury, has financial and operational control of the FRC and in turn the AASB. In this article again question of independence arises where, the budgets of all government organisations go through a significantly in-depth evaluation process through the Senate Estimates. So even though the FRC sets the AASBs budget, before any money is provided the budget estimates need to go through the senate for approval. So how is it possible for the AASB to be independent? The fact that current and potential government (opposition) members have the power to decide for what and how much to fund the board certainly supports the argument about the lack of independence. There doesnt appear to be any independence on the contrary the AASB seems to be highly dependent on both FRC and the Parliament. The argument in this article ended without reaching a specific conclusion as there is specific legislation this government has enacted to ensure there is independence in the accounting standard setting process. Hockey J (1999) in his speech addressing to the Group of 100 Executive Dinner Meeting in Sydney suggested that the FRC might have too much power and too much control over the standard setter. He said that even though 225 of the ASIC Act 2001placed some limitation over FRC the new AASB, though independent, will be fully accountable to the FRC in much the same way that the UK Accounting Standards Board is to the UK Financial Reporting Council and the US Financial Accounting Standards Board is to the US Financial Accounting Foundation. Under a strategy adopted by the Financial Reporting Council [1] in July 2002, the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) is obliged to work towards the full implementation of the International Accounting Standards (IAS) (now known as International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) [2]) in Australia.(Hay A, 2004). The primary objective of the new accounting standards is the expected efficiency of the capital markets that will arise from the existence of a set of globally acceptable accounting standards that result in high quality comparable and transparent financial reporting. In short, an objective of the harmonisation of international accounting standards is a worldwide effort to restore confidence in corporate reporting and create a free flow of capital worldwide. A second objective is the facilitation of cross border comparison of accounts by investors, leading to a reduced cost of capital for Australian companies and assisting them to raise capital or list overseas. From this it is clear that IASB is not directing to adopt any standard but it is for the efficiency of capital market and for a reduced cost of capital AASB does so. In an article, Brown AM et.al (2007) consider AASB, as one of the operating bodies of FRC which does the functions of FRC.In this article it is said that FRC oversees the activities of AASB and has no technical role on the standard setting . In adoption of international accounting standards when started from 2005 FRC said that the Australian Accounting Standards Board would decide the appropriate time at which future amendments to those standards would be made law in Australia. (Tom, R 2006).This also an indication of the AASBs independence in standard setting and the amendments of those standard set. The  International Accounting Standards Board  (IASB) The  International Accounting Standards Board  (IASB) is an independent, privately-funded accounting standard-setter based in  London, England. The IASB is committed to developing in the public interest, a single set of high quality ,understandable and enforceable global accounting standards that require transparent and comparable information in general purpose financial statement .In addition IASB cooperates with national accounting standard setters o achieve convergence in accounting standards around the world.( Leo et.al (2008, pp 21)) IASB as an independent, private-sector body develops and approves International Financial Reporting Standards. The IASB operates under the oversight of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation. The IASB was formed in 2001 to replace the International Accounting Standards Committee. IAS Plus International Accounting Standards, explains the objectives of IASB To develop, in the public interest, a single set of high quality, understandable and enforceable global accounting standards that require high quality, transparent and comparable information in financial statements and other financial reporting to help participants in the worlds capital markets and other users make economic decisions; To promote the use and rigorous application of those standards; To fulfil the above objectives and, to take account of, as appropriate, the special needs of small and medium-sized entities and emerging economies; and To bring about convergence of national accounting standards and International Accounting Standards and International Financial Reporting Standards to high quality solutions. Adoption of IASB Standards by AASB Adoption of IASB Standards by AASB is explained by AASB(2009) in its website. AASB made Australian equivalents to International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) standards on 15 July 2004. The overall approach of AASB is to adopt the content and words of IASB standards, accommodating the Australian legislative environment with only the words being changed. Main focus of IASB is on for-profit entities whereas AASB is responsible for setting accounting standards for all types of reporting entities. Suitably identified additional text, is included in the AASB standards to deal with those limited cases where there is a need to have different or additional requirements for not-for-profit entities. These additions do not impact on the requirements in relation to for-profit entities There are circumstances in which a not-for-profit entity complying with the Australian equivalents to the IASB standards will not be able to simultaneously comply with the IASB standards because the additional requirements for not-for-profit entities are inconsistent with the IASB requirements. In some cases, existing AASB standards contain helpful commentary that is not included in the equivalent IASB standards. The AASB retains this commentary as guidance that is not part of the standards where it is considered to be of benefit to users of AASB standards and provided it does not contradict the content of Australian equivalents to IASB standards. Thus AASB is aiming for the highest quality financial reporting in adopting IASB standards. Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) According to ASIC(2009) ,ASIC is Australias corporate, markets and financial services regulator, which is an   independent Commonwealth Government body set up under and administer the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act (ASIC Act), and carry out most of work under the Corporations Act. ASIC ensures that Australias financial markets are fair and transparent, supported by confident and informed investors and consumers. ASIC regulate Australian companies, financial markets, financial services organisations and professionals who deal and advise in investments, superannuation, insurance, deposit taking and credit. ASICs Statutory Role and Responsibilities Cameron A (2000) discuss the role and responsibilities of ASIC ASICs role in the financial reporting system is not well understood Responsibilities and Obligations in regard to financial reporting imposed on ASIC by the Corporations Law are as follows Monitoring and enforcing compliance with financial reporting requirements of the Law, including the accounting standards. Powers to exempt companies from the requirements of Accounting Standards and other provisions of the Law, and to modify the application of the Law. Relationship Between ASIC and the AASB ASIC is in full support of the AASBs standard setting process. Both agencies share information and regulatory concerns. ASIC gives information of concerns of accounting practices that come to their attention under their activities and ensures that the Board is aware of the views on their proposals for new standards and revisions to existing ones, as market regulator. All contributions made by ASIC have to be considered by the Board on making a final decision on Standards. (Cameron A, 2000) ASICs role is to contribute to the development of high quality standards to promote market integrity generally, and to enforce the individual Standards made by the Board. Even though ASIC does not have authority to establish or veto accounting standards, ASIC does have the power to exempt or modify them. ASIC also develops policy on applying financial reporting requirements of the Law in new and problem areas. For example, development of transitional reporting requirements of building societies, credit unions and friendly societies. Functions under  Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001  (ASIC, 2009) Maintain, facilitate and improve the performance of the financial system and entities in it Promote confident and informed participation by investors and consumers in the financial system Administer the law effectively and with minimal procedural requirements Enforce and give effect to the law Receive, process and store, efficiently and quickly, information that is given to us Make information about companies and other bodies available to the public as soon as practicable. Conclusion To conclude the above statement can be agreed only to some extent .The statement specifies the activities of AASB are under the supervision of FRC, and it is the function of FRC to oversee the process of setting accounting standards, but the Act has placed limitations on FRC to ensure the independence of the standard setter.AASB aims for the high quality financial reporting in adopting IASB standards. The role of ASIC is to contribute towards the development of standards by AASB.In short, the combined effort of the bodies will help develop and maintain high-quality financial reporting standards for all sectors of the Australian economy

Economic Development and Environmental Protection

This paper argues on both theoretical and empirical grounds that, beyond a certain point, there is an unavoidable conflictbetween economic development (generally taken to mean ‘materialeconomic growth') and environmental protection. Think for a moment of natural forests, grasslands, marine estuaries, salt marshes, and coral reefs; and of arable soils, aquifers, mineraldeposits, petroleum, and coal. These are all forms of ‘natural capital' that represent highly-ordered self-producing ecosystemsor rich accumulations of energy/matter with high use potential (low entropy). Now contemplate despoiled landscapes, eroding farmlands, depleted fisheries, anthropogenic greenhouse gases,acid rain, poisonous mine tailings and toxic synthetic compounds. These all represent disordered systems or degraded forms of energy and matter with little use potential (high entropy). The main thing connecting these two states is human economic activity. Ecological economics interprets the environment-economyrelationship in terms of the second law of thermodynamics. The second law sees economic activity as a dissipative process. Fromthis perspective, the production of economic goods andservices invariably requires the consumption of available energy and matter. To grow and develop, the economynecessarily ‘feeds' on sources of high-quality energy/matter first produced by nature. This tends to disorder and homogenizethe ecosphere, The ascendance of humankind has consistently been accompanied by an accelerating rate of ecological degradation, particularly biodiversity loss, the simplificationof natural systems and pollution. In short, contemporary political rhetoric to the contrary, the prevailing growth-oriented global development paradigm is fundamentally incompatible with long-term ecological and social sustainability. Unsustainability is not a technical nor economic problem as usually conceived, but rather a state of systemic incompatibilitybetween a economy that is a fully-contained, growing, dependent sub-system of a non-growing ecosphere. Potential solutions fly inthe face of contemporary development trends and cultural values Ecological disturbance and nature tourism. THE purpose of this article is to consider the role of disturbance as a crucial ecological consideration in landuse planning for nature tourism. Incorporation of ecological insights into the environmental-planning process offers hope for rational and sustainable development. Nature tourism has been proposed in recent years as a solution to the dilemma that developing countries face in conserving their biological heritage and concurrently improving the economies of local human settlements. In Mexico, nature tourism has become a favored mechanism for development, especially on the Yucatan peninsula. Recognizing the immense value of its coastal natural communities, Mexico has recently established several large biosphere reserves to preserve natural resources and to accommodate and support human settlements. The experience of sprawling, high-impact Cancun, with more than one million visitors annually, has encouraged the government to reassess its development goals. One example of Mexican openness to sustainable conservation-development projects is the innovative, cooperative effort of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras to establish Ruta Maya, a low-impact design to promote tourism based on natural and archaeological treasures (Garrett 1989). In the Yucatan, two long, relatively pristine barrier peninsulas, Rio Lagartos and Celestun, are being identified as opportune sites for nature tourism. Both have high conservation value and were designated special biosphere reserves by the government in 1979 because of their floral and faunal diversity. Both have small human settlements based on fishing and salt extraction. The protection concept known as the Mexican modality, in which local villages can coexist with both conservation and tourism, is an ambitious development plan. Through trial and error, it is becoming clear that development must be guided by ecological understanding if degradation of natural systems is to be avoided. Sites worth visiting are often those that cannot endure heavy human use, and if irreversible environmental degradation results from nature tourism, both conservation of biological diversity and sustainable tourism will fail. Although political and economic considerations usually far overshadow ecological concerns, conservation of natural resources will not succeed if ecological insights are ignored in planning for nature tourism. To retain the integrity of ecosystems, ecologists must convey the most useful information about the dynamic physical and biological contexts of natural communities, including information about the effects of human change on natural disturbance regimes. Important shifts in ecological theory in the past several decades could change perspectives on planning decisions. Fundamental models of community organization throughout the history of ecological thought were rooted in the idea of equilibrium, and most principles applied to managing natural areas have been based on the notion of stability. Many recent empirical studies offer evidence that the natural world is not static, that natural disturbances are common to many environments, and that most landscapes are not in equilibrium, at least for the short term. Planners and developers of tourist facilities, along coastlines, for example, have mistakenly assumed that the physical context for hotels and roads was a stable place. RECENT ECOLOGICAL THOUGHT From its beginnings, ecology has been the study of nature as a stable, orderly system. Natural communities that were undisturbed by people were generally thought of as pristine and immutable, composed of interdependent and harmoniously arranged species assemblages (Botkin 1990). This idea was based on a long tradition in Western culture that envisioned nature as orderly and was embodied in the phrase â€Å"balance of nature† (Glacken 1967). Largely through the writings of Frederick E. Clements (1916) early in the twentieth century, the notion of natural communities as naturally occurring assemblages of species in harmony with local climatic regimes became ecological dogma. If a community was disturbed, damage would be repaired along a predictable continuum toward the climax community. Later, equilibrium became an explicit assumption for most ecosystems, a steady state to which a system returned if a disturbance altered its balance (Connell 1978). Dissenting voices proposed that species act independently of one another and that perturbation is a common event in many natural communities (Gleason 1917; Watt 1947). Strong evidence for the commonness of disorder in nature has come from a large body of literature documenting the profound and pervasive effects of a multitude of disturbances–fires, floods, windstorms, alluvial erosion, landslides, grazing, insects, and invasion of exotics (Veblen and Ashton 1978; Bormann and Likens 1979; Sprugel and Bormann 1981). It is now believed that all ecosystems are somewhat dynamic and that, in some, severe or even catastrophic disturbance is a regular occurrence. Natural disturbances were once assumed to retard the orderly progression of species replacement †¦ THE PROBLEM: Sulfur dioxide is a major source of air pollution world wide, and a major contributor to the problem of acid rain. SOME SOLUTIONS: 1) The technology exists to produce cleaner burning coal, but this process is very expensive. ) Inorganic sulfur can be removed from coal by washing it, but this will not remove organic sulfur, and the process is also very expensive. 3) Coal gasification converts goal to a gas in order to remove the sulfur. The gas produced from the sulfur can then be used to augment supplies of natural gas. This process is not yet competitive enough. 4) Scrubbing removed the oxides from the gases in the smoke stakes, but is also an expensive producer. Looking at these solutions, it would be easy to conclude that th ere is no win win solution when it comes to sulfur emissions from coal. However, in Germany they did find a solution that is win-win. AN INNOVATIVE SOLUTION: â€Å"A German company in 1980 purchased coal-scrubbing technology and improved on it†¦ rather than disposing of the calcium sulfite rich sludge the company further processes it to produce building materials such as sheet rock or wallboard, which are sold worldwide. Another innovative approach to removing sulfur has been taken at a large coal burning plant near Mannheim, Germany. The smoke from combustion is cooled, then treated with liquid ammonia.. he sulfur-contaminated smoke is cooled in a heat exchange process that allows the chemical reaction between the sulfur rich smoke and ammonia to take place†¦ waste heat from the cooling towers is used to heat nearby buildings, and the plant sells the ammonium sulfate in a solid granular form to farmers to use as fertilizer. Thus, Germany, in response to tough pollution control regulations, has substantially reduced its sulfur dioxide emission s, and in the process it has boosted its economy. â€Å". Increasing recognition that the overall goals of environmental conservation and economic development are not conflicting but can be mutually reinforcing, has prompted calls for ‘environmentally sustainable’ economic development. Although there are difficulties in defining sustainable development in an analytically rigorous way, there is still a need to evolve a concept of sustainability that both distinguishes it from other post-war meanings of development and is useful for practical analysis and policymaking.

Friendship Between George Washington And Marquis De Lafayette

Throughout history, friendships have formed amongst important leaders that in turn propelled history into greatness. Starting in the Greek and Roman times, Roman Emperor Octavian with best friend and defense minister Marcus Agrippa worked together to develop Rome into a major global power. Similarly, the friendship between Meriwether Lewis and William Clark allowed for the exploration and development of western America as it is formed now (â€Å"10 of History’s Greatest Bromances†, Mandatory.com). Even the friendship between activists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton propelled the women’s rights movement to equality (Bower, Life123.com). But one friendship that is a little less known, but seemingly the most important to history, is that between George Washington and Marquis de Lafayette. This powerful friendship allowed for the successful outcome of the American Revolution by providing strong leadership and wisdom to American armies. This pair of gener als changed the course of history simply through their bond as friends. Marie Joseph Paul Yves Gilbert du Motier, or Marquis de Lafayette, was born on September 6th, 1757. Unfortunately, by the age of 12, Lafayette’s entire family had passed away and he was left an orphan – but an orphan with a sizeable inheritance. Following in his father’s footsteps, a royal navy general, when Lafayette turned 16 he joined the Royal Army in France. Two years later he married into the Royal family and therefore made himself a veryShow MoreRelatedThe Marquis Of Revolutions : The French Revolution1501 Words   |  7 Pages The Marquis of Revolutions The American revolution is full of many bright and unique people. Without these individuals, the war could have had a more negative outcome. The Marquis de Lafayette is one that the colonies could not have spared at their fragile time in history. His dedication to the nation remains unrivaled to this day. 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Choosing a Quantity that Maximizes Profit